The Cochin Customs has stressed the need for a demarcated space and facilities to perform customs inspections at the ICTT at Vallarpadam, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Commerce Department on February 26, 2009.

Mr Vijay Kalsi, Cochin Customs Commissioner, pointed out that according to the guidelines, there should be a processing area and a non-processing area within the SEZ. All provisions of the Customs Act 1962, rules and regulations issued will apply to the port as demarcated from the rest of the SEZ. This means that the customs would be able to perform its functions from the area demarcated as a non-processing zone.

The customs should be provided space inside the SEZ area to carry out its functions, otherwise it would be difficult for it to post its officer for long in the SEZ. There is an urgent need to implement port guidelines in the SEZ so that customs officers can carry out the functions without any hindrance, he said.

Restrictions

As the terminal is a SEZ area, there are some restrictions. For the last 8 months, the customs had been functioning in the terminal area without a customs station and there were no facilities for setting up Electronic Data Interface. The customs is in discussions with the Development Commissioner of SEZ, Kochi Port authorities and DP World, to sort out the issue at the earliest, he said.

Meanwhile, DP World authorities, in a statement issued here, said at no stage is the ICTT involved in handling or dealing with any cargo that has not been cleared by the customs for export. The ICTT, being a unit set up in the Vallarpadam SEZ, operates according to the procedure established under the SEZ Act 2005 and is fully complaint with all applicable safety regulations, including the ISPS code.

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