THOOTHUKUDI: Following the military standoff and deadly clash at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern Ladakh region, Chinese consignments imported toThoothukudi VO Chidambaranar port are allegedly being stocked at various Container Freight Stations (CFS) without customs clearance. The violence along the borders had triggered ‘Boycott Chinese Products' campaigns in the country.
Sources said that the Chinese consignments are being verified intensely for product details, consignee details and valid documents before being checked in. The customs department had stopped issuing clearances from Monday midnight onwards, said reliable sources, adding that the consignments are subjected to 100 percent check instead of random check.
Chinese imports amount to at least 30 percent of the goods handled at Thoothukudi VOC port. The Chinese products include household goods, cutleries, toys, furniture, chemicals, electronic gadgets and others are. The Chinese consignments reach Colombo port through various ships and from there it will be shifted to VOC port through feeder vessels.
Customs department is supposed to examine the cargo for legality and issue Out of Custom Charge (OCC) for allowing to move the cargo from CFS to its destination.
A customs broker said that the Chinese consignment he transported washeld up at a private CFS in the outskirts of Thoothukudi.A CFS official also confirmed that Chinese goods did not move out of CFS on Tuesday.
Thoothukudi custom brokers association members confirmed that there is inordinate delay in issuing clearance for Chinese consignments. The customs department had raised many queries for validating the documents for each consignment, he said. Similar constraints prevailed in Chennai ports as well, said customs agents.
When asked, a senior Customs official told TNIE that neither he was instructed to hold back Chinese goods nor he received any complaint from the clients. However, he could not comment further on this, he said.
David Raja, Convenor (Logistic) of Thoothukudi chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) told TNIE that the Chinese goods are being held up at CFS without OCC from the customs department. Being an industrialist, Raja said India is importing hundreds of products from China that can be manufactured domestically. The union government might assess the Chinese imports on that line as India suffers trade deficit with China with the larger imports compared to exports, he said.
Industrialists noted that there were talks about reducing the imports from China. It was taken forward during the economic crisis, and it has come to the fore after the Chinese violence killing 20 Indian soldiers at the eastern Ladakh Region.
“The union government was working to increase import duties on at least 300 Chinese products in a bid to promote domestic business”, said another industrialist.