India Establishes Remote Import Assessment Regime to Increase Customs Efficiency

India will establish “remote, anonymous assessments” of imported goods at all its ports as part of an effort to speed up customs clearance and reduce interaction between customs officials and import agents, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said Oct. 6. The system, which begins Oct. 31, will prioritize remote and paperless customs clearance procedures, self-registration of goods by imports, automated clearance for bills of entry and the digitization of customs documents, the report said. It will allow documents to be assessed remotely by officers on a randomized basis, “ensuring both objectivity and the standardisation of entry criteria across the country,” HKTDC said. India decided to roll out the system countrywide after successfully testing it at ports in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai earlier this year, the report said.