Inhouse Newsletter - FFFAI NEWS

PRE - G O LDE N JUBI LE E ISSUE

VOL. 1

●

ISSUE 2

Honouring The Past - Celebrating The Present - Welcoming The Future

Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders
An Education and Training wing of
Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Association in India (FFFAI)

Conducting IIFF-FIATA Diploma in Freight Forwarding
and various other training courses in Logistics
The programme is validated by FIATA & is conducted by Indian Institute of Freight
Forwarders, The premium logistics institute is promoted by Federation of Freight Forwarders
Association in India.
This Diploma Course is designed to conduct for the benefit of Senior Executives of Logistics
fraternity and freshers seeking carrer in Logistics Industry . The course covers wide spectrum
of subjects with case study and onsite training. The Diploma programme has witnessed
huge response from the industry and experiencing a full classroom participation.
IIFF also offer Internship and Placement Assistance for successful candidates

Certification

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS

Office No. 311, 3rd Floor, Mahinder Chambers, Opp.Dukes
Factory, W.T.Patil Marg, Chembur, Mumbai – 400 071.
Tel.: 67107495/96 Email: info@iiff.in
website: www.iiff.in . www.fffai.org

2

fffai news  VOL. 1  ISSUE 2

Certificates will be
awarded by
FIATA, Zurich,
Switzerland

Empowering The Freight Forwarder

CONTENTS - Vol.1 - No.2 DEC. 2012

message from chairman

2

Launching FFFAI News
inaugural issue

9
FFFAI News
FFFAI In-House Magazine & Ezine

India As An
Aviation Hub –
‘Time For
Collaboration’
-Vipin Vohra

Publisher
Shantanu Bhadkamkar

25 FFFAI Launches ‘Women Wing’

A platform for Women empowerment

Editor
Shankar Shinde
Technical Content
Case Laws, Important Notices / Notifications
/ Clarifications, Q&A, Nailesh Gandhi, T.V.
Sujan, Anthony D’Souza, George Joseph,
Madhusudan Kumra, A.V Vijaykumar,
Vinod Chowdhary, Vinod Gandhi,
M.G.Sachdeva
Quiz, Contests & Competitions
Philomena Pereira
Coordinator Regional Reports
Capt. Ashish Samarth
Printing & Distribution
Sailesh Bhatia
Advertisements & Sponsors
Sarfaraz Khan
Office Bearers & Presidents of Member Associations
Young Forwarder
Will include once finalized
Thinkable Thoughts
Arun Kumar Sharma
In Lighter Vein
Amit Kumar Jain
Member News – Personal Achievements
Amit Kamat
IIFT News
Radhakrishnan R.
Pankaj Shah
Womens Wing
Philomena Pereira
Counceller’s Corner
Prakash Khemka
Printed & Published by Shantanu Bhadkamkar on behalf of Federation
of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI). Printed at Nikeda
Art Printers Pvt Ltd., Unit No. H & I, Kanjur Industrial Estate, Quarry
Road, Near Mangatram Petrol Pump, LBS Road, Bhandup (W), Mumbai
- 78 and published at Mahinder Chambers, Opp. Dukes Factory, W.T.
Patil Marg, Chembur, Mumbai 400 071. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
including photocopying or scanning without the prior permission of
the publishers. Such written permission must also be obtained from
the publisher before any part of the publication is stored in a retrieval
system of any nature. No liabilities can be accepted for inaccuracies of
any description, although the publishers would be pleased to receive
amendments for possible inclusion in future editions. Opinions reflected
in the publication are those of the writers. The publisher assumes no
responsibilities for return of unsolicited material or material lost or
damaged in transit. All correspondence should be addressed to FFFAI.
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts
and forums in Mumbai only.

Sankalpa Bhattacharjya,
14 KPMGa- well researched...
made

10

Navratna PSE
Navratna CMD...
Shri Sabyasachi Hajara, CMD, SCI

GOLDEN JUBILEE ISSUE
VOL. 1

●

ISSUE 2

Honouring The Past - Respecting The Present - Welcoming The Future

ordinary members
offers
24 IIFF - FIATAFreightCourses in
Logistics &
Forwarding

27 FFFAI delegation meets DG Shipping

28 Ifcba Presents Views On Smes and
the Wco Economic....


Name of Member Associations
Ahmedabad Custom House Agents Association
Aurangabad Custom House Agents Associations
Association of Custom House Agents Trivandrum
Bangalore Custom House Agents Association Ltd.
Bombay Custom House Agents Association
Calcutta Custom House Agents Association
Chennai Custom House Agents Association
Cochin Custom House Agents Association
Coimbatore Custom House & Steamer Agents Association
Custom House Agents Association Hyderabad
Delhi Customs Clearing Agents Association
Goa Custom House Agents Association
Indore Custom House Agents Association
Kakinada Custom House Agents Association
Kandla Custom House Agents Association
Ludhiana Custom House Agents Association
Mangalore Custom House Agents Association
Mundra Custom House Agents Association
Nagpur Custom House Agents Association
Nashik Custom House Agents Association
Pune Custom House Agents Association
Rajasthan Custom House Agents Association
Tuticorin Custom House Agents Association
Visakhapatnam Customs Clearing Agents Association


