Internal Port Visit Internal Port Visit Teena Sidana (54) Venkat Thogaru (55) Varun Bajla (56)

Vinay Bohra (57) Vipul Vi kram Singh (58) Yash Saxena (59)

Internal Port Visit Internal Port Visit Air Cargo Terminal The Air cargo terminal is situated on the IGI Airport and is divided into two ma jor sections namely the Export Warehouse and the Import Warehouse. We visited th e export ware house first. A brief about both of them is as follows: i. Export warehouse At the entrance are the Truck Docks where the trucks filled with cargo to be expor ted are brought by the Clearing Agents. The area where they are stored till appr oved is called the Examination Area. The cargo needs to be approved by the Customs Agents before it passes through. The freight to be paid by the exporting party is decided on the basis of the weight of the containers and the materials in it. M ost of the airlines (through which the cargo is to be sent) have their offices l ocated on the first floor of the warehouse. They should be informed and booked i n advance for the sending of the cargo. After the cargo is received at the entra nce of the warehouse, it is sent to the Customs for approval. They have to examin e a minimum 10% of the cargo and can even call back the cargo form the bonded ar ea to the examination area, in case they are suspicious. It should adhere to the necessary packaging and labelling compliances. Packaging standards are differen t in case of dangerous goods such as explosives, chemicals, oxidisers, corrosive s, etc. It is necessary since certain items can be carried only in cargo aircraf t and not otherwise. However, there are no separate charges that are levied for carrying such goods; just an indication of their nature. These are decided on th e basis of the IATA norms and mentioned on the entrance. Only after it is approv ed, it is send forward. From here, first it is passed

Internal Port Visit through the X-Ray testing machines to check for any hazardous goods or materials present in it. After the Custom officers clear it, they give it the Let Export or der and hence the cargo is moved form the Examination area to the Bonded area. The re also exists an Export Strong Room which is used to store the valuable items suc h as currency, jewellery, etc. The export ship duty officer is responsible for t he overall supervision of the shipment and export loading. The loading base for the cargo is of the standard size 125 X 85 inches. It can take up to 4.5 tonnes of cargo on an average. The maximum height of the cargo can be of 5 feet. The ca rgo is covered with a polythene sheet and the process of doing this is called Las hing. No loose movement of cargo is allowed. After the unit load Device (ULD) is loaded and passes on, it is stacked mechanically on to the racks and hence given a unique location number. The location ticket is collected by the Elevated Tran sfer Vehicle (ETV) operator. The ULD number as well as the destination needs to be noted down by the respective airlines. Moreover, the airlines pay for all the loading, stacking, etc. and are also liable to may demurrage charges in case th e process takes more than 48hrs. Also, in case the cargo is lying in the warehou se for more than six weeks and there is no one to claim it, it is automatically transferred to the Special Disposal Cell. All the cargo is off loaded through a common terminal. The most important fact to be noticed here is that if the cargo is not claimed by any airline within 48 hours, it is charged extra on per hour basis and the cost has to be borne by the Clearing Agent. The air cargo terminal exports up to 400-450 tonnes on a daily average and imports close to 350 tonnes . The usual Export items are readymade garments, carpets, leather, generic medic ines, etc. Unit Load Device: All the pallets and containers are known as ULDs. E ach one of them is given a unique serial number, where the first two/three lette rs identify the series of the ULD; the centre series is their serial number and the last few alphabets is the airline code. For e.g.: AKE62313DHL signifies that AKE is the series of the cargo, 62313 is its unique serial number and the last three signify DHL logistics. Freighters: Deccan 360 is the most common freighter and uses an Airbus 310 with a capacity of 45-50 tonnes. Whereas, a Boeing can t ake up to 100 tonnes in one go.

