New Delhi, Sep 6 (KNN) In a first of its kind initiative, a truck carrying goods from Bangladesh rolled into a customs depot in New Delhi for which the customs clearance is being done at ICD, Patparganj. Adopting a cutting edge technology, the vehicle was affixed with GPS tracking equipment at Petrapole and the cargo was sealed electronically.

The move not only aims to boost the ease of doing business, but also envisages doing away with the time consuming and costly process of trans-shipment of goods from one country’s truck to another at international border.

“A new chapter in Customs Cooperation between India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal was opened today i.e. 5th September 2016, as a cargo laden truck of Bangladesh of readymade garments, imported by Marks and Spencer India, rolled into Customs Inland Container Depot, Patparganj, Delhi,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday.

Though the vehicle entered India through Petrapole Land Customs Station, the customs clearance is being done at ICD, Patparganj. The vehicle was affixed with GPS tracking equipment at Petrapole and the cargo was sealed electronically.

This helped in live tracking of the vehicle as it moved from Petrapole to New Delhi, with an alert mechanism to prevent any tampering of the cargo container. This also marks the first step by Indian Customs at adopting cutting edge technology in facilitating and securing transhipment of import cargo.

It also represents a milestone in demonstrating the regional value chain effect in south Asia with a top multi-national retail chain in India importing goods manufactured in Bangladesh, the Finance Ministry added.

This is part of a trial run under a Motor Vehicles Agreement for the Regulation of Passenger and Cargo Vehicular Traffic (MVA) which was signed between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) in Thimphu, Bhutan, on 15 June 2015 by the Transport Ministers of the four countries.

The MVA allows cargo vehicles registered in any one of the BBIN countries to cross borders and enter any of the other BBIN countries, along agreed routes.

“Consequently, border congestion is reduced and trade can clear cargo at a location proximate to them. Such seamless movement can help in faster and cheaper movement of goods. As the MVA also covers movement of passenger vehicles, it will deepen people-to-people contact and boost tourism,” the Ministry said.

Three countries, viz., Bangladesh, India and Nepal have currently ratified the MVA and Bhutan is in the process of completing its ratification formalities. To help in finalization of Protocols that would facilitate trade and maintain balance with effective controls, the countries had agreed to conduct trial runs of vehicles, in terms of the MVA. (KNN Bureau)