1

message from chairman

A Dream is not what you see during the sleep,
it’s the thing which doesn’t let You sleep”
Dear Members,
The much awaited In-house Newsletter of FFFAI, FFFAI NEWS, launched in September
was well received not just by members but also by all other stakeholders, including the
international community. The response has been really awe-inspiring; within a
month of launch, we came out with the second print of the first edition due
to the great demand we had for the copies; we really cherish this opportunity of
bringing the newsletter to our valued members and stakeholders. Encouraged with this
response, we are extremely pleased to come out with this Golden Jubilee Edition of the
FFFAI News. We will be happy if we were able to achieve higher heights with a degree of
completeness by active participation of everyone.
On 2nd December 1962, the then Union Finance Minister, Morarji Desai inaugurated the
`Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations’ in India` in presence of a notable gathering.
Shantanu Bhadkamkar
The Federation brings together Customs House Agents’ Associations and their members
Chairman, FFFAI
under one umbrella. The Golden Jubilee of FFFAI coincides with 50 years of the Customs
Act’62.
Golden Jubilee is a great time to look back and celebrate what one has achieved.
On behalf of all the Executive Committee Members of FFFAI, I extend my greetings to all the Members of FFFAI
& also to all the stakeholders in the International Trade, who are our partners in this inspiring journey.
This anniversary is for us an occasion to acknowledge with gratitude the loyalty and support which we have received from
all the members since the foundation in 1962. It is especially an opportunity to thank all those of you, who helped others
for past 50 years, fellow brethren Customs House Agents leadership in your customs station, who by their voluntary service
have served not just the members but also have been a link and an integral part of FFFAI. Fellow Executive Committee
Members and Managing Committee Members of the Member Associations, I would like to think that your work will be
particularly recognised during this Jubilee year. I send my warmest good wishes to all the member associations for the
support, particularly to the founder members for the five long decades, of contributing towards emergence of extremely
competent Customs House Agents with High Standards of professionalism and ethics to the world of international trade.
We wish to thank all the people who were behind this Newsletter, particularly those giving us the opportunity to
interview them, to all those who have contributed articles the newsletter. We extend a warm thanks to the Secretarial
Staff lead by the Honorary Secretary, Mr Amit Kamat for facilitating the research which went behind this newsletter; as
also the Honorary Treasurer, Mr Shankar Shinde who in addition holds the responsibility of the Editor for taking pains in
making this newsletter possible.
I hope also that this time of celebration across the membership will not simply be an occasion to be nostalgic about the
past. I believe that, young or old, we have as much to look forward to with confidence and hope as we have to look back
on with pride. It is but natural that , the entire fraternity of Customs House Agents looks forward to celebrate this grand
occasion in befitting manner by not just organising various events but also by taking new initiatives. While we share them
from time to time, I am pleased to enlist some:
• The Golden Jubilee year had a scintillating start with the blessing of the President of India
• With our submissions being appreciated by the Secretary General Of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) during
the Meeting with WCO SG at New Delhi, we now play a greater role in Global Trade Policy. This meeting was followed
by another meeting in WCO Hq at Brussels and a Presentation to WCO Permanent Technical Committee on Economic
Competitiveness Package. We had the unique honour to make the very first presentation by the private sector to the
world body. The WCO represents 179 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately
98% of world trade.
• We launched ‘Golden Jubilee Celebrations Mini Seminar Series’, inviting eminent experts to address the Executive
Committee Members.
• During the Golden Jubilee Celebrations we also launched the CSR initiatives:
o Initiatives included, honouring Sport persons, Gallantry Award decorated Armed Force Personnel, Police Personnel
and other members of the Society. It was a great experience being with the achievers who not just represented INDIA
in the international events but also left their mark in world of sports. Throughout the year, we will continue to honour
the people who have contributed to the nation building at each location.

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o In a significant step Launch of Women’s’ Wing & Youth Wing, empowering both Women and Youth to take play a greater role in the
industry, including in leadership responsibility
• We also spread our wings wider by launching the CFS Wing, extending our platform to important stakeholders in our Industry. We will
continue to widen our base further.
• The proposed FFFAI Convention in the mid next year will be an international event. The proposed activities during the
convention include
o Hosting of IFCBA meeting in India for the first time
o Half Day IFCBA Seminar to expose members to Customs Practices all over the world
o For the first time we will have International Networking Meetings facilitating greater national and international participation
o A Mini Tradefair, followed by a major Tradefair by the end of next year is also on cards
• FFFAI will be ISO Certified by the time you get this Newsletter
• On this happy occasion, I take pleasure in presenting to the members, ‘FFFAI Handbook’; I hope it will adorn your table.
• With an equally determined initiative, FFFAI will launch SBI – FFFAI Co-Branded Imprest Card, which has numerous features of
advantage to the members, and are for the first time ever available in India. Our fellow Executive Committee Members, Mr Sarfaraz Khan
& Mr Sailesh Bhatia, deserve a big thank from everyone for making this possible.
• On knowledge front we have a joint initiative with KPMG on coming out with the State Of Industry Report. We are also discussing
cooperating on Thought Leadership initiatives; the world looks towards India, not just as an emerging market but also as a powerhouse
of knowledge and thought leadership.
...the list is big, as the confidence posed by everyone is so overwhelming that my team, a highly motivated group of leaders, puts more
demands as we continue to achieve one goal after another. The Newsletter and email alerts will continue to update you on it. With various
events lined up and promising initiatives such as the extending the training programs of IIFF to various cities, the golden jubilee year
promises to be amongst most important milestone in the era of our federation.
It is imperative that we all hear the call of national apex body, do our bit to contribute actively and use this occasion to relive those days
of nostalgia and everlasting memories, and aim higher for the future. Our mission and goals have shown us the way, the perspicacity of
vision of the founders & the correctness of execution of those who succeeded; together, FFFAI & Member Associations, we have made the
Custom House Agents, an institution of service excellence, an uncompromising engine of progress and a catalyst of growth of international
trade.
As Chairman of FFFAI in the Golden Jubilee Year, I take pride of the fact that our members have made significant contributions in
facilitating the country’s International trade; on personal level, I am proud of being a Custom House Agent.
There has never been a better time to get involved with the fellow Customs House Agents & International Freight
Forwarders in shaping the future of our Industry. Please set apart some time out of your busy schedule so that we can get
in to an active and fruitful work initiative for betterment of our members in particular and International Logistics Industry
in general; let us get into an active dialogue to discuss the future plans. We solicit your well considered suggestions for
common good. If you’re not yet actively engaged and want to join the important work we are doing, I urge you to participate
in our activities and engage directly by taking lead in any of the events or assignments – it’s easy, costs you nothing and
provides an avenue for direct involvement in the largest network of Logistics Professionals. We live in interesting times to
say the least and there is lot to be done. I hope you’ll join us in advancing our ever-evolving initiatives! Let us all interact,
come together and act to make the upcoming events the biggest and the most remembered.
We hope this edition of the newsletter will be as cherished and enjoyed by the members as much as we enjoyed compiling it. Wishing
you a happy reading time..., and look forward to hear from you.
I will like to conclude by words of John F. Kennedy “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or
present are certain to miss the future.”
... AND ADVANCE WISHES TO ALL FOR A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
Thanks again
With Warm regards
Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations In India (FFFAI)

