Shri M. Ajit Kumar, Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC)  yesterday unveiled several new and modern testing equipment inducted into the Central Revenues Control Laboratory (CRCL) which would significantly enhance the in-house testing capability of the Customs leading to faster import and export clearances.  He also launched new IT functionalites for supporting “Contactless Customs” under the CBIC’s flagship programme, “Turant Customs”.

Shri Kumar released a brochure on the occasion to highlight the equitment and testing facilities of the CRCL after extensive upgradation with state-of-art equipment, costing about ₹ 80 crores. 8 CRCL Laboratories at New Delhi, Kandla, Vadodara, Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Kochi, Chennai & Visakhapatnam have obtained NABL accreditation for chemical testing in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017, for defined scope. Also, the CRCL laboratories at New Delhi and Chennai are NABL accredited for forensic testing (testing of NDPS substances).

The unveiled IT functionalities to promote Contactless Customs empower the exporters to self manage changes in their their Bank Account and AD Code through ICEGATE as well as register on ICEGATE without having to approach a Customs officer. A major innovation that was announced today is the automated debit of Bonds in the ICES which will dispense with the need for importer to visit Custom Houses to get the debity made manually. It has also been decided that the balance in the Bond would henceforth be indicated in the import document, which would help importers plan their imports. Chairman has highlighted the relevance of these functionalities, which can minimise physical interface with Customs.

Importantly, considering the benefits ushered in by providing single point interface set up in Bengaluru and Chennai Zones for 1st Phase of Faceless Assessment, CBIC would set up Turant Suvidha Kendra (TSKs) to all the Customs formations w.e.f 15.07.2020. TSKs will heneceforth be the sole physical interface point with Customs formations whenever physical submission of documents is required by Customs such as for defacement of Country of Origin Certificates. This is expected to further ease the Customs clearance process.

Contactless Customs enables self service ICEGATE transactions and automated bond debits to reduce physical interface with customs. Enhancement of laboratory infrastructure and digital intake procedures is directed at accelerating customs clearances by expanding in house testing capacity and securing accreditation for chemical and selected forensic testing. Parallel IT measures implement Contactless Customs under the Turant Customs initiative by enabling exporters to self manage banking and AD code details via ICEGATE, introducing automated debit of bonds in ICES with bond balances shown on import documents, and designating Turant Suvidha Kendra as the sole physical interface point for required document submissions.