Internal Port Visit The warehouse also has a facility for storing the Transhipment Cargo i.e. cargo moving from one international location to another and stopping at Delhi. No clea rance or inspection is required for such cargo since they are anyways inspected at their point of origin and at the destination. They just need to get an offici al document signed that says: Not opened Cargo and give them the necessary clearan ce. Cold Storage Facility: There is also a cold storage facility at the exit of the warehouse for perishable goods. The cargo within the aircraft is also mainta ined at a suitable temperature. There were three cold storage cells here: Two of them were at 2degree Celsius and the third on -6degrees Celsius. ii. Import Warehouse Each of the shipment arriving at the import warehouse is given a Cargo manifest and an Airway Bill (AWB). After giving them these documents the shipment is insp ected by the customs officers here. However, no X-ray check is done for the impor t cargo as against the export cargo. After the customs approve the cargo, they is sue an Out of Charge slip for the same. After checking the cargo, a Segregation sh eet is prepared where we get a list of perishable/non perishable, damaged/not da maged cargo. It is then cross checked with the manifest. A special officer known as the Ship Duty Officer is responsible for feeding all the data about the cargo according to the manifest in the system. The airlines, on the other hand, would simultaneously issue the delivery order to the consignee and inform him/her that the cargo has arrived. The freight charges can either be prepaid or paid later. The unloading of the cargo has been outsourced to JACK Cargo. The performance p arameters for the same are: Time taken to unload Up to 4 hours 4-8 hours 8-12 ho urs Weight Up to 10 tonnes 10-20 tonnes >20 tonnes

Internal Port Visit Similar to the Export Strong Room, there exists an Import Strong Room where all valuable cargo is kept. Moreover, similar cold storage facilities exist here as well. At the exit, a location slip is issued and the good is tracked for the con venience of the consignee. Most of the cargo that arrives is from Europe, USA, J apan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The major items for import are telecom equipments , machinery parts, chemicals, and electronic items. ICD Tughlakabad Visit Inland Container Depot A common user facility with public authority status equip ped with fixed installations and offering services for handling and temporary st orage of import/export laden and empty containers carried under customs control and with Customs and other agencies competent to clear goods for home use, wareh ousing, temporary admissions, re-export, temporary storage for onward transit an d outright export. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such stations The primary functions of an ICD may be summed up as under:

Internal Port Visit a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Receipt and dispatch/delivery of cargo. Stuffing and str ipping of containers. Transit operations by rail/road to and from serving ports. Customs clearance. Consolidation and desegregation of LCL cargo. Temporary stor age of cargo and containers. Reworking of containers. Maintenance and repair of container units. The operations of the ICDs revolve around the following centres of activity:i. R ail Siding (in case of a rail based terminal) The place where container trains a re received, dispatched and handled in a terminal. Similarly, the containers are loaded on and unloaded from rail wagons at the siding through overhead cranes a nd / or other lifting equipments. ii. Container Yard Container yard occupies the largest area in the ICD. It is stacking area were the export containers are agg regated prior to dispatch to port; import containers are stored till Customs cle arance and where empties await onward movement. Likewise, some stacking areas ar e earmarked for keeping special containers such as refrigerated, hazardous, over weight/over-length, etc. iii. Warehouse A covered space/shed where export cargo is received and import cargo stored/delivered; containers are stuffed/stripped o r reworked; LCL exports are consolidated and import LCLs are unpacked; and cargo is physically examined by Customs. Export and import consignments are generally handled either at separate areas in a warehouse or in different nominated wareh ouses/sheds. iv. Gate Complex

Internal Port Visit The gate complex regulates the entry and exists of road vehicles carrying cargo and containers through the terminal. It is place where documentation, security a nd container inspection procedures are undertaken. BENEFITS OF ICDs The benefits as envisaged from an ICD are as follows: Concentration points for long distance cargoes and its unitisation. transit facility. Customs clearance facility available near the centres of prod uction and consumption Reduced level of demurrage and pilferage. No Customs requ ired at gateway ports. Issuance of through bill of lading by shipping lines, her eby resuming full liability of shipments. Reduced overall level of empty contain er movement. Competitive transport cost. Reduced inventory cost. Increased trade flows.

Service

Internal Port Visit ICD Tughlakabad ICD Tughlakabad was visited as a part of the Academic inland port visit on 7th A ugust, 2009. The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and the leading centre for importers and exporters of the Northern Region. This ICD began functioning at Tughlakabad in 1993, prior to which it was located at Pragati Maidan. Contain er Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), which is the Public Sector Undertaking, is responsible for this ICD. CONCOR are also the carriers, through rail, of import and export containers between ICD Tughlakabad and the Gateway Ports of Mumbai, Nhava Sheva and Chennai. This ICD is the focal Port for the ICDs at PPG, Faridab ad and Garhi Harsaru and the movement of the containers between the ICDs to and fro takes place by road. The Customs area houses two covered Sheds, one for impo rt and the other for exports. The main

