Press

March 19, 2021

India Sea Cargo Manifest & Transhipment Regulation

Please be informed that the Indian customs has introduced a new regulation regarding the Sea Cargo Manifestation of cargo arriving into, departing from, and transshipments to/from India.

For your easy reference, please find the following key points to this rule:

Implementation:

The effective date of the new implementation rule is on 1st April 2021.

Please refer to the Mandatory Filing Requirements in the circular issued by the India Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) at https://www.cbic.gov.in/resources/htdocs-cbec/customs/cs-circulars/cs-circulars-2020/Circular-No-43-2020.pdf

Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) – For all Import Containers destined into India:

Import manifest will be known as Sea Arrival Manifest. Shipping Lines will be required to submit details of all import, transshipment & onboard containers to Indian Customs.

The forwarder or NVOCC needs to submit the House Bill of Lading (HBL) information to the carrier 72 hours prior to vessel arrival at the last foreign port of call, before calling India ports for import shipments to be discharged in India. To file hassle free custom manifest for imports, it is mandatory that below information should be included in the Master Bill of Lading (MBL) and House Bill of Lading.

  • HS code: 6-Digit International (Harmonized system) HS code should appear on MBL and HBL.
  • Importer Exporter Code (IEC) of the consignee in MBL & HBL. (If IEC is not available on MBL’s consignee then, PAN # of the consignee should be mentioned, IEC of HBL is a must)
  • Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the notify party in cases where B/L are issued showing Notify party details.
  • Goods and service tax (GST) number of MBL & HBL of the consignee.
  • E-mail of MBL & HBL of the consignee.
  • For imports into India, if the consignee is ‘TO ORDER’ or ‘TO ORDER OF SHIPPER’ or BANK, then PAN & IEC of the Notify party is mandatory.

Sea Departure Manifest (SDM) – For all Exports departing from India:

Export manifest will be known as the Sea Departure Manifest. Carriers will be required to submit details of all export containers to Indian Customs prior to 48 hours of arrival of vessel at the Indian port of loading. To file hassle free custom manifest for exports, it is mandatory that below information should be included in MBL and HB.

  • HS code: 6-Digit International (Harmonized system) HS code should appear on MBL & HBL.
  • Importer Exporter Code (IEC), Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Goods and service tax number (GST) of the shipper in HBL.
  • E-mail of the shipper.
  • IEC & PAN of MBL of the shipper.

Important notes:

  1. For consolidated cargo, the Cargo Summary Notification (CSN) for all HBL under one MBL may be generated to incorporate the information which will include all details of the HBL.
  2. To meet this requirement of SDM, Shipping Instructions (SI) / Shipping Bill (S/B) would need to be electronically available with shipping lines, hence shippers should submit SI & S/B accordingly.

In case of non-compliance:

  1. Failure to comply with the new SCMT regulation will lead to manifest amendments wherein heavy fine and penalties may be imposed by customs and also accruals of detention and/or demurrage charges.
  2. Non-compliance to the above requirements may lead to cargo not being loaded, or issuance of original Bill of lading may be held back, where the entire risk, cost and consequence remain on the account of the merchant.

Remarks:

The above timelines are as per the requirements of Indian customs. All and any amendment requests are subject to MCS/MWL evaluation and in accordance to the acceptance process with customs and cost approval.

If you have further enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact our MCS and MWL Customer Service team.