Annual Report for 2nd Annual General meeting (AGM)acfi.in/images/Annual Report-2nd AGM.pdf ·...

AIR CARGO FORUM INDIA

Room No. 19, Ground Floor, Project Office, New Udaan Bhawan, Opposite Terminal – T3, I.G.I. Airport, New Delhi - 110037

Tel +91 11 46084295 Email [email protected]

www.acfi.in

ANNUAL REPORT F.Y. 2013 – 2014

2ND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

[09th July, 2014]

By: Mr. Cyrus N Katgara,

Secretary, ACFI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

1. Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) _____________________________________________________________________ 1

2. ACFI Governing Board ______________________________________________________________________________ 2

3. ACFI Members _______________________________________________________________________________________ 2

4. Particulars of Membership ________________________________________________________________________ 4

4.1. Categories of Members: __________________________________________________________________________________ 4

4.2. Types of Membership: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 5

5. Activities undertaken during the year 2013-14 ________________________________________________ 5

5.1. 1st Annual General Meeting (AGM) ____________________________________________________________________ 5

5.2. ACFI Meetings: Internal __________________________________________________________________________________ 6

5.3. ACFI Board Member’s Meetings with External Agencies ____________________________________________ 7

5.4. ACFI Sub-Committees ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8

5.4.1. Sub-Committees Member & Subcommittee Objectives ___________________________________________ 8

5.4.2. Progress made by the Sub-Committees ___________________________________________________________ 15

5.4.2.1. Apparel/Textile Sub-committee __________________________________________________________________ 15

5.4.2.2. Electronic Industry Sub-committee ______________________________________________________________ 19

5.4.2.3. Pharma Export Sub-committee ___________________________________________________________________ 23

5.4.2.4. Auto Industry Sub-committee ____________________________________________________________________ 30

5.4.2.5. Domestic & Transshipment Air Cargo Sub-committee __________________________________________ 35

5.4.2.6. Express Cargo Industry Sub-committee _________________________________________________________ 38

5.4.2.7. Innovation Sub-committee ________________________________________________________________________ 42

5.4.2.8. Process Simplification Sub-committee ___________________________________________________________ 46

5.4.2.9. Non Schedule Airline Flight Operation Sub-committee _________________________________________ 50

5.4.2.10. Perishable Export Cargo Sub-committee _______________________________________________________ 53

5.4.2.11. Service Standard Sub-committee _______________________________________________________________ 56

6. Events Organized by ACFI during the Year 2013-14 _________________________________________ 58

6.1. Air Cargo Security Conference ________________________________________________________________________ 58

6.2. ACAAI & ACFI Joint Symposium _______________________________________________________________________ 60

7. Status of various important activities initiated by ACFI Board with Govt. Agencies ____ 62

TABLE OF CONTENTS

8. Major Achievements of ACFI _____________________________________________________________________ 66

9. Other Activities ____________________________________________________________________________________ 68

9.1. Release of E- News Letters: ____________________________________________________________________________ 68

9.2. Points of Special Mention: Support of DIAL to ACFI Secretariat _________________________________ 69

9.3. Action Plans for F.Y. 2014-15 __________________________________________________________________________ 69

10. Contact Information _____________________________________________________________________________ 70

ACFI - ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014)

Page 1

1. Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI)

The “Air Cargo Forum India” (ACFI) is formed by all the stakeholders in the air cargo

logistics trade viz., Airlines, Airport Operators, Cargo Terminal Operators, Customs

House Agents (CHA), Express Industry and Freight Forwarders with the vision

that :-

“The Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) envisage to build world class environmental

friendly air logistics industry by innovation, allied action with credibility and

providing business facilitation to boost the Indian economy.

The main objectives of ACFI is to;-

Promote and facilitate cooperation among all stakeholders of the air cargo

logistics system

Promote and facilitate development and improvement in Air Cargo

infrastructure

Work for the, expansion, promotion and modernization of air cargo handing

processes at par with the best international standard and practices

Promote Go Green environment and e-initiatives.

Present Air Cargo Logistic Trade perspective on policy issues to the various

Ministries of Center/ State Government to enable smooth and faster

processing of Air Cargo.

Institute a research wing to sponsor/undertake specific and Cargo Logistic

research projects and technology.


Page 2

2. ACFI Governing Board

The first ACFI Governing Board Members were formed on 12.01.2012 in terms of

Chapter -3, Para 3.1 Governing Board & Office Bearers, of the ACFI Rules and

Regulations, ACFI Members in its 5th Meeting elected its first President who intern

selected other office bearers to form the first Governing Board of ACFI for a period

of two years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 as under:

President Mr. Pradeep Panicker, CCO, DIAL

Vice President Mr. Tushar K. Jani, Chairman, DCSC

Secretary Mr. Cyrus N. Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Co.

Treasurer Mr. Yashpal Sharma, Director, Skyways Air Services

Members Mr. Rajesh Goel, CEO, CDCTMIPL

Mr. Mahesh Malik, Vice President, InterGlobe Aviation

(IndiGo Airline)

Mr. Malcolm Monteiro, Sr. Vice President, DHL Express India

Mr. PS Atree, MD, PS Atree & Co.

Mr. Harsh Kumar Pandey, ED – Cargo, Air India

Co-opted Members Mr. Debashis Dutta, Chairman, FFFAI

Mr. R K Saboo, Chairman, EICI

3. ACFI Members

Out of more than 100 selected air cargo logistic agencies including trade bodies and associations who were invited by ACFI board for membership, 55 have become members of ACFI up to year ending 2013-14 as under:


Page 3

SN Name of Company (M/s) Business Membership

1 CDCTMIPL (CELEBI) Cargo Terminal Operator (CTO) Life time Member

2 Delhi Cargo Service Center India Pvt. Ltd -

DCSC

Cargo Terminal Operator (CTO) Life time Member

3 Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd – DIAL Airport Operator Life time Member

4 Jeena & Company Freight Forwarder Ten years Membership

5 DHL Express India Pvt. Ltd Express and Logistics operator Ten years Membership

6 Skyways Air Service Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Ten years Membership

7 FFFAI - Federation of Freight Forwarders'

Associations in India

Association Associate Member

8 EICI - Express Industry Council Of India Express Industry Associate Member

9 Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) Logistics Associate Member

10 Global Aviation Services Pvt. Ltd General Sales Agent Associate Member

11 Acumen Overseas Pvt. Ltd General Sales Agent Associate Member

12 Hans Infomatic Pvt. Ltd. IT Services (Air Cargo) Provider Associate Member

13 Allied Aviation Private Limited General Sales Agent (GSA) Associate Member

14 Canan Cargo Freight Forwarder - Non IATA Associate Member

15 Aero Sail Services Pvt. Ltd General Sales Agent Associate Member

16 Pacific Air Logistics Pvt. Ltd General Sales Agent Associate Member

17 InterGlobe Aviation Limited (Indigo Airline) Airline Member

18 GAC Logistics Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

19 P S Atree & Company Pvt. Ltd Customs House Agent Member

20 UT Worldwide India Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

21 R K Clearing Pvt. Ltd Customs House Agent Member

22 R E Rogers India Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

23 Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) Express Industry Member

24 Insynergy Supply Chain Solutions Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder & Customs

House Agent

Member

25 Schenker India Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

26 Emirates SkyCargo Airline Member

27 Qatar Airways Airline Member

28 Activair Airfreight India Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

29 Air India Ltd Airline Member

30 Rahat Cargo Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

31 GSEC Limited Custodian (CTO) Member

32 Blue Dart Aviation Ltd Express Industry Member

33 Cargo Channels Private Limited Freight Forwarder Member

34 Nayak Aviation Services Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member


Page 4

SN Name of Company (M/s) Business Membership

35 Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) Pvt. Ltd Cargo Terminal Operator Member

36 NG Pillai Customs House Agent Member

37 Jet Airways (India) Limited Airline Member

38 Amrit Seair Express Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

39 S. A. Consultants & Forwarders P Ltd, Freight Forwarder Member

40 GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. –

GHIAL

Airport Operator Member

41 Kempegowda (Bangalore) International

Airport Limited – KIAL

Airport Operator Member

42 Hercules Aviation Pvt. Ltd. Airline/Non Schedule Operator Member

43 Sun Aviation Pvt Ltd. Freight Forwarder Member

44 Blue Bird Logistics (P) Ltd. Freight Forwarder Member

45 Air Shagoon (Network) Pvt. Ltd Airline/Non Schedule Operator Member

46 Vardhman Custom Clearing & Forwarding

Agents

Customs House Agent Member

47 S K Jain & Company Customs House Agent Member

48 JAS Forwarding Worldwide Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

49 DHL Logistics Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

50 FR8 Integrated Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Freight Forwarder Member

51 Flywell Aviation Pvt. Ltd. Airline/Non Schedule Operator Member

52 Surya Cargo Forwarders Pvt. Ltd. Freight Forwarder Member

53 IRC Supply Chain Solution Limited Freight Forwarder Member

54 Jet Freight Logistics Pvt. Ltd Freight Forwarder Member

55 Samaritan Exim Pvt. Ltd. Freight Forwarder Member

4. Particulars of Membership

4.1. Categories of Members:

Categories of Member Nos. of Members

Airlines (Including NSOs) 08

Airport Operators 03

Associations 02

CHAs 05

CTOs 04


Page 5

Express Industry 03

Freight Forwarders 23

GSAs 05

IT Service Provider 01

Logistics Providers 01

Total 55

4.2. Types of Membership:

Categories of Membership Nos. of Members

Life Time Membership 03

Ten Years Membership 03

Annual Membership 39

Associate Membership 10

Total 55

5. Activities undertaken during the year 2013-14

5.1. 1st Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The 1st Annual General Meeting of the Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) was held on

Tuesday, 14th May 2013 at 11.30 AM at Auditorium, Ground Floor, New Udaan

Bhawan, Opposite T-3, IGIA, New Delhi 110037 and following Agenda points were

discussed, deliberated and approved.

a. Secretary’s Report on the activities and achievements of ACFI during its 1st

year 2013-2014. Mr. Cyrus N. Katgara, Secretary ACFI presented full report on

the activities & achievement of ACFI which was accepted unanimously.

b. Auditors Report: The audited Income & Expenditure Accounts and Balance

sheet for the year ended 31.03.2013, as submitted by the authorized Auditor

M/s. Manoj Varshney & Associates of the Air Cargo Forum India – ACFI was


Page 6

presented by Mr. Yashpal Sharma, Treasurer ACFI and the same was accepted

and adopted.

c. Appointment of Auditor for the year 2013-2014: M/s. Manoj Varshney &

Associates was appointed as the Auditor of ACFI for the year 2013-14 based

upon their satisfactory performance during previews year 2012-2013 and as

per their willingness to continue their services at the same terms &

Conditions & remuneration as last year.

d. Submission of Performa of Annual Report of ACFI to the Registrar of

Societies

Immediate after the 1st AGM, ACFI Secretariat vide its letter No.

ACFI/Reg.Off./ 01/2013/20 dated 28th May’2013 submitted the Performa of

Annual Report of ACFI for the FY 2012-13 duly signed by ACFI President, to

The Registrar of Societies, District of South West, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and

duly acknowledged.

