OFFICE OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, MUMBAI ZONE - I,
NEW CUSTOM HOUSE, BALLARD ESTATE, MUMBAI 400 001.

MINUTES OF THE OPEN HOUSE MEETING OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS, MUMBAI ZONE-I, II & III HELD WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRADE AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS ON 28th JUNE, 2006 AT 3.30 P.M. IN THE CONFERENCE HALL OF THE MUMBAI CUSTOM HOUSE.

The Open House Meeting for the month of June, 2006 was held under the Chairmanship of Shri K. M. Tiwari, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone - I and Shri P. C. Jha, Chief Commissioner of Customs. Mumbai Zone-II and Shri Sumit Dutt Majumder, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone-III on 28.06.2006, at 3.30 P.M. in the Conference Hall, New Custom House, Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 001.

2. The following representatives of the BCHAA, Trade and Industry attended the meeting:

1) BCHAA (Bombay Custom House Agent's Association).
Shri Naval Mehta.
Shri R. Radhakrishnan.
Shri H. D. Mehta.
Shri Omprakash Agarwal.
Shri Pankaj Shah.

2) MANSA (Mumbai and Nhava-Sheva Ship-Agents Association)
Shri C. S. Murty

3) AIIEA (All India Importers & Exporters Association)
Shri Mohan Nihalani

4) Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture
Shri Ashish Pednekar.

5) BCCI
Shri Pravin K. Kanakia.

6) Association of Importers & Exporters of Man-made Textiles
Shri Gulam Mohd. Shaikh

7) Indian Merchant Chamber
Shri K. M. Doshi.

8) Individual /Member of the Public
Shri Rajiv Gupta.

3. The Chief Commissioner of Customs observed that there were no fresh Agenda Points for discussion for this meeting.

4. Thereafter, the discussions on action taken on the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 31.05.06 were initiated.

5. Regarding Point No. 3 of the previous meeting, the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone-I informed the house that multibanking facility has begun in New Custom House. The second Bank i.e. Bank of Baroda, Ballard Estate, Mumbai in addition to Bank of India has been authorized to collect the Custom duties with effect from 26.06.06 and a Facility Notice No. 4/2006 dated 23.06.2006 has been issued in this regard. A copy of the Facility Notice was given to the Members present in the Meeting. Similar facilities have already been extended in Nhava Sheva Custom house with the second Bank, i.e. Bank of India, in addition to the State Bank of India, who have been authorized to collect Custom duty w.e.f. 12.06.06. Similarly the Canara Bank at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar, in addition to the State Bank of India has been authorized to collect Custom duty in June 2006.

The Chief Commissioner of Customs explained in detail, the history and background of opting for multibanking system. Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone II clarified that it was the large volume of work at JCH that caused authorizing another bank for collection of Custom duties. The Chief Commissioner of Customs appealed to all the members to give wide publicity in the Trade to make full use of the multibanking facility. The present usage of the Second bank for paying duty is very low. The facility extended should be used fully.

Members of the house expressed their gratitude for extending the multibanking facility at both JCH & NCH.

6.With regard to Point No. 6 of the previous meeting, relating to “Test Report Transmission”, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone I informed the house that High Speed Scanner has been installed in DyCC and Test report Transmission has now been extended to all the Assessing Groups. There was a request from the member whether, Test Report could be communicated. In reply to this, Chief Commissioner, Zone I informed the house the matter shall be examined.

7.One of the members raised the issue of undue delay in investigation by the SIIB / ACC and a case of Drawback withheld for long. Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone II, informed the concerned member to meet the Commissioner of Customs (E.P.), ACC, Sahar, Mumbai Zone-II for redressal of his grievances. If necessary, he may submit a representation and mark a copy to Chief Commissioner of Customs for necessary remedial measure.

8.The Chief Commissioner of Customs, Zone I introduced Shri J. S. Chandrashekar, Addl. Commissioner of Customs, and Shri R. S. Sharma, Asst. Commissioner of Customs, to the house, who have joined the Chief Commissioner’s office, New Custom House, Mumbai.

9.The meeting thereafter ended with thanks to the Chair.

10.The next Open House Meeting will be held on 26th July at 15.30 hrs. The points sponsored for discussion for the next meeting should reach POSITIVELY by 19.07.2006 in the offices of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone I, II and III.

Sd/-
(J. S. CHANDRASHEKAR)
Addl. Commissioner of Customs
Chief Commissioner’s Office
Mumbai Zone - I.

Copy to :
1.The Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone II and III.
2.All Commissioners of Customs, Mumbai Zone I, II and III.
3.The Addl./Joint Commissioners of Customs (E.D.I.), Mumbai Customs/Jawahar Custom House, Nhava Sheva/Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai – for immediate uploading of the Minutes on the website.
4.Shri S. S. Sandhu, Zonal Jt. D.G.F.T., Mumbai.
5.Shri Rajeev Jain, Additional Director (Systems), NCH, Mumbai.

Copy for information and wide circulation to :
All Associations with a request to inform all their members to view the Minutes of the Meeting on the Website of Mumbai Customs at www.mumbaicustoms.gov.in