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Import and export of cargoes at the Air Cargo Complex at Chennai has come to halt on Friday after the clearing staffs have decided to stop work. Industry sources said the strike may have an impact on the automobile majors who have factories in and around Chennai, as they import critical components.
It may be noted, automobile industry accounts about 12% of the total import in this complex.
In the last four months this Complex has been facing turbulent times due to shortage of Customs Officers, frequent strike or go slow by the Ground Handling Agency (GHA) of Airport Authorities of India (AAI).
A V Vijayakumar, president, The Chennai Customs House Agents Association said “we have pursuing these major concerns vigorously in various forums – PTFC, CAFAC and has been escalating the concerns to the Ministries of Finance, Commerce, Civil Aviation and also with various trade bodies.
He represents the association, which has around 1,000 members with about 600-700 staffs in the Air Cargo Complex alone.
He said already with in a month loss is around 1,700 tonnes of cargo. For instance in March and April 2013 import was 9,207 tonnes, which came down to 7,507 tonnes in April and May. Similarly export dropped by 998 tonnes to 8,048 tonnes from 9,046 tonnes.
It may be noted 12-15% of the import is auto-components, which are critical components are imported by automajors like Hyundai, Ford, Nissan and others. These components are used as replacements for breakdowns or some high weight components which are being imported for experiment basis.
Ford said “We are working closely with authorities and the situation possess challenges and may impact us if the strike continues. We hope this returns to normalcy as quickly as possible”.
The other major imports are electronics and computers which are being imported by companies like Nokia, Dell, IBM and HP. The electronics imports contributes to 20% of the total import.
Vijayakumar said that despite our efforts and cautions and due to the complete lack of understanding of the seriously issues by the Authorities and due no progress in then working conditions at the Air Cargo Complex – even though repeatedly promises were given on May 17, 2013 came to halt import and export cargo from the Air Cargo Complex.
The Association stated that major issues of concern in the complex include shortage of 40% of Custom officers in Chennai – between the sanctioned strength and allotted numbers. Due to this shortage, Chennai Air Cargo is working at less than 40% efficiency given the fact that normally there are few officers who would be on leave.
“While the quantity of officers were increased very recently – two weeks back – the quality of officers made available not being conversant with the requirements, has not improved the situation. On the contrary the situation has worsened with daily pile up of over 400 documents – representing 40% of daily transaction. As a result from a normal clearance time of 2-3 days, presently imports takes 6/7 days to clear thus defeating the very purpose of air lifting,” said the association.
The second issue was the strike by Ground Handling Agency (GHA) of AAI – Bhadra International India Limited. In the last four months there had been four strikes and two go slows lasting from 12 hours to 6 days.
As a result of all these inefficiencies and patiently waiting for the situation to improve for the past four months, left with no other option, today there is a stoppage of work.
The CHAs and their field staff are at the receiving end with no certainty of any time frame for handling import or export cargo through Air Cargo. Unless there is drastic change and substantial improvement, Chennai Air Cargo will be lost to the neighbouring competitors and in the bargain, we loose our position, said Vijayakumar.