5.2. ACFI Meetings: Internal

During the year ACFI has held following meetings.

i. ACFI Governing Board Meeting - 07 (Total – 25)

ii. ACFI Sub-committee Meetings - 30 (Total – 49)

iii. ACFI Conference on “Air Cargo - 01

Security Supply Chain – Future outlook”, and

ACFI Joint Symposium with ACAAI - 01 (Total – 04)


Page 7

5.3. ACFI Board Member’s Meetings with External Agencies

SN Date Meetings With Particulars of the Meetings

1 20.09.2013 3rd Air Cargo Logistics

Promotion Board

meeting, MoCA

President ACFI took up 15 air cargo

logistics related issues were taken up

& discussed

2 01.10.2013 Member Customs, CBEC ACFI team took up Cargo Policy

related (procedural & systems related)

issues

3 10.01.2014 Economic Advisor, MoCA Courtesy meeting of President ACFI

along with President ACAAI and an

idea of holding a joint symposium by

ACAAI & ACFI was mooted.

4 24.02.2014 Meeting with DGFT, MOC ACFI Board Members took up Air

Cargo Policy & Process related issues

5 04.03.2014 4th Air Cargo Logistics

Promotion Board

meeting, MoCA

President ACFI took up some new &

follow-up of actionable points

discussed in the 3rd ACLPB meeting.

6 19.03.2014 Secretary, MoCA and

Joint Secretary, MoCA

Courtesy meeting of President ACFI

with the new Secretary Civil Aviation

& an invitation for attending the Joint

Symposium to be held in the month of

May’2014.

7 24.03.2014 Chairman, AAI President ACFI requested Chairman

AAI to consider Airport Authority of

India’s membership of ACFI


Page 8

5.4. ACFI Sub-Committees

In order to sustain continuous growth in the movement of air cargo and express

business in India and to bring the Indian air cargo industry at par with world

standard, ACFI has established following nine industry specific sub-committees

headed by senior experts and supported by active members of ACFI with a brief

scope of works as under;-

a. Study the subject matters/issues in detail, collect facts & figures.

b. Undertake survey if possible

c. Contact industry leaders for their inputs

d. Consolidate target issues

e. Prepare committee’s report on target issues with recommendation, facts and

figures

f. Put up the issue based proposal to ACFI Board for approval on the format

decided, for taking up with the concerned authorities.

5.4.1. Sub-Committee Members & Subcommittee Objectives

SN Name of Sub Committee

Sub Committee Objectives Sub Committee Members

1 Pharma Export Work closely with Pharma

sector industry stakeholders

to improve their

competitiveness in global

market. Identify procedures

and policy changes required

and additional infrastructure

facilities required for the

growth of Pharma Exim Trade.

Chairman:

1) Yuvraj Sharma, UT

Worldwide

Dy. Chairman:

2) Saurabh Trikha, Cargo

Channels

Members:

3) Deepak Sharma, Celebi

4) Gitika, Cargo Channels


Page 9



5) Manoj Kumar, TNT India

6) Nitin Mittal, DIAL

7) Rakesh Prasher, Ranbaxy

8) Ritu Sharma, DIAL

9) Sumit Mathur, Swiss

WorldCargo

10) Venu Bangera, DCSC

11) Vikas Kukreja, Ascent Air

(Group Condorde)

12) Yashpal Taneja, FedEx

2 Auto Industry Work closely with Auto

Industry sector and Identify

areas of their concerns related

to air logistic chain of

operations for improvement

and enable them improve

their competitiveness in the

international market. Identify

additional infrastructure

facilities required for the

growth of Auto Industry for

smooth transportation and

movement through air.

Chairman:

1) Cyrus N Katgara, Jeena &

Company

Dy. Chairman:

2) N.G. Pillai, N.G. Pillai

Members:

3) Pradeep Panicker, DIAL

4) Dharmesh Kumar, Honda

Cars

5) K K Sharma, Minda Group

6) R Hari Kumar, Maruti

Suzuki

7) Rajendra Varma, DCSC

8) Rammohan Krishnaswamy,

Jet Airways

9) Sankat Kanchan, DHL

Express

10) Umesh Sobti, Celebi

11) Vivek Bhati, DIAL

12) Yashpal Taneja, FedEx


Page 10



3 Domestic &

Transshipment

Cargo

Study the existing challenges

of Domestic & Transshipment

cargo Operations and suggest

standardize, process

improvement and

infrastructure facilities

required to boost the domestic

cargo and transit cargo

movement by air.

Chairman:

1) Mahesh Malik, IndiGo

Dy. Chairman:

2) J.M. Nair, Blue Dart Aviation

Members:

3) Akash Bansal, OM Logistics

4) Arvind Nayak, Nayak Group

5) Edmund Evans Jones,

Global Aviation Services

6) Nitin Kapoor, DHL Express

7) Nitin Sareen, DHL Express

8) Rammohan Krishnaswamy,

Jet Airways

9) Rishi Herenz, DIAL

10) Sushant Nigam, DIAL

11) V Raghuraman, SpiceJet

12) Vikrant Kapoor, DCSC

4 Express Cargo

Industry

Identify and resolve the

challenges of Express/Courier

industry and suggest process

and policy changes required if

any in order to bring further

growth in the Air Express

Business.

Chairman:

1) Vijay Kumar, EICI

Dy. Chairman:


Members:

3) Pritam Banerjee, DHL

Express

4) NG Pillai, NG Pillai

5) Rajeev Khanna, Jeena & Co.

6) Vijay Kr. Sharma, DIAL

7) Vimal Rawat, FedEx


Page 11



5 Process

Simplification

- Group -1

Export

- Group -2

Import

Identify bottlenecks in the

existing clearance procedures

of international air cargo and

supply chain management.

Devise strategy to improve

dwell time of Import & Export

and simplify process under

the following three categories

of activities.

1. Process/ Documentation

improvement within air

cargo Stakeholders

2. Improvement in the

regulatory processes –

Policy changes

3. Joint Monitoring

mechanism of

implementation of

recommended procedures.

Group 1 – Export Committee

Chairman:

1) Rajeen Khann, Jeena & Co.

Dy. Chairman:


Members:

3) Dinkar Singh, DHL Express

4) Halim Modassir, Emirates

5) MD Kala, DIAL

6) Parvinder Singh, Hans

Infomatic

7) Anthony Demello, Celebi

8) Sanjiv Edward, DIAL

9) AK Jain, Orient Craft



12) Rohit Sehgal, Skyways Air

Services

13) Varun Singhi, GAP Inc.

Group 2 – Import Committee

Chairman:

1) RK Mehrotra, RK Clearing

Dy. Chairman:

2) PS Atree, PS Atree & Co

Members:


4) OP Sharma, DIAL

5) Anurag Saini, Celebi

6) Bhawani Singh, DCSC

7) Sanjiv K Jain, Vardhman


Page 12



Customs

8) Vikas Maini, IRC Supply

Chain

9) J Ramakrishnan, LG

Electronics

10) Ravi Chadha, Samsung

India

11) Manoj Marya, Sony India

12) Balagopal Balachandran,

Qatar Airways

13) Sumit Kapoor, DHL

Express

14) Shoby Charian, DHL

Express

6 Innovation Study and identify possible

new innovations that can be

introduced in the entire

logistics supply chain

infrastructure facilities and

processes to bring smooth,

safe and faster processing and

handling of air cargo thru

ought the air cargo logistics

chain, while complying with

the policies in vogue.

Chairman:


Dy. Chairman:

2) Arun Kumar, Insynergy

Supply Chain

Members:

3) Cyrus N Katgara, Jeena &

Co.

4) Yashpal Sharma, Skyways

Air

5) Halim Modassir, Emirates

6) MD Kala, DIAL

7) Vijay Kr. Sharma, DIAL


9) Ravi Bhatnagar, Celebi



Page 13



11) Dinkar Singh, DHL

Express

12) Vipan Jain, Lufthansa

Cargo

13) Sunil Kumar V, IndiGo

14) Vijay Kumar, EICI

15) Parvinder Singh, Hans

Infomatic

7 Perishable

Export and

Import Cargo

Study closely with the

industry stakeholders of

perishable cargo export and

identify its challenges and

devise solutions for

improvement within partners

in the industry or in the

processes and policies of

Government/ regulatory

agencies to improve logistics

supply chain in the

transportation and storage of

perishables to maintain the

competitiveness of products

and services in the

international market.

Chairman:


Dy. Chairman:

2) Sunil Kohli, Rahat Cargo

Members:

3) Cyrus Katgara, Jeena & Co

4) Deepak Sharma, Celebi

5) Arvind Goyal, Canan Cargo

6) Urmi Walia, DIAL


8) Saket Saran, Air India

9) MS Unni, Air India (On

behalf of Mr. Saket Saran)

8 Service

Standard in the

Air Logistics

Industry

Mapping of services provided

by the entire air cargo logistics

trade partners including the

govt. agencies and standardize

them at par with international

level so that the international

Chairman:



Dy. Chairman:

2) OP Sharma, DIAL

Members:


Page 14



products moving across the

air gateways become more

competitive in the

international market and help

the Indian gateway airports to

become major hub airports of

Asia & Asia Pacific region.

3) Pradeep Panicker, DIAL

4) Arun Kumar, Insynergy

Supply Chain


6) Rajeen Khanna, Jeena & Co.


9 Non Scheduled

Flight

Operations

Work closely with the industry

stakeholders including govt.

agencies and identify the

challenges being faced by the

non-schedule operators in

India and devise solutions for

improvement within partners

in the industry or policies of

Government/ regulatory

agencies to improve

competitiveness of Indian

operators and the product

they carry in the international

market.

Chairman:

1) Sujeen Paulose, Hercules

Aviation

Dy. Chairman:

2) Franklin Henry, Flywell

Aviation

Members:

3) Ravi Nayar, Sun Aviation



5) Sanjay Aiyer, Blue Bird

Logistics



8) Rishabh Birla, Air Shagoon

9) Sanjiv Mansukhani, DCSC

10) MD Kala, DIAL


Page 15

5.4.2. Progress made by the Sub-Committees

5.4.2.1. Apparel/Textile Sub-committee (Now merged with Procedures

Simplification)

Total Nos. of meeting held: 03 (Three)

SN Issues Taken up Progress Achieved

1 Operational Issues:

a. Safety & security of cargo

should be given top most

priority during transportation

from shipper’s end till the

shipment is uplifted at the

airport.

i. 4 Nos. of night vision cameras have been

installed by DIAL at the air side between

cargo terminal & T2. Out of which two

cameras are working and rest two are

not working due to non-availability of

UPS supply. P&E team has been

coordinated for necessary action in this

regard.

ii. Security within cargo terminal, CTOs

have confirmed having taken adequate

security arrangement with security

gadgets placed.

b. Upkeep of the cargo storage

places like shipper’s go-

down, freight forwarders

warehouse & at cargo

terminal should be kept in

neat & clean condition to

avoid any discrepancies with

the shipments due to animal

waste, spiting of PAN & bird

poo. The working force also

needs to be educated &

trained on this aspect.

i. Awareness trainings have been impacted

by some airlines to the trade workers on

regular basis.

ii. CTOs are ensuring regular cleaning of

storage places & imparting awareness

training to their work forces. As per the

feedback of users there is a sign of

improvement.