Honouring The Past - Celebrating The Present - Welcoming The Future



3

editorial

Shankar Shinde
Editor
FFFAI News

Untapped sectors

Looking towards opportunities for CHAs and Freight Forwarders
It is pleasure to be the part of Federation of Freight forwarders Association In
India (FFFAI) during the Golden Jubilee celebration, it is with our FFFAI ChairmanMr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar ‘s vision with dream encouraged us to drive our agenda to have FFFAI News
which has been a good opportunity and learning experience to lead the FFFAI news . Its time to look back
and take the stock and asses the present to be proactive for future at par with International practices to
align with our Golden Jubilee theme - Honouring the past, celebrating the present , and to welcome
the future.
FFFAI news will strive to work hard to protect and promote its members and empower them to be
proactive to compete for future. FFFAI news shall be our fraternity mouthpiece to communicate, educate
and impart knowledge with our members .Our team will strive to work and focus on empowering the
freight forwarder to compete national and International and this will help our members to build confidence and update to co-op up with the changing challenging scenario’s.
FFFAI news will help our members to address their difficulties and reach to the concern persons at
various trade and Government bodies as this will be an quarterly release issue with specific themes covering various modes of Transport Sea, Air, Land, Coastal Shipping , Inland waterways, and Intermodal
transport in National and International Level along with Government issues related to development of
trade. This would further look for creating opportunities for members with innovative technique and
entering untapped sectors.
We would cover major aspect effecting our industry and the solutions to the issues by consulting to
the experienced and knowledgeable personalities. There will be a continuity flow of themes so that every
issue becomes important for members and other trade bodies to relate.
I would request all members to participate and use this media to address the relevant issues related to
our industry and forward the articles , news , photographs to keep our members updated about their
regions. This in-house magazine will also be an opportunity for our Members to promote their organisation through advertising and providing details of their services.
I would also like to appeal all Customs House Agents to be the part of our FFFAI by enrolling into the
membership of FFFAI, and other logistics service provider to be the allied Member, and carry pride to be
the Member of National Association.
Shankar Shinde
Editor
FFFAI News
shankar.shinde@globalbm.com

4



feature

custom house agents

Wake up Call for CHA’s
It’s just the fear of loosing customers, the CHA’s carry in the market
which would lead to killing each other and it would be too late for
players to wake up later, by the time the business are at stake and
vanished.

L

ooking up for a meaning in dictionary we could
read the above definition, however what could
be the wake up call for us at present? is really
what we all need to look for and also be prepared
for the challenges and take precautions to sustain our
business and protect ourselves which is the major concern for our CHA Industry .
Stop giving credit or Perish, it’s time now where CHA’s
and Logistics players have to look into their business
models to sustain and grow else they would perish,
Customers are just using CHA’s and Logistics players to
finance their business , and use as many CHA’s as possible to extend the credits and twist the arms , when it
comes to payments they just want to raise the debit
notes and set off the account is being feared by the
CHA industry and in fear to not lose a customer they
just carry on with the huge liabilities of providing credits without understanding their way ahead is nothing
but perishing .
On the other hand the CHA’s pay advances to their
vendors (shipping line / CFS’s etc..) and CHA fraternity
fails to understand whether did shipping lines have lost
their customer for collecting D/D. and advance payments from CHA or Logistics players then how could
CHA lose their customers, it’s just the fear the players
carry in the market which would lead to killing each
other and it would be too late for players to wake up
later by the time the business are at stake and vanished.
There is an need for the training of financial control
in CHA, as they need to understand the business they
are into, the proportionate of margin to forego towards

financial burdens of interest and the risk of payments deduction by customers would just lead to negative
yields rather than doing their businesses, It would yield
more by investing in bank saving account.
The CHA’s further due to financial crunch add on the
liability of borrowing funds at higher interest without
considering the margins on the business the invest their
high cost funds for customers at lower margins, the
low yields and high cost of business administration and
infrastructure are further killing the businesses.
Other than above we continue to face issues
on operations:
1. CHALR’s regulation – powers to suspension
2. KYC norms – limitation
3. Onus on CHA for failure of Agencies to control
frauds and smugglings
4. CHA ‘s are procecuted and imprisoned for no fault
5. Red Sanders Smuggling Cautions – Government
systems not equipped to control
6. Low cost operators are hamster running on a
treadmill, you are not going anywhere.
As such their is a need to analyse what else are the
wake up call for our industry from every members perspective , which can be highlighted and corrective actions can be taken.
Welcome reader inputs at
shankar.shinde@globalbm.com

What next Financial crises:
how to make
money work?



