Birlasoft to help manage customs risk

NEW DELHI: While the Army is still busy defusing and dismantling shells, rockets and mortars that made way to Delhi and nearby areas as part of steel scrap last year, the Central Board of Excise & Customs is working full swing for implementing a risk management system (RMS) to prevent such incidents in future.

The RMS being developed and implemented by Birlasoft will be used at 25 locations in the country where the Indian Custom Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) is operational. Besides, the system would also be put to use at all major ports and land customs offices on the Bangladesh and Nepal border.

The RMS would make sure that every document is subjected to risk management whereby the system would determine whether the imported or exportable goods require examination. What this means is that customs officers would no longer have the discretionary power to determine the nature and extent of such examination. Instead, the system itself will automatically decide whether a documentary verification and or a physical examination of such goods are required.

According to Customs department sources, the new system will also clearly indicate the examination order to be followed by the custom officer as decided by chosen parameters. The RMS software would be developed and implemented in such a way that the existence of the risk profile parameters is not known to the officers responsible for processing bill of entries and shipping bills, and cannot be changed by them.

The system will also provide for self-assessment whereby the importers can themselves determine the tariff classification and claim the benefit of notification. The importer and exporter will be responsible for assessing the duty payable for their goods and may file their bill of entry or shipping bill at the customs service centers or by using Indian and Customs & Excise Gateway (ICEGATE).

Once the final clearance is obtained for the goods, the RMS shall process the bill of entry or shipping bill for post-clearance audit.