Page 16


c. Proper manning of cargo

terminal work places by CTO

manpower particularly during

shift change (7 - 9 PM) to

ensure uninterrupted cargo

operation.

It was informed by CTO s that there is a sign

of improvement. The issue is being further

closely monitored by DIAL.

d. Export cargo should be

admitted on 24x7 basis to

avoid artificial rush during

peak and uninterrupted

processing.

i. On implementation of 24x7 w.e.f. 1st July’

2013 clearance of all the goods by

Customs the issue has been resolved.

ii. Road show is being organised by the DIAL

on the 24x7 for awareness & seeking

cooperation of the stakeholders.

e. Pasting of ‘X’ Ray screening

stickers compulsorily be

stopped as it creates logistic &

other discrepancies.

The issue has been resolved and official

circular has also been issued by the CTOs to

this effect.

f. CTO should have proper

arrangements at the parking

area for repacking of damaged

packages noticed at the truck

dock and similar facility at the

bonded area, with all types of

packing material available.

Celebi would examine the

issue and come back with

solutions.

Celebi (CTO) is working on this aspect and

would like to re-view based on the

requirement so that new vendor can be

proposed for this job. Few areas within the

parking side shortlisted for this purpose.

g. Customs should allow MOT

for shipments as and when

requested by the CHA.

In view of 24x7 clearance by Customs there is

no MOT now. The issue is closed.


Page 17


2 Policy Related Issues;-

a. BCAS Policy on Known

Shipper Concept & Regulated

Agent Policy may be revisited

by all stakeholders &

deliberated upon for

adoption. It was decided to

hold a meeting with the BCAS

officials for more

clarifications and then taking

up with the shippers & freight

forwarders.

On adoption of this policy

processing of export cargo

will be speed up & minimize

hold up of shipments for X

Ray Screening at the airport.

i. Comments from trade are yet to be

received. A joint meeting was proposed

with other subcommittees viz. Electronics

and Auto Industry where this issue was

also discussed in order to conclude this

issue.

ii. A joint meeting of all the three

subcommittee heads/members and

representatives from DIAL Security,

Airlines (Bar India Cargo), BCAS,

Shippers, Freight Forwarders was held on

6th Sep’2013 at 3PM.

Suggestions made by the members

attended shall be forwarded to BCAS for

consideration.

b. Govt. to consider movement of cargo carrying vehicles without any restrictions to avoid unnecessary waiting time & peak time rush. A meeting shall be organized with Additional Commissioner Police Traffic. The committee will also examine the previous permissions issued by traffic department to selective agencies to their selective trucks to ply on the roads uninterruptedly.

i. ACFI has taken up the issue in the 2nd Air Cargo Logistic Promotion Board meeting of MoCA.

ii. DIAL has taken up with the Airport Traffic Police for uninterrupted movement of cargo carrying vehicles within airport premises.

iii. ACFI has also taken up with Additional Commissioner Police Delhi Traffic supporting with justification of implementation of 24x7 clearances by Customs. It is proposed that at least smaller vehicles like TATA 407, TATA Ace and Tempo etc. with special sticker may be allowed during peak hours.


Page 18

SN Issues Taken up Progress Achieved c. Export Classification issues

which attracts drawbacks

needs simplified at policy

level to avoid discretionary

powers with the Customs

officers & other harassments.

Committee’s experts shall

prepare a document on this

issue for taking up further.

This issue will be discussed in the next

meeting wherein exporters will be invited for

discussion and more clarity.

d. 24x7 clearance of export

cargo by customs for all the

export shipments.

i. Customs have Implemented w.e.f. 1st

July’2013 However it has been seen that

there is no encouragement from Customs

side and therefore only 40% out of the

export cargo arrived during night are

being processed by Customs.

ii. ACFI has taken up this issue with

Chairperson, CBEC to enhance

clearance %tage during night.

e. Adoption of RMS in export by

customs or green channel to

star exporters to

avoid/reduce examination

process & fast clearance.

After taking up at ACLPB & Member

(Customs) by ACFI, Customs have introduced

RMS in Export in Air cargo Complexes (Delhi)

w.e.f. 24.01.2014 wide Public Notice 17/2013

and Corundum No. PN-2/2014 dated

20.01.2014

f. Committee will study on the

packaging issue particularly

on the introduction of euro

pallets in export compulsorily.

This issue has been transferred to Innovation

sub-committee for necessary action.


Page 19

5.4.2.2. Electronic Industry Sub-committee (Now merged with Procedures

Simplification)


Opportunity Available for India;-

Over the last couple of decades India has been the epicenter of consumer demand

fuelled by a phenomenal GDP growth. While demand increased across all sectors,

demand for high technology products, specifically electronic products has

registered significant growth. Going by current estimates, the demand for

electronics hardware in the country is projected to increase from USD 45 billion ( in

2009) to USD 400 billion by 2020 (Source: Task Force Report of Dep’t. of Electronics

& IT).

The estimated production will reach USD 104 billion by the year 2020, creating a

gap of USD 296 billion in demand and production. This creates a unique

opportunity for companies in the Electronic System, Design & Manufacturing sector

to look at India as their next destination to cater to the domestic Indian demand as

well as act as an exports hub.

There is an immense pressure on the logistics chain for catering to the production

lines as most of the Companies are switching over to Just in Time (JIT) Inventory to

bring down their costs like warehousing, working capital, etc.


Page 20

SN Issues taken up Progresses Achieved

1 Part Delivery:

With the result of short landings

of part import shipments the

importers are not able to take

part delivery, Lengthy Customs

procedures takes minimum two

working days to resolve a single

case, finally resulting heavy

production loss and payment of

huge demurrages charges.

Proposal-

a. Part Delivery process to be made simpler. b. The Dy. Commissioner Customs (Shed)

may be authorized to allow part delivery. Based on the paper prepared by Mr. R K

Mehrotra a letter has been written to

Chairperson CBEC vide ACFI letter dated 13th

Aug’2013 for consideration at par with the

procedures being adopted at other world

class airports abroad.

Mr. RK Mehrotra's Study.pdf

2 24x7 Customs Clearance

Scheme in Import:

i IGM/ Inward date updating.

To promote 24x7 clearances

as declared

by the CBEC. The trade is

facing the problems of getting

IGM/Inward date updating by

the airline/consolidators

after regular office hours.

This has to be addressed

immediately.

With the consistent efforts of CTOs & DIAL,

90% of segregation of import flights have

been achieved through EDI. DIAL team also

examining possibility of improving the

inward entry process of Customs in a time

bound manner.

Mr. Tarun

Sabharwal's Study.pdf

ii Issuance of Delivery Orders,

after regular office hours.

The airlines/consolidators should align with

the demand of 24x7 clearances and make

arrangements for delivery orders physically

and as well as EDI system after office hours.

DIAL Convener through AOC/CAFAC has

apprised & requested airlines & agencies to


Page 21


make arrangements for issuing D.O.s during

odd hours to assist the importers clearance

on 24x7.

iii Customs Officers on duty for

24x7 clearances may be made

available to the

Importers/CHAs with name,

designation and mobile nos.

DIAL/CTO operation team has taken up with

Customs and monitoring regularly to facilitate

the agencies.

Situation has improved as per information

from CTO/DIAL

iv Paperless Transaction-

Electronic Customs Out of

Charge (OoC) message be

sufficient to Custodian issue

gate pass. No hard copy of

Customs Out of Charge (OoC)

needed.

v Hard Copy of Delivery Order

(DO) be dispensed with when

Dos are sent electronically by

airlines & console agents to

Custodian.

Towards paperless concept Customs as per

their latest P.N. 02/2013, out of charge final

printouts of B/E’s will not require signature

of Customs Officers.

An step forward to this initiative of Customs

to allow Custodian;-

a) To issue Gate passes and Delivery of the

goods without hard Copy of custodian’s

copy of Customs Out of Charge (OoC) as

the data of out of charge bills of Entry is

available on the custodian EDI system for

any verification without which custodian

will not be able to generate gate passes

against that consignment.

b) Similarly when delivery orders issued by

the airlines/ consolidators are transmitted

electronically to the custodian the

procedure of insisting hard copy of

delivery order can be dispensed with. This

will be a step further towards achieving

paperless transaction and faster delivery

of cargo.


Page 22


Above issues have been taken up by

DIAL/ACFI innovation Subcommittee with DG

System who has promised for taking up at

Board level.

ACFI has taken up with DG System & copy to

Chairperson CBEC on above issues.

The system of printing hard

copies of B/Es for EXIM trade

may be discontinued. Instead it

should be made available on

customs ICEGATE system/

website for verification by all

authorized users such as

Importer, Exporter, Bank, CHA

and other Govt. Agencies. The

operating part of this system

may be decided by the DG

System or as may be decided by

CBEC.

This being a policy issue matter has been

taken up with DG System by DIAL/ACFI

Innovation subcommittee for consideration

who has promised to take up with Board.

Letter to this effect has been issued by ACFI to

DG System copy to Chairperson CBEC.

vi Printing hard copy of gate passes may be dispensed with

Point dropped as the time is not ripe for introduction of this very advance system.

vii Restriction of transportation of cargo carrying vehicles presently the air cargo movement to and from cargo terminal, IGIA, takes place as per the NO Entry system for commercial vehicles. Presently only from 10 PM to

i. ACFI took up with Mr. Anil Shukla Additional Commissioner Traffic Police vide letter dated 7th Sept’2013 to allow smaller sized vehicles during the no entry time in order to maintain air cargo business throughout the day. Particularly at a time when Customs are working on 24x7 basis.


Page 23


6 AM and from 11AM to 5 PM the commercial vehicles including cargo carrying vehicles movement on the city road is allowed. This is a Major Bottleneck for the smooth & evenly movement of cargo vehicles thru-ought the day.

However DCP Traffic (VIP Delhi) has responded wide letter dated 09.10.2013. i. No-Entry restriction will continue

because of peak time rush of traffic. ii. Cargo terminal is approachable from NH-

8 and Dwarka BPCL side. There is no restriction and no entry timing on the road from Centaur hotel to cargo terminal.

5.4.2.3. Pharma Export Sub-committee

Total Nos. of meeting held: 06 (Six)

SN Issues Taken Up Progresses Achieved

1 It was decided that three

groups shall study following

topics;-

I. Implementation of Pharma

processing policy

uniformly at all the

airports to begin with

Mumbai & Delhi.

II. ADC office should extend

paper acceptance timing of

1230 hrs. on all normal

days and accept the papers

on Saturdays also and

work full normal day.

ACFI took up with DGHS & then in the 2nd Air

Cargo Logistics Promotion Board meeting of

MoCA,

ACFI suggestions were accepted by DGHS and

immediately implemented w.e.f. 1st May’2013

vide its notification dated 18.04.2013, at Delhi

and uniformity of procedures at Mumbai & Delhi

was achieved for the clearance of Pharma

shipments.

The new procedure of applying advance NOC is

working satisfactorily at Delhi Airport which

saves waiting time of Pharma trucks for 2 to 4

hours.

