THOOTHUKUDI: Alleging evasion of custom duty on cargo lorries returning from Tiruppur without proper travel documents, members of Tiruppur Export Transport Association staged a protest in front of the customs office in Thoothukudi VOC Port campus on Thursday, urging the officials concerned to take action against the erring container freight stations (CFS) and lorries. They also submitted a petition with the customs joint commissioner in this regard.
It may be noted that a sizable quantity of consignments are exported through the Thoothukudi VOC port to Tiruppur, which is a hub of garments production industries.
According to Tiruppur Export Transport Association president S Paramasivan, the container lorries from Thoothukudi transport goods, consisting of raw materials imported from other countries, for the garment industries, with the exemption of customs duty. However, while returning from Tiruppur, the lorries are loaded with export materials from the production industries, which are supposed to be shifted to the CFS in Thoothukudi for export via the VOC port.
This (cargo transport) has adversely affected the lorry owners in Tiruppur, who suffer due to poor shipment orders, and also incurs huge custom duty loss for the union government. At least 40 to 50 containers are being shifted illegally without custom duty every day to the VOC port, which is a huge revenue loss to the union ministry of trade and commerce, Paramasivan said.
Further, claiming that such mode of unlawful shipment could aid in the smuggling of goods, the Tiruppur lorry owners sought action against the container lorries and container freight stations illegally transporting cargoes from Tiruppur.
Responding to the issue, the joint commissioner said the matter has already been notified to the CFS operators and lorry owners. Though remedial actions were taken earlier in this connection, they were not monitored regularly, due to staff shortage, he said.
Meanwhile, a CFS operator, on condition of anonymity, said that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), in a circular dated March 1, 2019 had permitted the use of containers, used for imported cargoes, to transport domestic cargoes pending their re-export, the operator added.