5

OFFICE BEARERS
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar
CHAIRMAN

Mr. Raman Raj Sud
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

Mr. V.S.Pradeep
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. A. V. Vijayakumar
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. Nailesh V. Gandhi
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. Amit Kamat
HON. SECRETARY

Mr. A. R. Ramaraj
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. Philip CC
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. Narinder Prabhakar
VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr. Shankar Shinde
Hon. Treasurer

Board of
Advisors
Shri Arvind N. Parikh

Shri Vinod R. Gandhi

Shri Vinod K. Chowdhry

Shri N.T.Rama Rao

Shri Kurien Mathew

Shri Rafeeq Iqbal

Shri P.S.Krishnan

6

Shri Naval H. Mehta

Shri M.G.Sachdeva

Shri Ram Sharma Chunduru

Mr. R. Radhakrishnan



Executive Committee
Members
Mr. Samir J Shah

Capt.Piyush Sinha

Mr.Ashish Pednekar Mr. O.G. Hari Raj

Mr. Pankaj Shah

Mr. Sailesh Bhatia

Mr. C. B. Bujangaram Mr. S. Parthasarathy

Mr. K. Suresh Kumar Mr. K.S. Desikan

Mr.Sarfaraz A. Khan Mr.Omprakash Agrawal

Mr. Raghu Jairam

Mr. Alan Jose

Mr.Shashidhar V.Hebbar

Mr. Debashis Dutta

Mr. Devendra Thakker

Mr. Puttaraju

Mr. Ravi Joshi

MR. GEORGE JOSEPH

Mr.Shankar Prasad Verma Mr. Debashis Modak Mr. S. Natraja

Mr. R.Rajesh Kumar Mr.Dilieep T. Abraham Mr.G.A.Kalyana Moorthy Mr. C.S.Narendar

Mr.Mohd. Nayeemuddin Mr. Adil Khan

Mr.Shailendra Jain Mr. Kailash Gupta

Mr. Amit Kumar Jain Mr. Arun Sharma

Mr. SUDHIR KUMAR JAIN

Mr. Pramod Soneta Mr. Rajesh Verma

Mr. Madhusudan Kumra Mr. Manoj H. Kotak Mr. Manish Mishra Mr. Shareef. M.

Mr. M. Shekhar Pujari

Mr.Prakash Khemka

Mr. Sudhir Agarwal

Mr. S. Y. Ranade

Mr.K.V.Krishna Kumar

Mr. P.V. Jagannath

Mr. Parmanand Chand

Mr.Rajender Kumar Goyal Mr. S. Ramakrishna Mr. J.A. D’Souza

Mr.Anurag Vijayvargiya

Mr. Jagvir SinghJain Mr.Suresh Kumar Sharma Mr. A.V. Ranga Rao Mr. Ramesh Bansal Mr. T. V. Sujan

Capt. Ashish Samarth


Mr.J.P.Joe Villavarayar Mr.C.Karthikeya Prabu


7

Nominee of
Associate
Members

Mr. Dilip Bhat

Mrs.Philomena Pereira

Mr. Kiran Rambhia

Mr. Rajendra Garach

Mr. S.B. Salian

Mr. SURESH DALVI

Mr.Tej Mayur Contractor

Mr. Kishore T.S.

Mr.C.S.Nagendra Prasad

Mr. Subrata Ghosh

Mr. Sudip Dey

Mr. Sujit Chakraborty

Mr. Vishal Dadha

Mr. D. Vijaykumar

Mr. B. N. Rajmoghon

Mr.N.V.S.Prasad

List of Councils and sub-committees (2011-13)
Name of council
Sea Freight Council
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia - Convener
Mr. Alan Jose
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar
Mr. Debhasis Dutta
Air Freight Council
Mr. Samir J Shah - Convener
Mr. Vipin Vohra
Mr. Kishore T.S.
Mr.V.S.Pradeep
Customs Council
Mr. Omprakash Agrawal - Convener
Mr. Rajesh Verma
Mr. Sudip Dey
Mr. C. Karthikeya Prabhu
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Mr. T.V.Sujan
Mr. J.A.D‘Souza
Mr.Subrata Ghosh
Mr.Shailendra Jain
Mr.Sudhir Agarwal
ICD based CFS council
Mr. Narinder Prabhakar - Convener
Mr. Sudhir Agarwal
Mr.Shailendra Jain
Mr.Rajesh Verma
Rail/Concor
Capt. Piyush Sinha - Convener
Mr. Anurag Vijayavargiya
Multimodal Transport
Council
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener
Mr. S. B. Salian
IT/ EDI Council
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi - Convener
Mr. K.Suresh Kumar
Mr. S. B. Salian

8

Sub-Committees
Road Council
Mr.George Joseph - Convener
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Mr. S.Nataraja Mr.N.V.S.Prasad
Mr.T.V.Sujan
Port based CFS Council
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar - Convener
Mr. Georg Joseph
Mr. C.Karthikeya Prabhu
Sub-Committees
Banking
Mr. Sarfaraz Khan - Convener
Mr. Sudip Dey
Insurance
Mr. Sarfaraz Khan - Convener
Mr.Debashish Modak
Mr. N.V.S.Prasad
Golden Jubilee
Mr. R.Radhakrishnan - Convener
Mr.Ashish Pednekar -Co
Convener
Mr.Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Mrs. Philomena Pereira
Members Directory
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia - Convener
Mr.A.R.Ramaraj
Mr.D.Vijaykumar
Service Tax
Mr. A.V.Vijaykuma
Mr. George Joseph
Trade Relations
Mr. V.S.Pradeep
Mr.Philip. C.C