However it was informed by Dr. Mathur of Dr.

Reddy’s Lab Hyderabad that drug molecules of

less than 4 years approved by the DGHS does


Page 24


not require any NOC, as per the DCGI guidelines.

DGHS may inform Customs not to insist ADC’s

NOC for these products.

It was also suggested that the reputed Pharma

exporters may be given a status of accredited

agency under Import & Export RMS regulation

of Customs for giving green channel status.

a. Out-bond clearance

procedures of Pharma

shipments which have

already been cleared at

different SEZs etc.

i. In order to have seamless clearance of

Pharma goods for export some action as

per public notice no. 29/2008 dated

21.11.2008 issued by Commissioner of

Customs Export, ACC Mumbai should be

insisted at Delhi.

ii. Subcommittee shall prepare paper for

taking up with Customs

Mumbai Customs

Notiffication ADC NOC .pdf

b. In-Bound Clearance

procedures of Pharma

shipments at Delhi Airport

i. The study group also felt a need of action as

per public notice no. 31/2012 dated

07.09.2012 issued by Commissioner of

Customs Import; Mumbai may also be

taken up with Delhi Customs for similar

action.

ii. Subcommittee shall prepare paper for

taking up with Customs.

ADC_NOC_BOM

customs.pdf


Page 25


c. Clearance procedures

being followed for Pharma

shipments at Hyderabad

Airport. Best practices may

be adopted at other

airport.

i. It was brought out by Mr. Prasher of

Ranbaxy & Dr. Mathur of Dr. Reddy’s Lab

Hyderabad that there is no set procedures

being followed with regard to Pharma

export at all the airports uniformly. For

example at Hyderabad no such practice of

prior NOC is being followed. The Customs

officer decides at his own shipments

randomly for forwarding ADC NOC.

ii. Hence there should be a common

procedure which needs to be followed at all

the airports uniformly.

iii. It was also decided to initiate action for EDI

connectivity between Customs & ADC for

online transmission of NOC between ADC &

Customs.

iv. Before the matter is taken up further, it was

decided that Mr. Nitin Mittal shall revisit the

procedure at Hyderabad airport and seek

the help of Dr. Ravi Prakash Mathur. The

target will be to bring uniformity in

procedures at 6 major airports.

2 Current procedure of Customs

clearance based on FOB value

above INR 1,00,000/- is being

done by Customs DC or above

level. The need for moving

such Pharma consignment

through a normal customs

clearance mode.

i To enhance the power of Customs Supdt. Up

to Rs. 10,00,000/- and DC/AC beyond Rs.

10,00,000/- needs to be reviewed.

Considering that existing system is very old

and before taking up the matter to

appropriate authority, we need supporting

datas/statistics with regard to enhancement

of Pharma Export over a period of time.


Page 26


ii DIAL team shall give support in making the

data available for making justification paper

to Customs.

3 To retrieve the documented

regulatory circulars

identifying the need to have

manual AWB marking on

every export consignment

causing heavy delay in export

procedure by at least 3 – 4

hours.

The matter has been considered by DIAL the

custodian and Circular has been issued in this

regard for making the marking of AWB on the

packages optional.

Point Closed

4 Regulating cases regarding

release of pending Export

Promotion Shipping Bills

against samples withdrawn by

customers at Delhi Airport.

The subcommittee shall obtain detailed inputs

from the exporting community of Pharma goods

and prepare a detailed report on this issue

which may be taken up with Customs

5 Need of proper storage facility

of Pharma products under the

requisite temperature range

in the warehouse before

clearance and after

palletisation.

Though both the CTOs have facilities for storage

of Pharma shipments at the cargo terminal &

have appropriate procedures to handle the

same, a group headed by Mr. Guneet Malik, Virsa

Logistics comprising of members from shippers

(Ranbaxy, Dabar & Deva) & CTOs (Celebi &

DCSC) shall access the requirement of

infrastructure facilities required for

transportation of Pharma Products from Cargo

Terminal to the Air Craft under temperature

controlled environment. And put up the same to

the Sub Committee for further discussion.


Page 27


Regarding proper unitization under

temperature controlled environment following

were decided for compliance by all;-

a. Mixed loading of Pharma Cns. with general

cargo,

Top-up shall be carried out inside the cold

storage facilities to maintain the required

temperature of Pharma Shipments.

b. In case the loaded Units could not be

accommodated inside the storage facilities

under temperature controlled environment

the top-up shall be under taken only at the

last moment before taking the ULD to Air

Craft. The DIAL was requested to issue an

Operational Circulars or SOP in this regard to

both CTOs & airlines for compliance.

c. CTO/DIAL shall issue SOP ON ABOVE.

6 For taking samples, the Agent

opening part of the packaged

Pharma consignment on the

instructions of the Customs

personnel needs to be

checked and regulated.

It was decided that following procedures shall

be strictly followed;-

i. The package shall be opened only with

the help of authorized packers of CTOs,

ii. Open the boxes from the top of the

package and take the samples as required

by the Customs for examination without

damaging the outer coverage of the

packages.

iii. After taking the samples/ inspection the

packages repack/ closed with the help of

the tap indicating the remark that “This

Package was opened for Customs

Examination


Page 28


iv. SOP shall be issued by CTO/DIAL &

circulated

7 Deployment of Customs

Officer at APEDA and General

Warehouse.

Mr. Prasher pointed that at present only one

Customs official is deputed for both DCSC and

Celebi warehouse which causes lots of delay

especially in the clearance of Pharma export.

Separate customs officials are required to be

deployed at both the ware houses for smooth

functioning of Pharma Export. This issue needs

immediate attention by Customs.

DIAL to take up at Chief Commissioner level.

8 Pharma specific SOPs

required to be prepared &

issued by CTOs to all the

agencies

It was deliberated that there is a need to

undertake a study on process mapping and

comparison at par with the international

standard. For this people need to be exposed to

see a world class facility. Also there is a

requirement to study of equipments for

maintaining cool chain from shipper’s end up to

the aircraft. For the consideration of the

stakeholders in the supply chain.

After long deliberations, a team comprising the

representatives of Airlines, FF, CHA CTIOs, DIAL,

Shippers as indicated below was constituted to

map everything from shipper’s end to aircraft.

1. Mr. Vikas Kukreja

2. Mr. Maneesh

3. Mr.Guneet Malik

4. Ms. Ritu Sharma


Page 29


5. Mr. Venu Bengera

6. Ms. Deepak Sharma

7. Mr. Rakesh Prasher

In the mean-time an IT company Stellium Inc.

had volunteered for undertaking Process

Mapping study on Pharma export, free of cost

who gave its first introductory presentation on

9 To organize an Awareness

workshop by ACFI for all

agents, freight forwarders and

airlines to explain the

categories of Pharma handled

at the airport, and the

methods of safe and secure

handling.

Following action plan was decided;-

a) Members to forward their suggestions if any

to the workshop organizing team

b) Team to consolidate the points for taking

action.

c) The Organizers shall come out with a plan of

action including venue, date, list of invitees

for the workshop and materials to be

deliberated, in the next sub-committee

meeting

Mr. Yuvraj Sharma & Ms. Neetu Chadha, UT

Worldwide will submit proposal by September

end to board.


Page 30

5.4.2.4. Auto Industry Sub-committee


S. No. Issues Taken Up Progresses Achieved

1 A. AIR EXPORT POINTS:-

i. PDA Account not

accepted after 5.00 PM

DIAL/ CSC/ CELEBI

must accept the PDA

deposit even after 5.00

PM

Both CTOs Celebi and DCSC confirmed that the

PDA Accounts shall be kept operational upto

6.00 PM and Beyond 6.00 PM all the mode of

payments except cash will also be accepted.

Issue Closed

ii. Location of Import

clearance not accepted

after 3.30 PM Which

should be accepted at

least upto 6.30 PM as

sometimes the customs

officer finalization

assessment order will be

given around 5.00 – 6.00

PM

As per CTOs the present timing for generating

location slips for examination/ clearance was

upto 4.30 PM beyond which permission of

Customs is required. Both the CTOs will take up

the matter with Customs to allow for

examination up to 5.30 PM as the gate pass is

being issued up to 7.00 p.m.

Issue Closed

iii. Due to non-availability

of IGM & its

regularization later on

flight checking gets

delayed due to which

subsequent process of

import cargo clearance

process & release get

disturbed. Transfers of

IGM information in

customs EDI Systems/

Both CTOs Celebi and DCSC have confirmed that

all data feeding and flight checking is done

within parameters and as per agreed SLA. It

was explained by CTOs that there were

complaints on Customs part 2-3 months back

due to lack of customs systems but currently no

irregularities of this nature have been reported

in the recent past. However In case of any

difficulty same should be brought to the notice

of the in-charge import of the respective cargo

terminal operators for timely solutions and


Page 31


Airline get delayed in

some cases.

assistance.

Issue Closed

iv. Damage of

Cargo/Pallets; there

should be clear cut

procedure to be defined

for reporting damage to

the goods/ pallets,

before release.

Appropriate damage

reporting slip to be

issued, if the pallet is

damaged before

examination.

It was informed that Mr. Ramesh Mamidala,

COO, Celebi, has already clarified in the last

CAFAC/AOC meeting and the action plan in this

regard has been communicated to all associated

members.

Issue Closed

v. In case of system failure

DIAL should take

permission rather than

individual importers

from customs to

smoothen procedures.

Although it’s already in practice. Both the CTOs

have agreed to initiate action for taking

Customs permission through DIAL officer

whenever there is a need of manual gate pass

due to customs system failure.

Issue under the observation of DIAL team

vi. Once the cargo is "Out of

Charge" printing of BE

copies should be

facilitated properly

without delay.

CTOs have provided 08 printers in service

condition to Customs in Import and 02 printers

on standby basis for printing out of charge &

other customs documents. CTOs will further

coordinate with the Customs for smooth

functioning of these printers.

Issue Closed


Page 32


B. AIR EXPORT POINTS:-

i. X-RAY facilities for big

boxes/ pallets. X-RAY -

for big boxes / pallets,

shipment is taking

longer time as compared

to normal x-ray and due

to this delay, shipment is

not being handed over

to airline on time. Also it

is taking additional time

for Loading/ unloading

bigger size of boxes/

pallets into x-ray

machine due to shortage

of equipment.

It was decided that;-

a. In future Shippers/Agents will send Pre Alert

notice 48 hrs. in advance to both CTOs about

the odd sized/big shipments along with

weight & dimension of boxes/ pallets for

making advance arrangements and to avoid

any delay.

b. Then it would be the duty of the CTOs to

make proper arrangement for proper

offloading & screening of such pkgs. as and

when such shipments arrive at the terminal.

c. It was also decided that the shipper/Agent

should use open trucks for bringing odd

sized cargo, for smooth offloading at the

cargo terminal and during rainy season the

same may be covered by tarpaulin sheets to

protect the cargo from rain.

d. It was decided that DIAL shall examine the

requirement of big size X-Ray Machine

(Gama Ray) for screening odd sized/ULDS

for installation at the cargo terminals. ii. Special equipment for

Off-loading purpose

Special equipment; for

bigger size/weight of

boxes/pallets, are not

enough for off-loading

purposes and due to this

shipment is getting

delayed

e. Both the CTOs have confirmed that they have

sufficient number of equipment for loading

offloading of any size, weight of packages.

