Revenue dept's time release study to identify trade flow bottlenecks at ports

New Delhi: The revenue department is conducting India's first national Time Release Study (TRS) at 15 ports, including sea and air, with an aim to identify and address bottlenecks in the cross border trade flow process.

TRS, an internationally recognised tool advocated by World Customs Organisation, is being conducted from August 1-7, the finance ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The exercise will be institutionalised on an annual basis, during the same period every year, it added.

The initiative for accountable governance will measure rule-based and procedural bottlenecks (including physical touch points) in the clearance of goods, from the time of arrival until the physical release of cargo, it added.

"The aim is to identify and address bottlenecks in the trade flow process and take the corresponding policy and operational measures required to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of border procedures, without compromising efficient trade control," the ministry said.

The expected beneficiaries will be export oriented industries and MSMEs, who will enjoy greater standardisation of Indian processes with comparable international standards.