Circular No. 06/2021-Customs
F. No. 394/29/2020-Cus (AS)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Anti-Smuggling Unit (CBIC)
eK
Room No. 501, St Floor, Hudco Vishala Building,
R. K. Puram, New Delhi. Dated 22.02.2021
To,
All Principal Chief/Chief Commissioners of Customs,
All Principal Chief/Chief Commissioners of Customs(P),
All Principal Chief/Chief Commissioners of Customs & CGST,
Webmaster, CBIC.
Madam /Sir,
Subject: Policy and Guidelines for setting up of Inland Container Depots (ICDs),
Container Freight Stations (CFSs) and Air Freight Stations (AFSs)-Reg.
The Board had issued new set of policy and guidelines for setting up of
ICDs/CFSs/AFSs vide Circular No. 50/2020-Customs dated 05.11.2020. The said circular
laid down various criterion for new approvals, applications and procedures for approval, post
approval obligation, regulatory & other compliances, and performance monitoring etc. Post
issuance of the Circular, the Inter -Ministerial Committee (IMC) was further reconstituted vide
Board’s order dated 18.01.2021.
2. Para 5.1.5 of the said circular states that the IMC meeting will be held twice a year. It
also prescribed that the jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs and the Members of IMC
will furnish their comments/recommendations on the applications received in this regard
within
30 days. However, there was no cut-off date prescribed for submitting the applications
and there were instances where applications were received just prior to the IMC meeting. Late
submission of application poses two challenges. Firstly, there is no sufficient time for the
jurisdictional Commissioners and IMC Members to examine the applications and to furnish
their comments on the same. Secondly, if an application is not placed in time before the
scheduled IMC meeting, the applicant needs to wait for another 06 months for the next IMC
meeting which in turn hampers the investment activities of the stakeholders particularly in
the logistics sector.
3. Further, on scrutiny of the applications and the comments/ recommendations as
forwarded by the jurisdictional Commissioners, it has been noticed that there is no objective
evaluation of the proposal and many a times the recommendation of the jurisdictional
Commissioner does not provide a holistic picture of the feasibility of the proposal. Accordingly,
it is felt that there is a need for structured reporting system which will not only minimize the
ambiguity but may also help in automation and online processing in the future.
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4: Accordingly, the following further guidelines are being prescribed:
i. The IMC meeting would be held on quarterly basis as per the following schedule-
Quarter | Cut-off date for | Receipt of | Date of Date of
receipt of | comments from | issuance of| Meeting
application IMC and | Meeting Notice
Customs
formations
January- | By 30th of | By 20th of | By 25th of | 2n¢d Tuesday
March preceding preceding preceding of January
November December December
April-June | By 28th of | By 20th of | By 25th of | 274d Tuesday
preceding preceding March | preceding March | of April
February
July- By 31st of | By 20th | By 25th of | 2nd Tuesday
September | preceding preceding June | preceding June | of July
May
October- | By By 20th of | By 25th of | 224 Tuesday
December | 31st of preceding | preceding preceding of October
August September September
(in case the 024 Tuesday of the respective month is a holiday, the next working day will be
considered as date of IMC meeting)
All the jurisdictional Principal Commissioners/Commissioners may forward their
comments/recommendations on the application for setting of ICDs/CFSs/AFSs as
per Annexure-A within the time as stipulated above.
ii.
5. The above amendment may be circulated amongst the stakeholders and public at large
and the field formations may suitably be sensitized.
6. In the Circular No. 50/2020-Customs dated 05.11.2020, any aspect which is
inconsistent with this circular shall be brought to notice for suitable modification. In case of a
conflict, the provisions of this circular will prevail.
7. Any difficulties in the implementation of these guidelines may be brought to the notice
of the Board immediately.
Yours faithfully,
_ .
4
sey a
Director (Anti-Smuggling)
Tel. No. 011- 26177519
Telefax-26177-328/572/543
Encl: Annexure-A
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Annexure-A
(to CBIC Circular No. 06/2021-Customs)
Format of reporting for Setting up of an Inland Container Depots/Container Freight
Stations/Air Freight Stations by the jurisdictional Principal
Commissioner /Commissioner.
1 | Name of the Zone
2 | Name of the entity
3 | Entity type: O PSU
O Public Ltd. |
O Pvt. Ltd. }
O Others
State of facility proposed
Status of State’s infrastructure (as per
LEAPP score) |
6 | Application for (Mark whichever oO ICD /
applicable) Oo cFS
O AFS
O CFS to ICD
O Change of location of an existing
ICD/CFS/AFS
7 | Geographical Zone of facility (Mark O Green
whichever applicable) oO Blue
O Red
8 | Authorized Economic Operator-Logistics | Yes/No
Operator Status Holder (If yes, please provide details)
9 | Distance from Port
[As per Para 4.1.3 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, the development of ICDs within
200kms of a connecting/nearest serving
seaport shall be discouraged.]
10 | Distance from nearest ICD
[As per Para 4.1.4 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, no Greenfield ICD shall be
permitted to be established within 100kms
distance from existing ICD.]
11 | Nearest Rail linked ICD
[As per Para 4.1.8 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, no approval for Greenfield ICD
shall be accorded with more than one ICD
directly connected to railway
corridors/ DFCs.]
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12 Whether CFS linked to ICD ?
[As per Para 4.1.10 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, no CFS shall be set up which is
linked to an ICD.]
13 Number of existing ICDs/CFSs and names
14 Installed capacity of existing ICDs/CFSs in
TEUs
Name of the facility Capacity in TEUs
15 Current capacity utilization of existing
ICDs/CFSs in TEUs
Name of | Capacity Utilization in TEUs for
the past 03 years
facility
Export Import Total
16 Future projection of traffic in region for the
next 05 years
Year Capacity in TEUs
17 Manpower availability
18 In terms of Circular No. 02/21-Customs
dated 19.01.2021, the sanction for cost
recovery posts shall be obtained before
commencement of operations. Despite
posts being sanctioned, till the vacant
posts are filled up, whether the formation
can deploy manpower from the existing
working strength should be clearly
mentioned ?
19 Land Availability
[As per Para 4.3.1 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, minimum area required for ICD is
07 hectares , 02 hectares for CFS and 1000
sq. yard for AFS.] 1 hectare = 2.47 acre
The proposed facility meets/doesn’t meet
the requirement.
Remarks if any:
20 Ownership of land
[As per Para 4.3.2 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, the land should either be owned
for leased for a period of 30 years.]
21
Comments on prior experience
[As per Para 4.4.2 of Circular 50/2020-
Customs, the applicant must have a prior
experience of operating as CCSP or should
have other trans-border logistics
The applicant meets/doesn’t meet the
requirement.
Remarks if any:
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experience. ]
22 | Comments on the Detailed Project Report: | (Detailed observation may be given)
Whether the claims made by the applicant
in support of their application in the DPR
are correct ?
23 | Any exception to be made for considering
the application? If so the details thereof.
24
| Any other notable remarks
Recommended/Not Recommended
25 | Recommendation
Note: All the items shall be filled up objectively; no item shall be left blank and entries like ‘no
comments’ shall be avoided.
Signature of Pr.Commissioner/Commissioner
Name:
Commissionerate:
Counter Signed by
Signature of the Pr. Chief/Chief Commissioner
Name:
Zone:
an7 Uarmn
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