At the 20th Customs Consultative Group meeting in Kolkata, India’s freight forwarding sector called for faster customs procedures, clearer rules, and extensive digital reforms to reduce costs and enhance global trade standing.
At a meeting in Kolkata, India’s freight forwarding industry pressed for faster customs clearances, clearer rules and wider digital reform, arguing that all three are needed if the country is to reduce logistics costs and improve its standing in global trade. The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India, or FFFAI, used the 20th Customs Consultative Group meeting to set out a detailed wish list for customs modernisation, with proposals aimed at strengthening regulatory certainty, improving ease of doing business and cutting transaction costs.
According to accounts of the July 13-14 meeting, the discussions were chaired by Yogendra Garg, special secretary and member for customs at the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, alongside S.K. Sharma, principal director-general of the Directorate General of Export Promotion. Senior CBIC officials and trade representatives attended the session, which was designed to surface practical problems at customs stations and explore operational fixes.
FFFAI’s submission called for key CBIC instructions to be folded into the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations of 2018, a move the federation said would reduce ambiguity and improve consistency in implementation. It also urged a more trust-based compliance model, arguing that customs brokers should have better protection where disputes arise from interpretation rather than deliberate non-compliance.
Digital systems were another major focus. The federation sought deeper reforms to faceless assessment and improvements to platforms including SWIFT 2.0, ICEGATE and the Customs Brokers Licensing Management System. It said more reliable technology would speed up cargo clearance, improve the user experience and reduce administrative delays that add to supply-chain costs.
The group also pushed for time-bound processing of refund claims, simpler procedures and tighter coordination with Participating Government Agencies so that no-objection certificates and laboratory reports can be issued more quickly. It further backed infrastructure and policy changes to reduce cargo dwell time and shorten clearance timelines, underscoring the pressure on India to make its border procedures more predictable as it tries to build a more competitive logistics network.
FFFAI chairman Amit Kamat said after the meeting that the consultative group remained an important forum for dialogue between customs and trade. He added that the federation’s recommendations reflected the day-to-day problems faced by brokers and freight forwarders across the country and said closer cooperation with CBIC could improve transparency and strengthen the logistics sector’s competitiveness.
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