Government Relations
Mr. Ashish Pednekar

Direct Tax
Mr.A.Ramaraj - Convener
Mr.George Joseph
Mr.Sudhir Agarwal

International Network
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener
Mr.Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. V.S.Pradeep

KYC
Mr. Rajesh Verma - Convener
Mr.Debhashis Modak
Mr. S.Nataraja

Brochure
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia
Website
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi - Convener
Mr. Amit Kamat
Mr.Shankar Shinde
DMIC/ DFCC
Mr. Arun Sharma - Convener
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Capt. Piyush Sinha

CHALR Under Customs
Council
Mr. S.Ramakrishna - Convener
Mr. J.A. D‘Souza
Mr. Madhudushan Kumra
Mr. Devendra Thakker

Constitution

ISO 9001
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Media
Mr. Arun Sharma
FFFAI certificate of
competence
Mr.G.A.Kalyanamoorthy

INDIAN institute
of freight
forwarder (iiff)

Standard Trading
Conditions
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener Mr. George Joesph
Mr.S.Ramakrishna

Chairman
President
Mr Shankar Shinde
Hon. Secretary
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Hon. Treasurer
Mr. Shankar Shinde
Committee Members
Mr.O.G.Hariraj, Mr. T.V.Sujan,
Mr. Samir Shah, Mr. Alan Jose,
Mr. V.S.Pradeep,
Mr. Debashish Dutta,
Mr. D.Vjaykumar,
Mr. Tej Mayur Contractor

Code of conduct
(Harmonization)
Mr. Phillip. C.C

WINGS

Registration
Mr.Shankar Shinde - Convener
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Mr. Amit Kamat
Mr. K.S.Desikan

Visioning
Mr. Tushar Jani
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar

Appellate
Mr. P.S.Krishnan

Customs Business
Process Reengineering
(Self Assessment)
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi
Membership
Mr. A.Ramaraj

Infrastructure
Mr. V.S.Pradeep - Convener
Mr. Prakash Khemka
Mr. Philip.C.C.

Disciplinary Action

AEO/ MRA
Mr. Samir Shah - Convener
Mr. Narinder Prabhakar
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi

News letter
Mr. Shankar Shinde

CHALR & Other Cases
Mr. J.A.D‘Souza

Women Wing

MSME
Mr. S.Ramakrishna
Mr. O.G.Hariraj

CFS Wings

Youth Wing


FFFAI NE W S

INDIA AS AN AVIATION HUB –
‘TIME FOR COLLABORATION’ -Vipin Vohra
5th Assocham International
Conference, Indian Civil Aviation With Honourable Chief
Guest Mr.Ajit Singh Ji and
Mr.Kapil Kaul and Manoj
Singh, advisor planning comVipin Vohra
mission, Mr. Tushar Pandey,
Yes Bank among other dignatories was held on On 2nd
December 2011 Aviation Hub – Time for Collaboration
Mr. Vipin Vohra – (Air Freight Committee FFFAI) was invited a penallist to represent FFFAI in a panel discussion
on INDIA AS AN AVIATION HUB – TIME FOR COLLABORATION
Mr. VipinVohra: In his address mentioned that the Aviation Sector is very interesting however we must start with
a check on the available infrastructure for India’s
Exim trade & Domestic Air Cargo Market. He further explained the requirements to emerge as Airport in the air
cargo network of traffic & an ideal candidate for an alternative hub. Mr. Vipin Vohra emphasized that unlesswe
take some key initiatives and implement them it would be
a distant dream for India to be a Aviation Hub. He highlighted some keyissues that need to be addtressed andkey
initiatives to be implemented they were●●Sufficient cargo capacity : presently the capacity available with the airlines operating out of india is not even
sufficient to cater the local need of the country. No room
to accommodate the transit cargo.
●●Free port policy : the main demand is free port policy
something similar to SEZ & more.
●●Strategic geographic location : this is very important &
should be accessable easily & scope for further growth.
Require excellent connectivity &accessability.
Extensive i.t.application
High safety & security, emergency response system

Efficient cargo ground handling operations. Not just
matching world class standards but exceeding it.
●●Competitive costs (very very important)
Social political harmony, including trade friendly labourpracticies.
●●Simplificationof trade regulatons
Value adds such as refrigerated warehouses, heavy
cargo handling facilities & infrastructure to cope with the
rush of cargo.
Further to sum up he said some imperative changes are
needed and briefly mentioned them.
Streamline customs & other regulatories authorities on
single window, required change in the customs manuals.
To create infrastructure for trans shipments at all airports
for handling transhipment over & above the local cargo
generated from india.
Government should allow freighter carriers to bring in
more no. Of freighters by making cost effective airports
to compete with other airports in the world and to control
the rates otherwise if the capacity is not created it will
have negative impact on rates for indian exporters.
Community system :edi in true sence
Hinterland integration & efficient national connection,
domestic cargo & int’l cargo coming on domestic/int’l
flights or by sea International recognition, brand image
& confidence of all stake holders, particularly airlines &
customers. Collaboration with all the stake holders in the
air cargo industry. Lastly: the govt. Should think seriously to encourage “air freight stations” to be approved
outside the airport area. This will give cost effectiveness
and create more infrastructure outside the airport area to
decongest the airports in india. Although the airfreight
stations concept has been approvedby govt. But till date
no procedure has been laid down by the govt.
His thoughts were well appreciated by all.

