Shri Ajit Kumar, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) here yesterday unveiled a Secure QR coded Shipping Bill that would be electronically sent to exporters after the Customs allows export. This eliminates in one stroke the requirement of the exporters having to approach the Customs officers for proof of export. This also makes the end to end Customs export process fully electronic, from the filing of the Shipping Bill to the final order to allow export.

Today’s initiative in yet another step taken by CBIC for fulfilling its commitment to a Faceless, Paperless, and Contactless Customs under the umbrella of its “Turant Customs” programme. These reforms are based on enhanced use of digital technology to reduce the time and costs for the importers, exporters and other stakeholders, thereby improving India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Trading Across Borders parameter of its Doing Business Report.

The launch of paperless documentation on exports is a sequel to a similar initiative that was begun for imports w.e.f. 15^th April 2020.  The electronic transmission of the Shipping Bill would do away with the present requirement to take paper printout of these documents thereby promoting Green Customs. Equally importantly exporters would not have to visit the Customs Houses for this purpose and can better utilize their time in promoting their business.

Shri Ajit Kumar informed that the endeavour is to leverage technology to make the Customs clearance process more transparent and faster. Turant Customs, which has as its main component Faceless Assessment, would be implemented in phases across the entire country by 1^st January 2021.

Paperless exports enabled by secure QR coded Shipping Bills, removing physical proof and making export clearance fully electronic. The CBIC introduced a Secure QR coded Shipping Bill to be transmitted electronically to exporters upon Customs allowance, eliminating the need for physical proof and making the export clearance process fully electronic from filing to the final order to allow export.