Internal Port Visit CONCOR building houses the administrative staff of Customs and CONCOR as well as the offices of CHAs and Shipping lines. The staff working at ICD Tughlakabad is the regular Departmental staff and not on cost recovery basis. It is also a cer tified ISO 9001:2000 terminal. The Administrative Block has a. b. c. d. e. f. Of fice of Customs, CONCOR, Bank, Shipping Lines, CHAs and Surveyors. Four full length rail lines are available in the Customs area which brings the c ontainers by train from Gateway ports such as Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Chennai, besi des bringing the containers by road from other ports such as Haldia, Calcutta an d Kandla, etc. The equipment and facilities are the latest in technology, incogn ito is the Rail Linkage to the gateway ports, and with the Delhi-Mumbai route fo rming a part of the Golden Quadrilateral of Indian Railways, the importance of t his establishment is even more. In terms of road transport the nearness with the NH2 and having approach to major roads in Delhi connecting all National Highway s. Major Import Items a. b. c. d. e. machinery, electronic goods, plastic, chemi cals, motor vehicles and parts metal and metal scrap is banned due to environmen tal issues On export side major items being exported through ICD are leather gar ments and leather products, readymade garments, machinery, agricultural products especially rice.

Internal Port Visit Facilities and Equipments ICD, TKD (ICD, Tughlakabad) has the following infrastructure facilities for oper ations, located inside the custom bonded area 4 full train-length rail lines 6,000 square meters covered warehouse space for i mports which is sufficient to accommodate cargo of 160 TEUs l10, 000 square mete rs covered warehouse space for export cargo which is sufficient to accommodate a cargo of 240 TEUs 1,500 square meters of especially reserved space for LCL cons olidation. Open space for stacking of 5,000 loaded containers Open space for sta cking 6,000 empty containers Empty parks in Power Cabin (PRC), Ballabgarh (BVH), NMS Dadri Six hectares parking area to accommodate 400 trailers Fully computeri zed import and export documentation Computerized weighbridge facility Container repair facilities One rail mounted gantry crane Three Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes each with a capacity of 40 tonnes Eight loaded reach stackers (40 tonnes) Six e mpty reach stackers (16 tonnes)

Internal Port Visit

Internal Port Visit Offered Services Establishment of Customer Service Cell to attend to queries Provision of enquiry terminal in Export-Import Cell for direct access to information by Customers. D isplay of train running chart daily on notice board. Provision of the enquiry mo dule of the main computer system to major shipping lines and other users Import removals round-the-clock Updating train running and summaries of the trains runn ing between New Delhi and Mumbai on the Internet at the Concor India website Int roduction of separate trains for NSICT and JNPCT Introduction of high-speed wago ns running at 100 kmph Augmentation of reefer services and their dispatch by hig h speed trains Guaranteed overnight export and import shifting 24 hrs. acceptanc e of export cargo and containers Ensuring the placement of import examination co ntainers at ground level only. Export warehouse operations round-the-clock Recei pt and delivery of empty containers round-the-clock Separation of export stacks for JNPCT, NSICT, Mumbai Port and other terminals. Facility for dispatch of LCL reworking containers by rail to JNPT and onward by road to CFSs in Dronagiri Nod e. Special discounted slab rates for 20 containers with gross weight in the range of 24-30 MTs. Road-cum-rail movement of export cargo to Bangladesh/ Nepal borde r. Handling and transportation of over dimensional cargo/ containers by rail/roa d. Provision of PDA (Pre-Deposit Account) to the customers to facilitate financi al Provision of cheque facility to distinguished customers Waiver and Refund of Wharfage Charges on case to case basis transactions

Internal Port Visit Waiver and Refund of Ground Rent Charges on case to case basis Refund of claims in case the containers/cargo gets damaged Activities ICD, TKD provides following services to exporters, importers and shipping lines: Customs clearance and cargo inspection within the Custom bonded area Import/Expo rt LCL/FCL cargo handling Receipts and dispatch of container trains between ICD, TKD and other ICDs as well as gateway ports Receipts and dispatch of containers by road from and to other ICDs, CFSs and customers premises Loading and unloadin g of containers to and from trains Stuffing and de-stuffing of containers in the warehouses Storage of empty containers offered by shipping lines and handling o f loaded and empty reefer containers.

Internal Port Visit Technology @ ICD, TKD

CONCOR is using various online applications like Export/Import Terminal Manageme nt System (ETMS), Domestic Terminal Management System (DTMS), Oracle FinancialsERP, HR-Payroll system

Based on Centralized architecture deployed through Citrix environment and runnin g over VSAT based hybrid network.

RDTs are being used in the ICD/TKD yard and ICD/Dadri for online container tracki ng and entry of unloading / loading of containers on to wagons.