FFFAI’s Values
Protect
Wealth

Customer
focused

Law
compliant

Environmen- Simplicity
Socially
tally responresponsible
sible

Innovation


Tax
efficient

Secure
supply
chain

Empowerment
Integrity


9

INTERVIEW

shipping corpor ation of India

Navratna PSE
Navratna CMD...
Sabyasachi Hajara, started his career with SCI in 1973 after obtaining Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. He also has a degree in Law and PG
Diplomas from the Norwegian Shipping Academy in Shipping and in International Maritime Law &
Marine Insurance. He has vast experience in various aspects of shipping and has been representing
the Indian shipping industry at various international fora such as the ILO and IMO. Presently, he is
the President of the Indian National Shipowners’ Association, a trustee of the Mumbai Port Trust
and also on the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University, Sweden as well as Director on
BIMCO Board. He had also been the Vice-President and Director of International Shipping Federation.. In June 2010, the prestigious. Mr.Hajara was presented the “Seatrade Outstanding Achievement Award” at the prestigious Seatrade Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards held in
Dubai. At Sailors Today Award ceremony on 21.04.12, Mr S Hajara has been coveted with prestigious
“Life-Time Achievement Award” for his outstanding contributions to the Shipping Industry.
What are the benefits for you, if the government implements its plan to reserve one third
of the country’s Exim cargo share for the Indian flag vessels?
It immediately gives us a platform for boosting the
Indian tonnage. Though India has the tonnage of barely one percent of the world, in terms of volume, India’s
Exim trade is about 700 mn tones which is about 8%
of the world trade. The share of Indian tonnage in India’s
Exim trade is just about 8-9%. So if we have assured
business of close to one third of total volume, it gives
Indian shipping the tremendous platform for growth.
First and foremost, India is one country which has
100% FDI in shipping. We have conveyed to the Government that we are asking to reserve 33% of Indian Exim
trade for Indian flag. Whether in the containerized scenario or in tanker, or in dry bulk, if the foreign lines will
find that there is an distinct advantage of being an Indian flag, it will definitely attract a lot of investment in
the country and even the foreign shipping companies

10


will set up their shops in India. As regards allegations
that reservation of cargo will increase freight rates I
would say that, water always flows and reaches its own
level. If in the international market there are certain
levels of freight rates prevailing and by reservation of
Indian cargo the rates go very much higher then everyone from the International market will be attracted to
Indian cargo and it will automatically reduce the rates
to reach the same levels as the international level.
Such 100% FDI is not
there, even in the liberal- Today, 8000 TEUs
ized countries like Europe. gets transshipped
They have lot of restriction across the coast in
on FDI, even for shipping India per month. The
and transport which are total numbers of Inconsidered as strategic indian coastal shipping
frastructure for their lines are 6 and
amongst us we offer
country.
With the reservation of a capacity of 42,000
cargo, there will be more TEUs.

scope for FDI. If it is found that Indian Shipping Companies do not have their own strength to cater to the
entire reserved cargo then obviously the cargo would
always get catered to other international lines.
Today in the world scenario, particularly when you
consider the shipping scenario, where the supply of
tonnage is far surpassing the demand and the ships are
chasing cargo everywhere, you cannot have a situation
in any pocket of the world where suddenly you will find
that there is cargo but no ships.
If the reservation happens will you ensure that the
Indian Exim community will get competitive rates freight
rates and will not pay higher freight charges? Indian flag
vessels more taxes.
In India the outgo for taxation is high, even in the best
years of shipping. Today the Indian shipping companies
are incurring losses and we have the so called “tonnage
tax” which is a notional tax. We are required to pay tax
depending on how much fleet we own and it has nothing to do with the book profit or loss. Obviously even if
SCI has incurred loss it has to pay tonnage tax.
But even in good years, the Indian shipping pays tax
to the extent of 8-9%, whereas at least 95% of the
world tonnage is operated from the regime where the
taxation level is 0-0.5%. There is a lack of level playing
field. That is the sovereign’s call. If sovereign has decided to collect some tax then that should not be the
factor for which you can say that because if you pay
higher tax it is difficult for you to give exactly the same
freight.
Even for Transchart and other inquiries we are carrying
cargo at the internationally competent rates. Foreign
shipping lines are quoting their freights and if we have
to carry, we have to match that rate.
Despite the
taxation, we are still offering internationally competitive
rates. My point is that taxation is again something that
the country is realizing for developing its soft infrastructure which is education, health etc.
What will be the impact of Cabotage law?
I won’t say there won’t be any direct immediate impact. They are trying it at Vallarpadam Port.
They said that they will have to relax it at
other ports as well if they do it for Vallarpadam?
No it isn’t true. I haven’t read it in any policy statement.
Cabotage is getting stringent in many countries such
as Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. In USA the Cabotage is absolutely strict. If you have to carry US coastal cargo, the
vessel has not only to be a US flag but also US built. The
logic that has been put forward and accepted for relaxation is unfortunately all wrong. For instance, it has been
said that there is lack of Indian tonnage. Today, 8000
TEUs gets transshipped across the coast in India per
month. The total numbers of Indian coastal shipping
lines are 6 and amongst us we offer a capacity of 42,000

Shri Sabyasachi Hajara
Chairman & Managing Director
The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd

