Dear Friends,

 On behalf of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry and my own I take this opportunity to wish all our members and well wishers the very best of the Season and a Bright and Prosperous New Year. May the coming year bring all of you the very best. HAPPY NEW YEAR.   On this occasion I am pleased to inform you that on the 20th of this month the Cochin Chamber entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Open University, Malaysia to facilitate a Diploma Course in 'Freight Logistics' here in Cochin. This is a greenfield endeavour where the Chamber is concerned and I request your support and cooperation for the same. The modalities of the said course are being worked out and will be intimated to you shortly.   Once again I wish you all a very Happy and fulfilling 2012.   Best regards.




P. Narayan
President

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be facilitating a Certified Professional Diploma Course in Freight Logistics run by the Open university, Malaysia, in order to enhance the skills of youngsters interested in pursuing a career in the field of Logistics.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the 20th of December 2011 between the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Open University, Malaysia (OUM) and Straits Academy, Malaysia to this effect. The Professional Diploma in Freight Logistics will be conducted in Cochin.

The examination and certification will be done by OUM. The MoU was signed by Dr Anuwar Ali, Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Malaysia, Mr. P. Narayan, President of the Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mr. Vikaraman Pillai,
Managing Director of Straits Academy at the Chamber Office. Mr Repin Ibrahim, Vice President OUM, Mr. C S Kartha and Mr. Shaji Varghese, Committee Members, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Prof Selvaraj Pillai, Director of IPD –OUM were present on the occasion.

HOW TO ALIGN ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES, LEADERSHIP & TALENT WITH BUSINESS STRATEGY'- WITH MARTIN SUTHERLAND, GLOBAL DIRECTOR, PEOPLE TREE ANALYTICS, IRELAND - 13TH JANUARY, 2012.

Overview of process of filing of Entry and Shipping Bill Key features
of the manual are outlined below:

General Overview

• Effective 8 April 2011, customs duty on imported goods/ specified export goods is required to be 'self assessed' meaning thereby that importer/ exporter is required to correctly declare the description, value, classification, notification number, etc.
• Customs would rely on the On-site post clearance audit regulations to verify the correctness of the 'self assessment'
• Importer/ exporters who are unable to do the self assessment due to certain specific reasons can interalia seek: - assistance from help desk located in the Customs house

Background

The concept of 'Self Assessment' while bringing in facilitation for the Trade also put the onus to correctly disclose the particulars on Bill of Entry/ Shipping Bill on to the importer/ exporter. Pursuant to above, significant amendments have been made in relevant Customs law provisions and regulations to realign these provisions to the self assessment concept. As a facilitation step, Government has issued a manual to guide/ advise the importer/ exporter on the concept so that correct disclosure is made by importer/ exporter in the Bill of Entry /Shipping Bill The manual interalia covers:

• Overview of self assessment including its implications
• Brief information on key elements like classification, valuation, licensing requirements
• Compulsory Compliance Requirement (CCR) under allied Acts and an illustrative checklist including CCR for self assessment
• provisional assessment, after seeking permission from the Customs authorities
• advance ruling, if conditions/ eligibility is satisfied

Self assessment would result in trade facilitation for the compliant importers/ exporters, however, non-compliant importers/ exporters could face penal actions on account of wrong self assessment done with the intent to evade duty or to avoid compliances under Customs law/ Foreign Trade policy. No penal provisions would be invoked in case of bonafide errors.

