With ICEDASH, Indian Customs has taken an initiative to provide an effective tool that helps businesses compare clearance times across ports and plan their logistics accordingly. This dashboard has been developed by CBIC in collaboration with NIC. ICEDASH can be accessed through the CBIC website wherein the clearance time of all bill of entries (BEs) and shipping bills (SBs) can be viewed. This is aimed at monitoring and improving the pace of customs clearance of imported and exported goods.
The time taken in Customs clearance including documentary compliance and border compliance are important parameters to evaluate ease of trading across borders. The National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) has set the medium term targets for EoDB time lines for release of cargo for imports as 48 hours for sea ports and 24 hours for air cargo complexes and for inland container depots and land customs stations and Indian Customs is taking all steps to adhere to these targets.
The trade can view and compare timelines for BEs which are out of charged (OOC) and SBs for which let export orders (LEO) are issued along with the time taken for clearance for imports and exports by air, sea or through ICDs. The dashboard shows total BEs which are out of charged and percentage of BEs cleared in less than 48 hours, between 48 and 72 hours and in more than 72 hours. Similarly, it also shows total SBs which are issued LEO and percentage of SBs cleared in less than 24 hours, between 24 and 72 hours and in more than 72 hours.
ICEDASH is a landmark initiative towards transparency and streamlining trade across all ports. It also helps measure the efficacy of various steps implemented for the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement which India had committed to wholly implement by February 2022. The TF Agreement encourages Customs to publish their average release times of goods.
The manner in which Customs and other border agencies handle cargo at borders, significantly impacts the competitiveness of a nation. Complex border clearance procedures pose greater barriers to trade than tariffs. This increases transaction costs and time taken for clearance of traded goods. Simplification of Customs procedures can go a long way to remedy this.