TEUs. We offer five times the volume that gets shipped
/ transshipped today. It is said if Cabotage is relaxed,
the Vallarpadam will be able to attract one million TEUs
of transshipment which is transshipped through Colombo in Sri Lanka.
The fact is Colombo handle total 3.8 mn TEUs out of
which 2.9 mn TEUs is transshipment cargo. Out of this,
altogether, the India bound cargo is 1.2 mn TEUs. The
rest is for Salalah, Bangladesh. India’s volume of transshipment, routed through Colombo includes 1.2 mn
TEUs which includes west and east coast cargo. To say
that Vallarpadam, out of that 1.2 mn TEUs will be able
to attract 1 mn TEUs beats all logic. They have pleaded
and the government has relaxed Cabotage. Of course
there are provisions that it is on experimental basis and
it will be renewed after three years. Our point is simple,
on the Indian coast we do not have a level playing field
vis a vis our foreign counterparts. In our coast, for Indian cargo, you are making a situation where we are
discriminated against foreign carriers who do not have
the problems that we have, and they can merrily come
and pick containers which we can’t.
In Indonesia one of the Indian shipping lines- Varun
Shipping was catering to the bulk of LPG movement on
its coast. Maybe about 80% of the total movement was
handled by Varun. Only a year ago, Indonesia brought
strict Cabotage due to which only Indonesian flag can
carry their coastal cargo. In India all that you need is a
no objection from INSA. Lot of cargo is moving by foreign
flag as it is. Unlike India, where we have 100% FDI, in
Indonesia their flag can only be owned by an Indonesian
entity and the local promoter or equity partner has to
have majority stake. So immediately Varun shipping had
to form a JV in Indonesia with a minority stake, outstanding majority stake was owned by an Indonesian carrier.
They lost the cargo because they are only a minority
stakeholder in a carrier that is carrying LPG.
Why do you think the foreign vessels will invest in Indian flag vessels knowing that the
tax levels are higher?

11

INTERVIEW

shipping corpor ation of India

S Hajara, Chairman, Organizing Committee, NMDC(C) and Chairman and
Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India, received the Safety
Award from A P V N Sharma, I A S, secretary to the government of India,
ministry of shipping, on the eve of the celebration of International Maritime
day in the metro.

If they don’t invest they will not get the cargo. That
is why if we have reservation they will have to invest
and come to India, just to cater to that cargo.
Do you think Indian ship-owners can increase
their market share?
If we have a reservation of 33% then we can increase
the market share from the current 8%.
How shipping Lines particularly national and
CHAs can work more closely to synergize and
strengthen each other?
Not only as President, INSA, I am talking now as the
Chairman of SCI and we have always supported the
freight forwarding association and their members,
freight broking assoc. and their members, Customs
House agents and their members, to the best extent
possible. I must also admit that wherever our services
are available they have patronized our services. Wherever we are commercially competitive they have patronized us. We should strengthen it further through dialogues and closer interactions.
Have you witnessed any dip in volumes in
2012?
No.
How has been the cargo growth?
Different segments of cargo have seen different
growth but the growth is there.Unfortunately, the
growth in tonnage supply has been higher than the
growth in cargo demand which has resulted in the charter rates coming down. As far as cargo volumes are
concerned, they have been growing and only in 2009
the actual volumes dipped. After several decades, the
oil consumption and trade dipped. Even in dry bulk there
was a fall in 2009 which was an exceptional year. Cargo volumes are growing now but on the other side, the
supply of tonnage is growing at a faster rate than the
demand for that tonnage and that is why the rates are

12


still under pressure. From Trade is growing,
2013, I think the growth shipping will grow
in supply of tonnage will with the trade. I
substantially slow down. have not come
At one time for dry bulk across a forecast
and container, the total which projects accapacity on order was tual slowdown of
more than 50% of the trade or economy.
fleet capacity and today it World GDP which
has come down to 20%. had grown at a very
In the case of tanker, it healthy rate of 5.5%
was between 30-35% and came down to 4%,
today it is 12%. The deliv- and then to 3% and
ery of ships will definitely now it is around 3%.
come down very substan- No one has predicted
tially from 2013 onwards, a negative growth
since from 2009 onwards despite euro zone
the order-booking had crisis or some slow
come down. The peak down in China.
period of ships ordering
was in 2007 that translated into a historic high for ship
deliveries in 2010. In those years, in every established
shipyard, there was choc a block, so there was a lag of
about four years between placing an order and taking
delivery. Thereafter from 2011, ship deliveries slightly
came down and from 2013 it will come down further,
so that demand and supply mismatch will be offset to
a great extent.
SCI has not stopped increasing capacity. It has stopped
new ordering of ships. We were aggressively ordering
ships upto 2008 then we put a stop because there was
recession. We knew the asset prices would come down
substantially. We also found that it was putting pressure
on our cash flow because the margins were already
under pressure. The freight rates and charter hire were
coming down drastically. We almost stopped ordering
from mid 2008 till 2009 end. Then again from 2010,
we have ordered a few ships but not too many. In 201112, for the first time after 28 years, SCI incurred losses.
So obviously, we found that on the basis of our current
cash flow situation, it will not be possible for us to order
too many ships. Earlier only about 20% of our total
project cost used to be borne by us through equity /
internal resource generation. Today, it has even gone
up because the ship financiers have burned their fingers
with the world shipping companies over the last few
years and they are not prepared to lend more than 6065% of loan.
How is the induction of new vessels proving
to be beneficial?
They are bunker efficient. New ships require far less
maintenance for at least one year.
Trade is growing, shipping will grow with the trade.
I have not come across a forecast which projects actual
slowdown of trade or economy. World GDP which had
grown at a very healthy rate of 5.5% came down to
4%, and then to 3% and now it is around 3%. No one

What are the growth plans for SCI?
Our primary thrust would continue to be on energy
transportation. Currently we are looking at joint ownership of bulk carriers for import of both coking coal and
thermal coal which are projected to increase manifold
in future. We are also very keen to expand our role in
LNG transportation and are primarily targeting future
LNG projects in India.
The company hopes to cross the mark of 6 million dwt
this year. Our vision is to make SCI a truly global shipping
company with a large fleet and presence in all major
markets and continue to have robust internal processes
based on the state–of- the-art IT system so as to increase
the speed and accuracy of business transactions.