Salient features

• Importer/ exporter is responsible for correctly disclosing relevant details in the Bill of Entry/ Shipping Bill including declarations and documents furnished
• Disclosures made by the importer/ exporter would be verified by Customs authorities through contract, base for transfer price, invoice, etc. at the port
• Verification could result in re-assessment of duty by the authorities for which speaking order would be passed within 15 days (except in cases where re-assessment is accepted in writing by the importer/ exporter). Such speaking order can be subject to review/ appeal
• Provisional assessment would be resorted to in the cases where self assessment is not possible/ Customs authorities cannot verify the assessment. However, same would require permission of concerned Commissioner of Customs
• Cases where re-assessment is not undertaken or where re-assessment is done but speaking order is not passed, would be subject to audit at the premises of the importer/ exporter

Key aspects of self assessment

The key aspect of self assessment interalia would be:


• Description for the purpose of classification and valuation of goods
• Classification for the purpose of customs duty, exemption, import controls, approvals, etc.
• Duty for the purpose of applicability of various components of duty e.g. Anti-dumping duty, etc.
• Valuation for the purpose of related party transactions, claim of export benefits, etc.
• Import and export restrictions e.g. second goods are restricted for imports or requirement to comply with Indian Quality Standards with respect to specified goods
• CCR i.e compliances under other regulations e.g. Insecticides Act, 1968, Legal Metrology Act, 2009, etc.
• Further, a detailed checklist is provided on each aspect of disclosure/ declaration to be made by the importer/ exporter including compliances with CCR
  
  

Coordination with Customs House Agent (CHA)

• Importer/ exporter should put adequate checks and balances to ensure that CHA makes correct declarations, to avoid any penal consequences on account of incorrect declarations made by the CHA
• Filing and processing of Bill of Entry/ Shipping Bill
• Detailed steps relating to filing of Bill of Entry/ Shipping Bill and steps involved thereafter up to clearance of goods have been outlined in the manual

KPMG's comments

With introduction of the concept of self assessment, Government expects to usher in a new era of trust based Customs- Trade partnership which is a welcome move However, to avail of the benefit of the facility, trade would now need to put in place robust systems and processes to ensure that accurate information is submitted to the Customs as the onus would lie largely on the importer/ exporter. A proper documentary trail would be required to be maintained by them for Customs audit which, as in other countries of the world, is central to the theme of self assessment.

There are wastes that are simple to spot within a working business. The guy sitting over by the shearing machine that is waiting for work to come to his station is one that's straightforward to observe. Material that is collecting in large piles because it is being improperly cut to length and then is being thrown away instead of recycled, or constantly buying new tools because the ones that you are using keep breaking because you are using the wrong ones. These are all wastes that are pretty easy to identify.. They are also wastes that should be easy to correct if anybody wants to take the time to do so. These are the kinds of things that can be commonplace and easily overlooked because they don't seem so out of place at most facilities. But they are a waste and cost the company money and will eventually cost somebody their job. Either for letting it happen for too long until somebody higher up figure it out or from lost revenue and higher expenses.

There has to be a way that these things are regularly looked at and examined and you want there to be some conduit between departments and levels of employees so these things can be pointed out. You don't really want some employee running up to a supervisor and telling on another employee that's just standing around. But you want the employee that is standing around to feel comfortable enough and competent enough to let their supervisor know that their time is being wasted because of lack of work. This way the process can be investigated up through the levels of command and upstream from where it is negatively affecting another department. Because different departments, as everybody knows, can affect each other. What one department does can cause problems for another department if they are not taken into consideration, just like they can help another division or department if they are taken into consideration when making changes.

The point is that they can help each other out and make each other's jobs run smoother and easier. It just takes teamwork and consideration and cooperation. A little forethought and a little consideration to the other departments go a long way. And remember, every time that you take another department into consideration and do things that will help everybody out, they are more likely to return the favor and take you into consideration the next time.

Click on the thumbnails to view larger images.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry congratulates Mr. Babu K. Menon (Manager – Accounts) and Mrs. Sreelatha K S, (Senior Executive - Secretarial) on completing 25 years of service with the Chamber.

The Chamber thanks them for their wholehearted services and wishes them both the very best in the years ahead.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has come out with the latest edition of its ‘Business Directory.’ This publication, we feel will be useful to the business community at large.

The Business Directory can be had from the Chamber Office.