Clean record to ensure faster import clearance

Importers in the Capital with a good track record can soon look forward to lesser delays in clearance of their consignments.

From June 26, the revenue department will implement the accredited client programme (ACP) and risk management system (RMS) at three locations in the capital including the Patparganj inland container depot.

The accredited client programme provides "self-assessment" facility for importers that qualify certain criteria. Around 280 companies that enjoyed the green channel privilege have been automatically given this status.

These include Maruti, Air India, Ceat, Honeywell, L&T, ABB, General Motors, Siemens and Hewlett Packard. Officials said the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had received around 20 more applications for ACP status.

Similarly, the risk management system allows import consignments to be assessed online, with most consignments being allowed to pass through without intervention. Only when the system picks up a suspected consignment, the same is examined physically.

The RSM will be extended concurrently with the ACP. The revenue department has already set up a risk management division in Mumbai. Officials said the scope of the would be extended to cover exports also by the year-end.

"We will extend the coverage of the ACP to Delhi this month. The programme was introduced as a pilot project in Mumbai last year. It will be extended to Delhi airport, the Tughlaqabad and Patparganj ICDs," a ministry official said.

Officials said the ACP would be extended later this year. Companies seeking ACP status are required to have imported goods valued at Rs 10 crore the previous year or paid Customs duty of more than Rs 1 crore.