Pre alert notice from the CHA/Exporters will

facilitate smooth & timely action by CTOs.

DIAL shall monitor the confirmation of

CTOs


Page 33


iii. Admittance Time

restriction for Export

Cargo / Vehicle may be

upto 6.30 p.m.

Keeping in mind the peak time rush & Customs

time restrictions on examination process, both

the CTOs have agreed to extend the entry time

for export vehicles up to 5 p.m. only.

Issue Closed

iv. Return of Defective auto

parts to be duty free. It was informed by Mr. Yashpal Taneja of FedEx

that in the last Customs PGC meeting, when this

issue was being discussed, Customs have

already agreed to consider the suggestions of

the trade/exporter to deal with such issues.

The Auto exporters i.e. Honda & SUZUKI may

forward their suggestions if any to Customs in

this regard.

In case the issue needs to be further escalated

at Customs Board level ,ACFI will step in.

2 Other Important Issues Progress Achieved

a. Action to bring

improvement in the

Service Standard

Members desired that benchmarking of

standard of services provided in cargo handling

at International level is required to be

established for implementation by all the

stakeholders in the logistics chain. In this

direction ACFI should take some initiative.

ACFI shall initiate action on this matter soon

b. Need of a dedicated

Helpline/ Helpdesk at

Cargo Terminal

Members observed that there is a need of a

dedicated helpline Service/ Desk to be

established by both the CTOs at their respective

cargo terminals, approachable to the needy

customers & users of the cargo terminal for

resolving their day to day issues.


Page 34


DIAL Cargo to pass instruction to CTOs for

compliance

c. X-Ray Screening

Machines

i. Requirement of Regular maintenance of X-ray

machines was expressed by the members for

smooth & uninterrupted x-ray screening

process.

ii. Need of bigger size of x-ray machines for

screening BUP/Odd size CNs. As per BCAS

guidelines such Odd size packages shall be

either physically checked or kept for more

than 24 hrs. for cooling.

DIAL is examining the possibility to install

bigger sized X Ray Machines

In view of above it was suggested by Mr.

Kunwar that the shippers/agents may consider

to adopt BCAS guidelines of non -

shipper/regulated agents security regulations

issued during 2008. Which will facilitate

smooth handling and security of all types of

cargo without undergoing X-ray screening at

cargo terminal.

BCAS circular no. 08/2008 dated 10.09.2008 on

Comprehensive security procedure in respect of

cargo, express cargo, mail & Courier bags was

made available to all members for their

information & forwarding feedback if any.

d. Need of research &

development (R&D) The members also expressed need of research &

development (R&D) for bringing more

innovation in the processing clearance and

infrastructure facilities required for hassle free


Page 35


transportation of Auto shipments.

ACFI Innovation Subcommittee to take up

this issue.

e. Refund of duty Members pointed out about consistent delay in

refund of duty under section 74 by Customs.

Due to which lots of harassment is being faced

by Shippers.

Society of India Automobile Manufacturers

(SIAM) to take up with Customs copy to ACFI.

5.4.2.5. Domestic & Transshipment Air Cargo Sub-committee

Total Nos. of meeting held: 05 (Five)

SN Issues Taken Up Progress Achieved

1 Domestic Air Cargo

Handling

a. A proposal of creating

common user domestic

cargo area for preparation of

RFC operation shall be

examined by a team headed

by Mr. Sanjiv Edward on

29th Apr, 2013.

i. DIAL’s suggestion for creating common user

domestic cargo area for preparing RFC of

domestic cargo, near Centaur Hotel was not

accepted by DACAAI they wanted area near

cargo terminal or opposite parking area.

ii. It was decided that DIAL shall re-examine

the request of DACAAI and come back with

an alternate area for this purpose and then

the subcommittee shall engage DACAAI in

finalization of the proposal.

b. Domestic airlines will be

imparting Awareness

training program to

agencies.

Jet Airways, Spice Jet & IndiGo imparting

training program to the trade.


Page 36


c. Attempt will be made to

create a certifying agencies

to regulate agencies booking

domestic cargo by a team;-

DACAI, Blue Dart. CTOs &

Domestic airlines

i. The issue was deliberated at length. The

document on certain parameters provided

by Indigo has been circulated among

members to study & finalize.

ii. The sub-committee with smaller group of

members Airlines, CTOs & Blue Dart will roll

out final proposal.

d. More CCTVs to be installed

by CTOs/ DIAL to plug the

pilferages

Mr. Vikrant Kapoor informed that within the

DCSC premises from truck doc at city side till air

side boundary wall area, CCTVs have been

installed.

It was opined that CCTV to cover the apron area

& the perimeter road where the domestic cargo

is transported may not be possible to cover all

areas. Frequent patrolling by the Airline

security may be a possible way to deter the

pilferages at this area.

Four Night vision cameras at air side Cargo

Terminal to T2 have been installed by DIAL

e. To plug pilferages and a

meeting with security

agencies shall be organized.

To sort out the security issues, a meeting of

Security heads of airlines, CTOs Raxa, and DIAL

Security along with their Ops. Managers were

held on 21.08.2013. During the meeting it was

informed by all the members that-

i. The theft & pilferage cases in the past &

present have been under control.

ii. More vigilance has been exercised.

iii. It was recommended that CISF to frisk

people & vehicles while coming out of all

air side gates of the airport.


Page 37


2 Domestic Air

Transshipment

Clarity on the Prevailing

Transshipment process

needed

Need of a Single

Transshipment Bond for Pan

India operations.

How to stop pilferages a

Team of IndiGo, DHL & DIAL

to be formed and Other

Airlines will be invited for

their comments/ suggestions

It was decided that ;-

a. A team Mr. Hari, Mr. Nigam, Mr. Rishi & Mr. J

M Nair, will compile the documents in two

parts viz. Bond and Process.

b. The issue of break bulk and transshipment

cargo procedures will also be reviewed by

the said team.

c. After identifying and listing out agenda the

same will be circulated by the said team

among members for discussions by the

group.

3 Points to be deliberated –

Reg. BCAS Issues

Clarity on AVSEC circulars

concerning Domestic

operations.

Security & safety of domestic

cargo issues

Issuance of pass by BCAS to

contract employees

After internal meeting of Security Head of

Airlines, CTOs, DIAL & RAXA held on

21.08.2013 the issue of frisking by CISF to all

the people & vehicle while coming out of the air

side gate shall be taken up with BCAS/CISF by

DIAL.


Page 38

5.4.2.6. Express Cargo Industry Sub-committee

Total Nos. of meeting held: 02 (Two)


1 Inter-state tax issues –

International operations should be treated differently from the state tax formalities completion perspective as data for all such import and export shipments is already getting captured in Govt. systems (EDI) which is not the case with domestic movements. It was stressed to take up the matter with respective VAT Commissioner and appraise the problem being faced by trade and its adverse impact on transaction cost.

It was decided that a detailed note on the issue will be prepared by Mr. Manoj Kumar, TNT and Mr. Dinkar Singh, DHL and the same will be circulated to all the members.

2 Shortage of Customs Officers –

It was pointed out that there is a general shortage of Customs Officers across all the major international air cargo ports in the country. It has been seen that there is major shortage of customs officers at Chennai and Bangalore Air Cargo Terminal.

The issue was deliberated at length in the ACFI Board meetings also. Board was in the opinion that the strength of Customs officers in the express terminal & as required in the cargo terminal should be studied in terms of the processes & work load at these respective terminals.

3 24 x 7 exports clearance needed for all duty drawback shipping bills also – As per the current circular / directive from customs, only free shipping bills are allowed to be cleared during night from Delhi Cargo Terminal. This limitation makes the entire process extremely rigid for operators and they are unable to utilize the facility fully.

On account of Customs working on 24 x 7 for processing all types of export cargo this Issue is closed


Page 39


4 Return To Origin (RTO) cases needs more simplification of processes – It was highlighted that shipments required to be Returned to Origin for various reasons takes more than a month’s time due to lack of clarity on the process, high discretionary powers, no uniformity in the approach to handle such cases. The issue has already been taken up with the Jt. Secretary, Customs but no avail.

Most of the return of shipments to be destined to origin or alternate destinations arises broadly in the following 3 circumstances for both express and formal cargo Shipments.

a) Misrouted Import shipments

At times due to sorting errors, certain shipments arrive in India even though they are destined for some other destination and arrive in India due to an error.

Such shipments come to the notice prior to presentation for formal customs clearance and are generally not presented for customs clearance after they arrive. Such shipments, however, are reflected in the IGM in the express and cargo mode and pre alert Bill of Entry in the express/courier mode. In order to return such shipments to the actual destination or origin we are required to seek permission of the customs authorities. This, however, raises a challenge as an IEC number is required for re-export of such a shipment. In the absence of any importer and in the absence of clear guidelines for handling such shipments it becomes a challenge to send these shipments back or to reroute them.

In view of the above it is suggested that the following process may be followed:


Page 40


As such import shipments are reflected in the IGM, in order to re-export them before they enter the DTA, the form in the enclosed format may be used whereby the customs officers may verify the existence of the misrouted shipments in the IGM or amended IGM and could grant permission for return to origin after seeking details of the flight number on which the shipment is proposed to be exported and sent back. The same could reflect in the EGM and sent back and upon verification of the EGM the status of the shipment could be closed.

Permission could be granted subject to fulfillment of the following conditions.

A letter from the airline or express company asking for rerouting of the shipment

Submission of the Form and explanation

b) Abandoned shipments

At times the importer of an import shipment refuses to clear the import shipment or if cleared by the express company refuses to accept the shipment after advancement of customs duties by the express company and in such case the shipper may ask for recall of the shipment.


Page 41


A similar process as outlined above could be followed for such shipments subject to fulfillment of following conditions.

A letter from the origin shipper asking for recall of the shipment

Authorisation in favour of the express company through whom the shipment was brought to India with instructions for return or rerouting as the case may be.

Based on the fulfillment of the above conditions the permission can be granted by customs officers to send the shipment back to origin or to an alternate destination as per the shipper's instructions.

c) Rerouting of shipments.

There are instances when an import shipment may be required to be rerouted to a destination other than the origin on account of the requirement of the shipper of the abandoned or misrouted shipment to alternative destination other than the origin. This is true of certain category of shipments which are required on an urgent basis due to scarcity e.g. aircraft parts which have to be sent to the location of wherever the aircraft operation requires them to be sent. In such cases too, the above outlined procedure could be followed.


Page 42


As there are no specific guidelines on the aforementioned issues there is no uniform procedure that is adopted and the same leads to major delays. It is hence requested that the circular also stipulate a timeframe of a maximum of 3 working days to process such requests.

5 Uniformity of Transshipment Procedures at all the international airports needed: It was pointed out that transshipment in Delhi is different of Mumbai and Bangalore different procedures are being followed.

At present there are no such differences exist.

Issue is closed.

5.4.2.6.7. Innovation Sub-committee

Total meetings held; - 03 (Three)

SN Ideas Status Action By

1 Shipper built units As informed by Customs/ CISF, this

framework currently does not exist.

