New Delhi - “CBIC is looking at reducing average release time to one hour by 2047, while focusing on the three most important aspects of trade facilitation, which are regulatory framework, technology, and infrastructure”, said Shri Vivek Johri, Chairman, CBIC, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, in his address at the Inaugural Session of CII National Conference on Trade Facilitation in New Delhi.

Shri Johri further added that WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement has provided a great thrust to improving the trading across borders environment in India. He informed that 80-100% consignments are already meeting the release time targets envisioned under the Action Plan. CBIC is also looking at Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) for enhancing effectiveness of the AEO Programme and would also be working on self-certification of origin which is a major expectation from all stakeholders.

He also mentioned that CBIC is working on challenges and opportunities arising from E-commerce. Further, he talked about a major improvement in release time at Petrapole Port. In sum, he said trade facilitation has trickled down in Government and is yet to trickle up in private sector.

Mr Rajiv Talwar, Member (Customs), CBIC, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India while addressing the Session on Streamlining and Expediting the Clearances stated that all the participants of the ecosystem that is importers/exporters, port authorities and regulatory bodies among others must understand their role in operations and strive to achieve it effectively. He emphasized on the importance of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Programme which has helped in significant reduction in dwell time in both seaports and air cargo complexes.

Ms V Rama Mathew, Member (IT, Taxpayer Services & Technology), CBIC, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India while addressing the session on Leveraging technology for Trade Facilitation highlighted that several dynamic reforms are in pipeline such as SWIFT 2.0 which will greatly rationalize the documentation procedure for PGAs. She stated that there is a lot of focus on Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology to facilitate smooth auto population of data and ensure data integrity as well as authenticity.

Mr Sanjay Budhia, Chairman, CII National Committee on Export-Import and Managing Director, Patton Group in his address stated that continued focus on creating a paperless trading ecosystem by measures like Faceless Assessment, Risk Management System and Direct Port Delivery have started showing results at the ground level with India’s score moving up from 78.49% in 2019 to 90.32% in 2021 in the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.  

Mr M Ponnuswami, Co-Chairman, CII MSME Council and Chairman and Managing Director, Pon Pure Chemicals appreciated the efforts undertaken by CBICin recent years that have significantly improved the ease of doing business in India and facilitated smoother trade. He also insisted that there is an urgent need to spread awareness amongst industry members about trade facilitation reforms.