Cargo Exports Take Off As Glitch Rectified at Airport

Export of overseas freight from Tiruchi international airport which was hit for the past two days reportedly due to technical issues slowly returned to normality on Monday.

Around three tonnes of cargo were exported to Malaysia after clearance through the newly launched Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) facility in the Air Asia flight that left in the morning.

This included about 1.5 tonnes of panneer and 1.2 tonnes of vegetables.

Four more tonnes of vegetables meant for Malaysia were cleared later in the day by the Customs authorities who are in charge of the EDI facility. One of the consignments was cleared manually after obtaining special permission from the authorities.

Overseas cargo movements which used to be around 20 tonnes every day at Tiruchi airport took a hit following technical issues pertaining to EDI.

Customs authorities, however, said all technical issues have been resolved and EDI was fully functional.

There was no issue on the part of the Customs but only on the Customs Brokers side, claimed a senior Customs official here.

No Customs Brokers had filed bills on Sunday apparently out of fear that the consignments might not get cleared although officials were available at the airport and EDI was operational, the official added.

Necessary arrangements have also been made to man the EDI service centre set up near the export cargo terminal by nominating a private agency.

Authorities of the Airports Authority of India which is the custodian of the international airport and the Customs officials discussed the issue earlier in the day.

All issues have been resolved and the export community and the Customs Brokers have been informed that they could bring their cargo for export and that everything would be hassle free, said the official.