Framework (both import and export)

Needs to be drafted and presented to

Customs, CISF and BCAS.

A small group of officials was formed

to prepare paper.

Mr. Vipan Jain, Mr.

MD Kala, Mr. Vijay

Sharma & Mr.

Halim Modassir


Page 43

2 Known Shipper

concept explore

benefits and

involve BCAS

Proposed through ACLPB.

This policy was brought by BCAS to

avoid ‘’X-Ray screening’’ by Security

agencies at the Airport (Cargo

Terminal) and facilitate faster

processing and reduce delay.

Till now no shippers have obtained

Known Shipper status and only

Terminal Operators like DCSC are only

certified under regulated agent

category of BCAS. There are no takers

of BCAS policy for the last six years.

It was decided at this stage, to

identify Shippers who will be willing

to apply for “Known Shipper” status.

Mr. Sanjiv Edward/

both Cargo

Terminal

Operators Celebi

and DCSC

3 Explore areas for

ACFI to get into

Certification

Point deferred Mr. Sanjiv Edward

and Joint Team

4 Recommend Value

added products at

Cargo Terminals

(Export/ Import)

The point was deferred, will be taken

up shortly again.

Joint Team

Focus Group 1 – Implement Smart Gate

SN Ideas Status Action

5 Replicate Smart

Gate Concept Agencies which needs to participate in

this initiative;

i. APHO

ii. Animal Quarantine

iii. Plant Quarantine

Focus Group 1

Lead

Mr Vijay Kumar.

Facilitation


Page 44

iv. ASI

v. Apparel Control.

vi. Certificate of Origin

vii.Min. of Telecom

Pilot for Delhi Airport

It was decided to have form a “Group

on Smart Gate” whose scope will be

to “pursue Engagement with

Agencies for brining on common IT

Platform”

Mr. Yashpal

Sharma

Members

Mr. MD Kala,

Mr. Venu Bangera,

Celebi – TBA, Mr.

Dinkar Singh

Focus Group 2 – Process Review for Elimination of Paper


6 Process review

for Elimination

of Paper

The Scope of the Process Review

group would be to conduct Process

Analysis of both Export & Import

process & identify areas to

i. Remove redundant process.

ii. Replace manual process with

Electronic Transactions

iii. Recommend implementable

plans/polices to remove

paper from the process

Focus Group-2

Lead

Mr. Cyrus Katgara

Facilitation

Mr. MD Kala

Members

Mr. Vijay Sharma

Mr. Venu Bangera

Celebi – TBA


Page 45

Focus Group 3 – E-Freight


7 E-Freight

Implementation

The Scope of this group is to pursue

the IATA initiative for E-Freight i.e.

removing transactional hard copy

documents and replacing with

Electronic messages/

Focus Group 3

Lead

Mr. MD Kala

Facilitation

Mr. Arun Kumar

Members

Members from

current JWG

already

constituted for E

Freight

Focus Group 4 – Benchmarking


8 Benchmarking

IGIA Paperless

Initiative

Scope of this group is to Benchmark

the IGIA Paperless Initiative with other

industries i.e. Banking , Telecom etc. to

i. Identify Implementable Best

Practices from other

Industries.

ii. Identify & engage with

Government initiative e.g. E-

Governance

Focus Group 4

Lead

Rishi Herenz

Members

Mr. Venu Bangera,

Sunil Kumar,

Celebi TBA, Arun

Kumar


Page 46

Other Points

SN Ideas

9 Removal of Delivery Order hard copy – It was agreed to implement and

suggested to the E-Freight Focus Group to explore this and revert with

recommendation to implement

10 Wi-Fi at Cargo Terminal – It was decided to explore possibility of Wi-Fi access

at both Cargo Terminal – Mr. MD Kala/Venu Bangera/Rajesh Goel

11 It was decided to conduct review meeting of Innovation Sub-Committee on every

2nd Thursday of every month from 1100 hrs. to 1300 hrs.

5.4.2.8. Process Simplification Sub-committee

Total Nos. of meeting held: 04 (Four)


1 Implementation of automated

message transmission of LEO/

acceptance (location slip) to

airlines & freight forwarders by

CTOs, in the exports processing

The new process was made compulsory since

22nd July all the airlines registered for the new

process of automated messaging of LEO/

Acceptance.

It was decided to hold an awareness program

at cargo terminal where DIAL will give on line

presentation/-demonstration of transmission

of electronic messaging of LEO/Location Slip to

the staff of Airlines, CHA and FFs will be

organized.

It was also suggested that the message

integration at the end of FFs & Airlines may be

considered for the benefits of these


Page 47


stakeholders.

- DIAL has started giving facility of new

features as demanded by airlines. The same

may also be considered for FFs also.

- In regard to few agencies still insisting

examination other than the examination

area it was decided that the circular issued

by Celebi on the introduction of new

examination area for export shall be further

circulated by DIAL along with a request to

all to follow.

2 Areas of improvement to be

identified in the import

processes for further

automation;-

i- Customs examination process

ii- Issuance of Gate Pass

The issue was deferred to next meeting as the

group of members is yet to consolidate points

in Import for total paperless. The team shall

undertake study & proposal may be finalized at

least before the next meeting of the

subcommittee.

3 In cases where due to any reason

E-payment of duty has been paid

twice, the additional duty, after

proper verification, should be

refunded to the same bank

account automatic. This practice

is common in other institutes. It

should not go to the manual

refund route.

Letter to DG System copy to Chairperson CBEC

has been issued.


Page 48


4 The custom registered Bank

Guaranties and various Bonds

other than License Bonds should

be incorporated in system. This

will help the custom for better

managed monitoring and

reference by trade.

Proposal on this policy prepared by Mr.

Mehrotra letter to DG System copy to

Chairperson CBEC has been issued.

5 Digital Signature should be made

mandatory for all users of

ICEGATE.



Chairperson CBEC has been issued. This issue

also has been taken up at the ACLPB meeting.

6 To streamline the system, so that

in cases, where E payment duty

challan is available, but not

showing in the system, clearance

should not be delayed.



Chairperson CBEC issued.

7 The custom registered licenses

and its credit or debit status

should be available on system.

This will help the user for

correct and timely filing of

document through ICEGATE.



Chairperson CBEC issued.

8 The custodian should not insist

for issue of gate pass for hard

copy of out of charge Bill of

Entry since the same in soft

available on custodian E-system.

Proposal on this policy prepared by Mr. Nigam

DIAL letter to DG System copy to Chairperson

CBEC has been issued.


Page 49


9 Custom O/C Bill of Entry

printout may be made available

at CHA end. This is because the

O/C computer printout does not

have any custom officer

signature as per the Public

Notice 02/2013 dated

26.02.2013 issued by the

Commissioner of Customs

(Importer and General) N.C.H.

Delhi.



Chairperson CBEC has been issued.

10 Dispensation of hard copies of

Delivery Order and Out of

Charge Order too.

Proposal on this policy prepared by Mr. Nigam

DIAL, letter to DG System copy to Chairperson

CBEC has been issued dated 3rd Sep’2013.

11 Filing of two separate bonds by

Airlines for carriage of incoming

TP and also outgoing TP

consignments also. A common

bond should do well.

A paper shall be made by Mr. Nigam for taking

up with Customs.

12 Remove the need for IFO

signature e.g. Al import

consignments

IGM filing is done electronically as per Section

30 of Customs Act, since the data is already fed

into the system requirement of IFO signing on

the segregation report is redundant. Point

transferred to Innovation subcommittee for

necessary action.

13 Post-dispatch documentation

D-60

This point has been transferred to Innovation

Subcommittee for further necessary action.


Page 50


14 Remove the need for Gate Pass

Officer

Bill of entry copy, duty payment receipt and

TSP charges are good enough documents to

ascertain circulars and payment status of any

shipment that makes the additional activity of

Gate Pass before shipments is moved out as

non-value add to the entire process.

Point transferred to Innovation subcommittee

for further necessary action.

5.4.2.9. Non Schedule Airline Flight Operation Sub-committee

Total meetings held – 01 (One)

S. No. Issues Taken up Deliberations Action By

1 a) Recognition of Non Schedule Airline

b) Areas Identified for Solution: BCAS Issues

It was brought out by Mr. Paulose that in-spite of YA permission issued by DGCA for each flights of the non-schedule airlines and contributing a sizable amount of business and revenue to the stakeholders of the logistics trade & industry, the non-schedule operators are yet to get due recognition at par with an airline by all concerned and agencies like BCAS, Customs and Airport operator/CTO etc.

It was pointed out that BCAS passes/permissions for seeking access of the airport operational points for the employees of the non-schedule operators are being issued at the last minute.

Mr. Sujeen Paulose and Mr. Henry.

ACFI Secretariat


Page 51


C. Customs Issues

d. Airport Operators/ Custodians/ CTOs

The delay is on the flimsical grounds of the authorities which create uncertainties and delay in flight operation. It was stressed upon by the members that BCAS should lay down a clear procedure for issuance of passes to the employees of the Non schedule operator against the YA permission & requests made by the operators. The passes should be issued well in advance (at least one day before) the departure of the flight.

It was pointed out that Customs do not allow centralized registration of non-schedule airlines in their system as being done for scheduled airlines. Due to this problem non-scheduled operators have to register at each airport and face lots of hardships. - It was therefore,

recommended that non-scheduled operators must be allowed centralized one time registration by Customs in the Customs system so that the hardships are minimized.

- It was explained that there

was no clear SOP issued so far by the Airport Operators/Custodians/CTOs

ACFI Secretariat

DIAL/Celebi/ DCSC


Page 52


the operations of non -schedule flights which should include the issues like processing of odd sized cargo (entry along with the vehicle/passes, clearance and loading inside the terminal or at the apron). This needs to be issued for the information and smooth operation in consultation with airport security and Customs so that there is clarity in the processing by each one involved in the operation.

2 Action Plan for solution

In Order to address each of the

above points and taking them

forward it was agreed that:

a) Mr. Sujeen Paulose and Mr. Henry shall prepare a document (presentation/ write up) well before the next subcommittee meeting about the basics of the non-schedule operation including its contribution to the industry and the nation so that the same could be helpful in presenting their request to the concerned authorities. The above said paper shall be provided to the ACFI secretariat within next two weeks so that the same is presented to the sub-committee in its next

Mr. Sujeen Paulose & Mr. Henry

ACFI Secretariat


Page 53


meeting. Thereafter, the same shall be presented to ACFI Board for approval and taking up further to the concerned authorities.

b) It was also agreed by DIAL and the non-schedule operators that a scheduled meeting once in a month (first Friday of the month) shall be held to review airport operational issues pertaining to both the stakeholders and resolve the burning issues locally. It was decided that the first review meeting among Operators/DIAL/CTOs shall be held on 7th Feb’2014 at 1100 hrs.

Mr. M.D. Kala DIAL

Mr. Sujeen Paulose

5.4.2.10. Perishable Export Cargo Sub-committee

Total Meetings Held – 01 (One)

SN Issues Taken Up Action Required to be taken by the sub-

committee Head

1 Special Focus on the

following category of

perishables needs to be

given to promote export;-

Mango, Karela & Okra.

