(THE GIST OF PIB) National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023 report

(June-2023)

Recently, the chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) along with other Members of the Board released the National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2023 report.

It is a performance measurement tool.
It aims to present a quantitative measure of the cargo release time at the Customs station.
It also measures the domestic clearance in case of imports and the arrival of the cargo at the Customs station to the eventual departure of the carrier in case of exports.
The study included seaports, air cargo complexes (ACCs), inland container depot (ICDs) and integrated check posts (ICPs) which handles the maximum per cent of bills of entry in the country.

It reaffirms the ‘Path to promptness’e. comprising advance filing of import documents enabling pre-arrival processing, risk-based facilitation of cargo and benefits of trusted client programme.
Cargoes wherein all the three features under the Path to Promptness are combined, achieve the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) release time target across all port categories.
It has placed a much greater focus on the measurement of export release time.
It recognises the distinction between regulatory clearance (also referred to as customs release), which gets completed with the grant of Let Export Order (LEO) and the wider aspect of physical clearance which occurs on completion of logistics processes with the departure of the carrier with the goods.