CBIC Chairman releases National Time Release Study, 2022

What is the News?

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) has released Time Release Study (TRS) 2022.

About Time Release Study(TRS)

About TRS: TRS is essentially a performance measurement tool for assessing the cargo clearance process of international trade, as recommended by the WTO under the Trade Facilitation Agreement(TFA) and the World Customs Organization(WCO). 

Method Adopted: The study measures average cargo release time, i.e. the time taken from the arrival of the cargo at the customs station to its eventual release for import or export as the case may be.

Ports Covered: The TRS 2022 covered four-port categories – 1) seaports, 2) air cargo complexes (ACCs), 3) inland container depot (ICDs) and 4) integrated check posts (ICPs). These ports handle about 80% of the bills of entry (import documents) and 70% of the shipping bills (export documents).

What are the key findings of TRS 2022?

There has been an improvement in the average cargo release time for all the four-port categories in 2022 over the corresponding period of 2021. For instance, the average import release time has improved by 16% at ACCs, 12% in the case of seaports and ICDs and 2% in ICPs.

With this improvement, the ICPs have achieved the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) target release time to be achieved by 2023 whereas the other three-port categories have reached 75% of NTFAP target.

Source: This post is based on the article “CBIC Chairman releases National Time Release Study, 2022” published in PIB on 11th April 2022.