It was informed that these categories of

perishable commodities are required to be

given special focus because of its growth

potential for export from northern India. An

adequate facility for testing/treatment plants

shall be required for expeditious clearance.


Page 54


committee Head

2 Non Availability of Plant

Quarantine Official at

Saharanpur station (Mandi

Parishad Complex) on

regular basis

There is only one Treatment Plant and

Machinery installed in the entire northern

region at Saharanpur (U.P.). Due to the

shortage of Quarantine officials, the trade has

to engage officials from Delhi as and when

their shipments are processed for export at

Saharanpur. This is a big hurdle for export of

mango from northern India.

3 Need of installation of MORE

Laboratory & Testing Plants

in the Norther Region.

Laboratory for VHT and Radiation Test

particularly for US bound export shipments is

required to be installed at Saharanpur &

nearby Delhi.

Proper Testing plant/Laboratory in more

numbers as well as SOP in respect of Mango,

Okra and Karela is required to be installed/

issued by the concerned authorities as there

is only one testing lab i.e. Delhi Testing Lab

(DTL) which is inadequate and charging at a

very higher rates for certification.

4 Provisions in the present

Customs EDI System for

exemption of examination of

Perishable cargo.

As per the Customs notification perishables

are exempted to Customs examination until

there is specific information but the present

Customs EDI system invariably asks for

examination of certain packages as per

system design. Therefore provisions for

exemption of Customs examination for


Page 55


committee Head

perishables should be included in the

Customs EDI system to plug this requirement.

5 HS Code problem HS Code issued by the Ministry of Commerce

only is being accepted by the Customs.

Whereas, APEDA is insisting its own HS Code

for the purpose of grant of incentives. As the

APEDA HS codes are not acceptable to the

Customs authorities the exporting community

faces problem to resolve this issue. This issue

needs to be discussed with the APEDA for

amicable solution.

6 Presence of Meat Exporters

in the meeting.

In the next sub-committee meeting some of

the leading meat exporters as well as

vegetable exporters are required to be invited

for discussions on their issues if any. Ms. Urmi

will provide the name, contact no. and email-

ID of such exporters to ACFI.

7 Data on Perishable cargo In respect of all the perishable products

moving out and in to IGIA as well as on all

India basis shall be arranged by Ms. Urmi to

ACFI secretariat.

8 Augmentation of

Infrastructure facilities at

the airport for maintaining

cool chain till perishables is

Infrastructure for maintaining cool chain

while transportation of perishables from

cargo terminal to aircraft bays should be

strengthened by CTOs against reasonable

cost. As a short term solution adequate


Page 56


committee Head

loaded on the aircraft. numbers of Thermal Blankets could be

arranged by the CTOs

9 Need of Cold storage facility

at Domestic Cargo Terminal.

For handling & storage of perishable cargo at

domestic cargo terminal proper

infrastructure facilities should be made

available as a short term & long term plan.

5.4.2.11. Service Standard Sub-committee

Meetings held – 01 (One)

SN Issues Taken Up Actions to be taken

1 Basics principles of Service

standard

A public commitment to a measurable level of performance that the customers can expect under normal circumstances in terms of timeliness, accuracy and appropriateness etc. as has been described by industry stalwarts.

Service Standard in the Air Logistics Industry may dwell upon the service standards of the following main six stake holders in the industry.

i) Shipper/ Importers ii) Freight Forwarders including

(Transporters)/ Express Operators iii) Clearing Agents iv) Airport Operator v) Terminal Operators vi) Airlines


Page 57

2 Approach to achieve the

goal

As part of action plan to map, benchmark and

monitor the Service Standards within India as

well as at International level, the members

decided that we should know first the complete

processes and responsibilities involved by each

player in the air logistics industry viz starting

with the Shipper in export till the airlines uplifts

the goods and vice versa for import on arrival

till collected by the consignee.

And then recommend the service levels in term

of time taken for completing each activity in

India and comparing with international level.

3 Participation of all the

members of stakeholders in

the air cargo logistics

industry

It was also felt that this Sub-committee does not

have a Freight Forwarder or CHA for mapping

each process they undergo and therefore

suggested to induct one expert from one of the

big freight forwarder of ACFI member. In this

regard Mr. Rajeev Khanna from Jeena & Co. was

requested to be part of this subcommittee.

4 Collection of inputs

regarding documents &

processes of entire flow of

operation

Need to identify the requirements that the

Shipper has to provide, all documents and

physical goods, and its role in the processes,

Freight Forwarders & CHA’s role preparing

documents, involvement in the processes and

physical presentation of cargo for clearance of

goods through Customs till hand over to the

cargo terminal operator /airline. Mr. Rajiv was

requested for the above inputs.

Airline following certain standard of SLAs with

their GSAs & ground handlers also needs to be


Page 58

studied for working out a composite standard.

The airline related inputs shall be arranged by

Mr. Jones

As regards Inputs viz. Copies of the approved

SLAs under implementation by each CTOs, IATA

standard Document formats wherever

applicable, role/part of Customs and Security

the same will be made available by Mr. Bhawani

Singh, DCSC and Mr. O P Sharma, DIAL to ACFI

Secretariat by 24.01.2014 positively.

On receipt of the above information, the same

will be consolidated and compiled by the

ACFI Secretariat for further discussion by the

subcommittee.

6. Events Organized by ACFI during the Year 2013-14

6.1. Air Cargo Security Conference

Theme - “Air Cargo Supply Chain Security – Future Outlook”

On 27th November, 2013 Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) organized a half day

conference on ‘’Air Cargo Supply Chain Security – Future Outlook” at Hotel

Radisson, Blu Plaza, New Delhi to give focus on the overall security scenario in the

aviation industry particularly on Security related issues and challenges in Air Cargo

Supply Chain for the benefit of entire Air Cargo Logistics trade & Industry

stakeholders. It was the 2nd Air Cargo event successfully organized by ACFI since its

inception in Oct’2012.


Page 59

The key objective was to bring together all the stakeholders of air cargo supply chain and create awareness of Security related challenges, risks and mitigation and compliance to global regulations to facilitate global model, and application of technology in securing air cargo supply chain.

Participants: The event had an overwhelming participation of more than 100

participants which included Govt. Officials from various ministries, Customs, BCAS,

CISF, Members of Trade Associations like Air Cargo Agents Association (ACAAI) its

national President and Chairman Northern Region, Chairman Bar India Cargo NR,

EICI & DACAAI, major Exporters and Importers, members of air cargo supply chain

stakeholders Airlines, IATA accredited Freight Forwarders, Cargo Terminal

Operators, Integrators, Courier & Express Operators, Technology and Equipment

Suppliers, Airport Operators, General Sales Agents, Customs House Agents (CHAs).

The dignitaries who spoke on this occasion were; Mr. Pradeep Panicker, President

ACFI, Mr. SIS Ahmed, Director, GMR Group (Former Director General CISF and

CRPF), Mr. Blase D’Souza, Director Materials, Ingram Micro India Ltd., Mr. Rajinder

Chana, First Secretary, Aviation, Department for Transport, British High

Commission, New Delhi, Mr. Vipan Jain, Chairman, Bar India Cargo NR, Regional

Manager – Logistics, South Asia & Middle East – Lufthansa.

Speakers delivered lectures on the following topics Customer Perspective on Future Security Requirements and Preparedness

Securing without Slowing-Government Perspective

IATA - Secured Freight Initiative

International Security Practices and Adaptability in India

Airport Perspective on Air Cargo Security Challenges

ACFI Update – was given by Mr Cyrus Katgara Secretary ACFI highlighting following achievements achieved within a period of last one year from its inception.


Page 60

6.2. ACAAI & ACFI Joint Symposium:

Theme – “Progressing Air Cargo – Challenges and Opportunities”

First time in the history of air logistics supply chain industry in the country when

the two premier associations ACFI & ACAAI came together and jointly organized a

most successful air cargo symposium with the theme on ''Progressing Air Cargo-

Challenges and Opportunities'' on 26th Mar'2014 at Shangri- La's Eros Hotel, New

Delhi under a joint coordination group of both ACFI & ACAAI. This happened due to

the foresighted visions and leaderships of the Presidents of both these associations.

The Presidents of both Associations Mr. Pradeep Panicker President ACFI & Mr. S.L.

Sharma President ACAAI, jointly welcomed the guests with their respective

welcome addresses. The event had participation by key decision makers from the

government the Economic Advisor MoCA, Jt. Secretary (SCOPE) Ministry of

Commerce, Controller of Certifying Authorities, Ministry of Communication &

Information Technology, from Airlines, Freight Forwarders, Cargo Terminal

Operators, Airport Operators, Customs House Agents, and Express Operators etc.

with more than 200 delegates from across the country to participate in the

deliberations. The business sessions were so designed to ensure that this

symposium will be highly beneficial to all the stakeholders of Air Cargo Logistics

trade and to prepare it to convert the challenges into opportunities for growth.

The event has touched upon the future outlook of Air Cargo Business and was able

to bring to the fore the current challenges being faced by the Air Cargo Supply Chain

and opportunities available to the business. The focus has been on Go Green- the

paperless regime & how the regulatory regime shall be providing a favourable

platform to the industry for growth while also bringing forward the industry

expectations from them. The symposium also brought a flavor of innovations by

young entrepreneurs & professionals which showed the vision of 2050 fostering

growth of air logistics industry phi-nominal and liked by one and all.

The dignitaries who spoke on this occasion were Mr Pradeep Panicker, President

ACFI, Mr SL Sharma, President ACAAI, by Mr. Amber Dubey, Partner and Head –


Page 61

Aerospace and Defence, KPMG India, Mr M. Kannan the Economic Adviser, Ministry

of Civil Aviation, Mr. J.K. Dadoo, Jt. Secretary (SCOPE) Ministry of Commerce, Prof. G.

Raghuram from IIM (Ahmadabad), Mr. Rafeeque Ahmed President Federation of

Indian Export Organisation (FIEO), Mr. T.A. Khan Controller of Certifying

Authorities, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology, Mr. Vipan Jain,

Chairman Bar Cargo & Regional Manager Logistics, Lufthansa Cargo, Mr. Keshav

Tanna, Vice President FIATA, Mr. Pravin Singh, Area Commercial Head (Manager)

South Asia British Airways (Cargo), Mr. B. N. Puri, Member Secretary National

Transport Development Policy Committee and Mr. Tushar Jani, Chairman Delhi

Cargo Service Center.

The conference covered almost all the issues of air logistics trade under following

four sessions;-

Business Session – 1 : Outlook for Air Cargo Industry

Business Session – 2 : Regulatory Policies as Catalyst to Growth

Business Session – 3 : The World of Logistics 2050

Business Session – 4 : Preparing Infrastructure to meet Air Cargo Growth

The events went very well with an active participation of all members of the Air

Cargo Fraternity. As a special gesture “Two Lucky Draw Air Tickets” for two couples

were sponsored by InterGlobe Air Transport Ltd (Indigo Air Lines) for sectors

DELHI- MUMBAI-DELHI and DELHI-BAGALORE-DELHI

The comments received from the industry about the above joint symposium was

overwhelming as under;-

ACAAI & ACFI jointly organised the first grand event with absolute professionalism.

