Customs approval for Vizhinjam port; Permission to export and import

Ports Minister V.N. Vasavan said on Saturday15 June that the Vizhinjam port has been approved as a Customs port, and it has been granted Section 7A approval, and a gazette notification has been issued in this regard. The port has already received the Union Shipping Ministry’s approval for operating as India’s first transshipment port.

With the approval, Vizhinjam has become a legally recognised port where export and import are possible, said the Minister. Permission has been given after the guidelines put forward by the Union government were fulfilled. Customs had drawn up 12 guidelines, including on office facilities, computerised buildings, better server room facilities, for granting approval. The authorities here were able to complete them within the time period, said the Minister.

This approval also allows the Customs to set up an office at Vizhinjam Port, India’s first full-fledged deepwater transshipment port. A transshipment port is a port where cargo is transhipped from one ship to another. Cargo or containers arriving in small vessels from other parts of the country can be transshipped to larger mother ships to send them to foreign ports, throwing open an opportunity for Vizhinjam to become a major maritime hub for the movement of goods from within the country and from abroad to the country.

Now Vizhinjam has to get approvals under Section 8, Section 45 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, and the Port Code. The necessary facilities for this have also been prepared at the port. Containers arriving at motherships from abroad can also be unloaded here and transferred to small vessels to be sent to other ports within the country. With Section 7 permission, Vizhinjam opens up a lot of possibilities for the State as well, the Minister added.