CBIC : Camera-fitted jacket mandatory for Customs officials handling Sea Cargoes

Cont’d from Pg. 3

Kind attention of field formations is drawn to relevant instructions in the Customs Preventive Manual 1987, Circular No. 36/95-Cus dated April 10, 1995 and 25/2016Customs dated June 23, 2016 whereby Board had issued guidelines relating to boarding of vessels by Customs Officers.

It is well known that all vessels arriving into the country report their arrival to the Customs and Port authorities. The Boarding Officer/s are usually the first to set foot on any vesselenteringtheIndianfrontiersandtheyarethecuttingedge functionaries of the Customs Service whose visibility extends to the shipping lines, terminal operators, logistic partners, custom brokers, businessmen, crew members /passengers, etc. The Boarding Officer acts as an Ambassador of our Country and is expected to seamlessly initiateandconductcustomsformalitiesandprocedures.

Keeping the above as an objective, and continuing with variousreformsundertakenbyCustomsthroughleveraging technology so as to improve transparency & ease of doing business, to present more professionally the role of the Boarding Officer, keeping scope for upfront evidence in case of an offence or likely offence, and enhancing the protection of interest of the Customs Officer against frivolous complaints, the Nhava Sheva and Ahmedabad Customs Zones, had implemented, since August 2022, the sporting of boarding jacket fitted with Body Worn Camera (BWC) with video/audio recording facility by Boarding Officers while carrying out duties on board the vessels. Copies of the JNCH Standing Order No. 10/2022 dated August 11, 2022 and Ahmedabad Customs Zone Standing Order No. 03/2022datedAugust12,2022, areforreference.

Based on the feedback received from these Zones, the Boardhasnowdecidedtoextendtheuseofboardingjackets fitted with Body Worn Camera (BWC) with video/audio recording facility by Boarding Officers while carrying out duties on board vessels from April 15, 2023 with respect to theseacustomsfunctions.

Ruscon Quadruples Service Frequency Between India & Russia

MOSCOW : Multimodal transport operator Ruscon (part of Delo Group) has enhanced the capabilities of its direct regular container service between Russia and India via Novorossiysk.Thenumberofvesselsinvolvedonthesealeg was increased from one to four, with the regularity of shipments reaching four times a month. The route now also includesJeddahinSaudiArabiaasportofcall.

A regular multimodal service between India and Russia has been operational since July 2022, providing containerized cargo shipments from anywhere in Russia through Delo Group's terminals in Novorossiysk to the Indian ports of Mundra and NhavaSheva. The service rotation also includes the port of Istanbul. The transit time from Novorossiysk to Istanbul is two days, to Jeddah - 14 days, to ports of Mundra and Nava-Sheva - 22 and 24 days respectively.

Commenting on the expansion of the service, Ruscon's Head Sergey Berezkin said, "With the increase in the number of vessels, we are offering customers the best delivery cycle in the market for optimal planning of the shipment schedule. This will reduce the storage costs in the ports of loading, as well as allow us to increase the volume of shipments. The additional call at Jeddah port will open up new opportunities for shippers interested in shipping to/from Saudi Arabia, which is one of the key states in the region."

Delo Group is Russian transportation and logistics holding, operating its own fleet and managing sea container terminals in the Azov-Black Sea, Baltic and Far Eastern basins, a network of railway container terminals, a fleet of containers and fitting platforms. The parent company of the Group is Delo Management Company. The Group’s stevedoringbusinessincludesDeloPortsholdingandGlobal Ports, a leading container terminal operator. The transport and logistics business of the Group is made up of the multimodal transport operator Ruscon and the intermodal container operator TransContainer. The shipping business isrepresentedbySakhalinShippingCompany(SASCO).