Sincere efforts and perfect planning delivered an excellent symposium. It has been a

dream come true to see the bonding & joining hands between ACAAI & ACFI on one

platform during the subject symposium. Needless to mention that togetherness of

these two trade bodies has been a bold step which is capable of doing wonders

towards the betterment of the air cargo sector. The move was truly appreciated to


Page 62

give a signal that a united force of ACAAI & ACFI would definitely yield considerable

fruitful results for the cargo fraternity. All the sessions conducted have been

extremely interesting and informative.

7. Status of various important activities initiated by ACFI Board with Govt. Agencies

Status of various important activities initiated by ACFI Board with various Govt.

Agencies and its achievements

SN Air Cargo Logistics Issues Taken-up with Authorities

Status

1 Advance Clearance facility of Pharma shipments at par with Mumbai Airport

DGHS - dated 27.02.2013

2nd ACLPB – dated 28.03.2013

Drug Controller General issued order dated 18/04/2013 for issues of advance NOC of ADC before the arrival of goods to airport. And the new procedure was implemented at IGIA May 2013.

This has saved unnecessary holding time of Pharma shipments at the cargo terminal.

2 Cost Recovery Charges on the Custodian

ACLPB – dated 28.03.2013

CBEC vide its Circular 16/2013 customs waived cost recovery charges for the air cargo complexes handling more than 12,000 Mt. of cargo and 35,000 numbers of BE/SB per annum.


Page 63


Status

3 Suggestions on Customs Brokers regulations including implementation of Digital Signature.

Chairman, CBEC

Dated 21.05.2013

Follow up stage

4 Maintenance of CHA records in soft copy in place of hard copies (Sec. 18 of CHALP 2004)

Member, Customs

Dated 28.05.2013

Follow up stage

5 24x7 Customs clearance of all Export/ Import Shipment

ACLPB – dated 28.03.2013

CBEC, dated 17/06/2013

CBEC Issued order 21/05/2013implemented on w.e.f. 01/06/2013 at Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

6 Follow up action on the minutes of 2nd meeting of ACLPB held on 28.03.2013 regarding 15 Issues raised by ACFI & Discussed in the said meeting.

Economic Advisor, MoCA dated 04.07.2013

Follow up stage

7 Solutions for Part Shipments cases & Part Delivery of import shipments as per International practices- i. Short Term Solutions - DC

should be allowed to permit in place of Add. Comm. Save at least 1 – 2 days.

ii. Long Term – As per Airports in US and EU countries through systems by filing permit document in their EDI System.

Chairman CBEC, dated 13.08.2013

3rd ACLPB Meeting

dated 20.09.2013

Once again President ACFI took up in the 4th ACLPB held on 4th Mar’2014

For consideration by CBEC.


Page 64


Status

8 Dispensation of Delivery orders hard copy of accept soft copy of D.O./ House D.O.

DG System, dated 03.09.2013

Follow up stage

9 Traffic restriction on movement of cargo carrying vehicle – Allow small Vehicle (TATA 407, TATA ACE, TEMPO)

Within Airport Area free movement of cargo carrying vehicle

DC (Police), HQs.

Dated 07.09.2013

Response on

DCS & VIP, New Delhi

Dated 09.10.2013

i. DCP Traffic (VIP Delhi) has responded wide letter dated 09.10.2013.

ii. No-Entry restriction will continue.

iii. Cargo terminal is approachable from NH-8 and Dwarka BPCL side. There is no restriction and no entry timing on the road from Centaur hotel to cargo terminal.

10 Up-gradation of Customs IT Systems to avoid frequent break downs.

Points related to Customs EDI Systems (05 Issues) and Customs Process improvement (09) was taken up.

Secretary, Revenue

Dated 26.09.2013

Follow up meeting with Member Customs on dated 01.10.2013 by ACFI Board members and latter dated 11.02.2014.

11 Follow-up action with Member Customs subsequent to meeting dated 01.10.2013.

a. Points related to DG Systems;

Member, Customs

Dated 04.10.2013

3rd ACLPB meeting 20.09.2013.

Follow up Meeting with member Customs held on 01.10.2013.


Page 65


Status

i. Paperless/Digital Signature Implementation

ii. Automatic refund of Double paid customs duty

iii. Bounds and B.G. to be filed through EDI

iv. Transshipment EDI Module to expedited

b. Procedure Points related

to Customs; i. E-records Maintenance ii. Part Shipment

Clearance of Import Cargo

iii. Dispensation of gate officers

iv. Dispensation of Custodian copies of Customs Out of Charge

Advance filing of B/E based on MAWB/ HAWB.

4th ACLPB meeting 04.03.2014.

12 Introduction of RMS in Export

2nd ACLPB Meeting dated 28.03.2013

Customs Introduced RMS in Export in Air cargo Complexes (Delhi) w.e.f. 24.01.2014 wide Public Notice 17/2013 and Corundum No. PN-2/2014 dated 20.01.2014


Page 66


Status

12 Promoting Indian Airports as Major Air Cargo Hubs

Economic Advisor, MoCA, wide latter 13.02.2014

Follow up stage

13 Review of BCAS Known Shipper and Regulated Agents Concept Policy of 8/2008

4th ACLPB meeting 04.03.2014.

BCAS to submit report to MoCA.

8. Major Achievements of ACFI during last two years

28 logistics industry specific issues have been taken up with various

government authorities (Secy. Revenue MoF, Chairman CBEC, Member

Customs, DG System, BCAS, and ACLPB) and being continuously pursued with

them for consideration.

13 internal issues pertaining to members of the logistics industry have

already been resolved internally with the assistance of members Cargo

Terminal Operators (CTO).

ACFI had also forwarded 44 recommendations related to Air Cargo Logistics

Industry, to Chairman CBEC on the policy changes in the existing Customs

Act-1962 for consideration.

ACFI an apex body of entire members of air cargo logistics trade & industry

has been invited to be a part of the regular meetings of the Air Cargo Logistic

Promotion Board (ACLPB) constituted by Ministry of Civil Aviation under the

Chairmanship of Secretary, Civil Aviation. ACFI has taken up 15 issues


Page 67

pertaining to air cargo logistics industry in the ACLPB meetings & all these

points have been discussed & deliberated.

ACFI among few other trade bodies can claim a share in the successful

implementation of 24x7 clearances of all export goods by Customs

implemented w.e.f. 1st July’2013 as this was one of the 28 issues raised by

ACFI at various levels of government departments & forums.

Standardization of Export clearance procedure for Pharmaceutical Goods

uniformly at all the airports in India has been accepted by DGHS based on

ACFI representation to DGHS & at ACLPB, & implemented at IGIA w.e.f.

Apr’2013 thus saving 3-4 hours waiting time of the Pharma shipments at the

cargo terminal.

First time in the country a Paperless Export Cargo Acceptance System

(PECAS) has been introduced for acceptance of Export Cargo and successfully

implemented at IGIA through online transmission of LEO and Location Slip

(Acceptance) messages by the CTOs to Airlines & freight forwarders w.e.f.

22.07.2013. This paperless process also saves 2-3 hours of process time of

export cargo at the cargo terminal.

In order to give special focus on each specific issues of logistics industry and

their timely solutions, ACFI has established following 11 Sub Committees

headed by its specialists members, with a specific objectives given to each

subcommittees to achieve.

a. Process Simplification

b. Apparel & Textile

c. Pharma Export

d. Auto Industry

e. Electronics Industry


Page 68

f. Express Cargo Industry

g. Domestic & Transhipment Cargo

h. Perishable Export/Import Cargo

i. Non Scheduled Flight Operation

j. Service Standard in the Air Logistic

k. Membership

Case studies prepared by the respective subcommittees are put up to ACFI Board

for approval & taking up with the concern agencies & authorities for solution. With

the result more than 28 issues pertaining to air logistics industry & trade has been

taken up by ACFI Board with the concern government authorities.

9. Other Activities

9.1. Release of E- News Letters:

ACFI has released following three (03) E-News Letters through its website

www.acfi.in during the year under report, covering important events &

achievements of ACFI for the information & knowledge of all air cargo logistics

trade & industry members.

a. April’2013 Issue - Covering the first Event of ACFI on the theme of “Air Cargo Today to Tomorrow” which was held on 5th March, 2013 at Westin Hotel, Gurgaon, aiming at better future of air cargo in spite of number of challenges at present.

b. Sep’2013 Issue – About the establishment of eight Industry Specific sub-

committees by ACFI to resolve issues, bring improvements related to Air Logistics Trade & Industry and achievements of ACFI.

c. Dec’2013 Issue - Covering the features of the maiden event organised by ACFI on the theme of “Air Cargo Supply Chain Security – Future Outlook” at Hotel Radisson, Blu Plaza, New Delhi on 27th Sep’2013 with the objective to

http://www.acfi.in/


Page 69

give focus on the overall security scenario in the aviation industry particularly on security related issues and challenges in Air Cargo Supply Chain for the benefit of entire Air Cargo Logistics trade & Industry stakeholders.

9.2. Points of Special Mention: Support of DIAL to ACFI Secretariat

The support of Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL) to ACFI

Secretariat is commendable. ACFI Secretariat which is functioning from its

registered office at Room No. 19, Ground Floor, Old Project Office, New Udaan

Bhawan, Opposite T-3, IGI Airport, New Delhi-110037 has been provided by

Delhi International Airport Ltd.(DIAL) free of cost, right from the inception of

ACFI i.e. Sep’2011 with all office equipments & furniture (One room and one

work station with full furniture viz table and chairs, one HP Printer, Two

Telephone, one laptop, two Elmira).

Apart from above DIAL conference rooms & auditoriums are being used by

ACFI regularly for its Board meetings, subcommittee meetings & AGMs.

ACFI Governing Board placed its appreciation & gratitude on record in various

ACFI Board meetings about above valuable support extended by DIAL to ACFI.

9.3. Action Plans for F.Y. 2014-15

i. Celebration of ACFI Annual Day and release of the first ACFI Year Book on 10th

October, 2014.

ii. Establishment of ACFI Regional Branches at Bangalore(Southern Chapter)

and Mumbai(Western Chapter).

iii. February, 2015 – ACFI Conference on Perishable cargo including Pharma,

Exhibition & Networking Dinner.

iv. Air Cargo Fraternity Interaction with Industry Leaders/ Senior Government

Officials. March’2015


Page 70

10. Contact Information

AIR CARGO FORUM INDIA Room No. 19, Ground Floor, Project Office, New Udaan Bhawan, Opposite Terminal – T3, I.G.I. Airport, New Delhi - 110037

Tel +91 11 46084295

Email ID: [email protected]

www.acfi.in

Mr. K. S. Kunwar, Director General

+91 9810155688

[email protected]

Mr. D. R. Juyal, Director

+91 9818417788

[email protected]

Annual Report for 2nd Annual General meeting (AGM)acfi.in/images/Annual Report-2nd AGM.pdf ·...

Documents

Transcript of Annual Report for 2nd Annual General meeting (AGM)acfi.in/images/Annual Report-2nd AGM.pdf ·...