New customs IT system cripples air cargo in Mumbai

MUMBAI air cargo complex has experienced a slowdown after customs introduced a new electronic system to clear international cargo, reports the Indian Express.

Cargo agents say the backlog of uncleared imports at the air cargo complex has now reached 3,500 tonnes against 2,500 tonnes that the complex handles daily.

A backlog of around 1,000 tonnes developed over the last week. For traders, this means that the delivery of imported goods that have arrived via air will continue to be slow for another next week, said the report.

"In the last six days, the air cargo complex cleared 1,600 tonnes of import goods for delivery, which is only 52 per cent of its full capacity. In exports, the complex cleared around 1700 tonnes of goods - which is around 60 per cent of the usual volume," said an airport source.

Airport officials and cargo agents blame teething problems of the new customs EDI 1.5 system. "The customs department was obviously not as prepared as they should have been before the introduction of the new version," said a cargo agent.

This system was introduced in Mumbai on December 24. It has also been introduced in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Delhi.

"The introduction of the new system was slightly in Mumbai. When it was implemented in Delhi, officials were able to clear only around 10 per cent of the goods," an official said.
(Source:www.schednet.com)