Internal Port Visit Interface software was developed for automatic up gradation of entries through R DTs into CCLS and ETMS database for EXIM operations. RDTs are also interfaced with our Domestic Terminal Management System (DTMS) at DCT/Okhla, TNPM/Chennai and W FD/Bangalore. Enabled any user to query the system either through LAN or Web to get the latest status and location of a container in the yard. Facility for elec tronic filing (e-filing) of commercial documents of CCLS (Container and Cargo Lo gistic System) has been provided to customers. Facility enables customers like S hipping lines, Importers, Exporters and CHAs to file the required documents onl ine for process and take necessary printouts of processed output through web fro m anywhere without physically coming to ICD at Tughlakabad. Digital Signatures h ave been integrated with e-filing on CCLS to make the system more secure.

Internal Port Visit Inland Container Depots: The Weak Link in Container Transportation Security After the visit, some research led to the question of transportation security at ICDs. ICDs are a common user facility for handling/temporary storage of import/ export laden and empty shipping containers. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such terminals and the Customs clear goods at the ICD. No Customs cle arance is required at gateway ports thus it increases trade flows and also decon gests seaports. The ICD Tughlakabad is the largest dry port in South Asia and th e leading centre for box traffic transportation. Among the major items transport ed through this dry port are machinery, electronic goods, metal and metal scrap. It is the latter that has caught the attention of security forces. In October 2 004, bomb disposal squads of the Indian Army and the National Security Guards di ffused live rocket shells from the scrap consignment that arrived at the Bhushan Steel Company from Iran. This US $ 25,000 consignment loaded in shipping contai ners left Bander Abbas in Iran on board M V Kuo Long. The containers were bound for the Inland Container Depot (ICD), Tughlakabad, via Mundra port in Gujarat. T he security agencies recovered more than fifty shells/bombs in the consignment. Unfortunately, the procedures followed for inspection of containers at the ICD T ughlakabad were lax. At the ICD, the container is unsealed and examined in the p resence of the customs examination staff. During examination, a certain percenta ge of the packages are opened and this percentage is determined by the risk fact ors that are evaluated by the Custom department on the basis of risk assessment techniques. The importer is required to make the necessary arrangements for the speedy de-stuffing of the cargo in conformance with the examination orders given by the Appraising Groups. As per the manning guidelines of the Central Board of Excise & Customs, the ICDs would normally operate with a staff of 13 officers 1 Assistant/Deputy Commissioner, 2 Appraisers, 2 Inspectors, 2 UDCs, 2 LDCs, 4 Se poys) and the ICDs engaged in only exports have 7officers (1 Assistant/Deputy Co mmissioner, 1 Appraiser, 1 Inspector, 1 UDC, 1 LDC, 2 Sepoys) The above clearly illustrates that the ICD are ill equipped to undertake a thorough inspection of the containers. This is one of the reasons why explosive materials and live ammu nition escaped the eyes of the ICD Tughlakabad officials.

Internal Port Visit It is true that it is humanly impossible to physically check each container for its contents but what is more worrisome is that the ICD at Tughlakabad has emerg ed as the weakest link in the container transportation chain in the country. Nea rly 3000 tons of scrap loaded in some two hundred containers arrives daily at th e ICD. Similar is the story of a large number of ICDs in the country. Ironically , none of the Indian seaports other than Nawa Sheva near Mumbai has explosive de tection equipment, and only one, has container x-ray facilities. The Indian Gove rnment response to the discovery of unexploded ordnance was a notification from the Ministry of Commerce laying down new rules for the import of waste metal. Th e notification stipulated that the import of metallic waste and scrap shall henc eforth be permitted only in shredded and compacted form but allowed the import o f loose scrap through "major ports only." Apparently, the government has also re moved the clause in the pre-shipment certificate, which seeks the importer to sp ecify the country of origin, from where the metallic scrap is imported. What is more disturbing is the fact that none of the ICDs have any cargo scanning facili ty. Need for Technology As noted, it is humanly impossible to physically check e ach container for its contents. So where does the solution lie? The answer is th rough harnessing technology to act as a force multiplier. These technologies mus t be non-intrusive, safe for operators, cost effective, highly reliable and more importantly speedy in order to avoid unwarranted interruptions to the flow of c ommerce. There is thus a need to install scanning equipment to examine contents in containers without unloading. Therefore, for a safe system of commerce, a com prehensive and credible approach to security is essential