Mr Khan, Mr. Hajara and Mr. Shinde

has predicted a negative growth despite euro zone crisis or some slow down in China.
What advice would you give to the future SCI
CMD?
When I took over, I took a view that India is a growing
economy. All over the world shipping tonnage has
grown when the economy has grown. Unfortunately,
the growth in Indian tonnage has been very dismal.
Compared to our Exim trade which was growing at 25%
or more, the Indian shipping tonnage was growing
only at 3-4%. The best year has been 2004 -2005, when
the tonnage tax was introduced and in one year the
Indian tonnage grew by 10-12%. But otherwise, if you
work out India’s CAGR, the Indian shipping is growing
at a 1.5-2% or thereabout. As a percentage, the Indian
fleet to global fleet has come down. My first agenda
was to increase SCI’s tonnage. When I took over it must
have been a little over 4 mn DWT and now we have
close to 6mn DWT.
I was looking forward to leave SCI by making SCI fleet
to the level of about 8 mn DWT or there above but it
was not possible because of the economic downturn. I
did feel that we should have a cushion because shipping
is highly cyclic industry and to have the cushion we
should diversify into being a logistics solution provider,
having presence in the entire chain rather than just be
a shipping company. At the moment, we are just concentrating on our core business. But otherwise, terminal
management was one of the area where we wanted to
grow and further to have involvement even in ship building, in warehousing, ICD/CFS operations as well. My
advice to my successors is that as and when shipping
industry improves and we would be in the position to
once again diversify, then we should attempt to be a
holistic logistics solution provider rather than just a shipping company. For instance NYK & Maersk have done
that which has brought them in good state.

What is your policy for appointing agents?
Whenever business prospects are seen at any port(s),
SCI invites offers from the Shipping Agencies operating
at the port(s) normally through newspaper advertisements. The offers received are opened in the presence of
the representatives of applicant Agencies. The offers are
initially scrutinised for professional competence and financial soundness of the applicant Agencies. The applicant Agencies which qualify in the initial scrutiny are
further scrutinised for their commercial competitiveness
after opening the price offers in the presence of the representatives of applicant Agencies. The most commercially competitive Agency House is awarded the Agency.
What has been your best moment in the industry?
Since joining the Shipping Corporation of India in
1973, there were number of moments in my life which
were of great importance. However, the day I became
the Chairman & Managing Director of this esteemed
organization, was the proudest moment in my career.
This was all the more important, as I joined this company directly after passing out from the IIM, Calcutta
and continued with this company for my entire career.
I would also like to mention that recognizing the performance of the company, the Government of India
conferred the most coveted “Navratna” status on SCI
in August, 2008.
Further, I felt very proud to head this organization at
the time when the Golden Jubilee year of SCI was celebrated from 2nd October 2010 to 2nd October 2011.
The Chief Guest for inaugural function of the Golden
Jubilee year was Her Excellency, the, then President of
India and the Chief Guest for the valedictory function
was the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
What is your advice to the FFFAI community?
Being part of such dynamic association, it is eminent
for FFFAI members to keep themselves abreast of developments from time to time and to disseminate the information to stakeholders. Association must play a role
in bringing down logistics and transactional cost thereby giving a boost to country’s Exim trade.


13

FEATURE

KPMG’s Response

Opportunities &
Challenges in the
logistics industry
The industry is a very mature one, as evidenced by the existence of 4,000+ players providing services ranging from basic documentation to end-to-end logistics services. Going forward, the industry is expected to consolidate significantly, and many sub-scale CHAs will need to think of new
business models to remain relevant in a changing trade, regulatory and competitive landscape.
What is the Status of Logistics in India and
opportunities in logistics?
India is one of 5 countries globally (the others being
China, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico) which have a GDP in
excess of USD 600bn, yet a logistics industry that is only moderately developed (measured by the World Bank’s
Logistics Performance Index). This means that there is a
significant opportunity for growth and development of
the sector.
In 2011, total logistics market size was estimated at
USD 84billion and is expected to grow at CAGR of ~10%
to reach market size of USD 112billion in 2014. During
12th Five year plan (2012-2017), Government plans to
spend USD 1trillion in the infrastructure sector and expects significant contribution from private sector to meet
the investment targets. Moreover, Government plans to
invest USD 75billion in the improvement of road, rail,
aviation and ports infrastructure and services.
Factors such as rapidly growing economy, significant
government investment in core infrastructure projects,
increase in outsourcing of logistics activities, and steady
supply side changes are expected to contribute to the
growth of Transportation and Logistics sector in the fu-

14


ture. On the other hand, few challenges leading to the
inefficiencies in the logistics sector are poor infrastructure, inefficient modal mix, capacity constraints, etc
We expect that the industry will see the following trends over the next few years:
1. Polarization – the advent of global client groups
and logistics companies in India could result in a significant market share shift to these players
2. Verticalization – logistics companies would invest
in capabilities and assets to become more vertically focussed, rather than being generalists as has been the
case so far
3. Standardization – cargo would get increasingly get
more standardized and movement / storage would become a function of weight and speed
4. Multimodal Operations – India’s modal mix is expected to change to include more efficient and cheaper
options, reducing the current overdependence on road
5. Distribution Efficiency – India will eventually move
to a model of distribution which is efficient from a process and regulation standpoint

As mentioned earlier, unless CHAs de-commoditize
their basic services, they may become irrelevant. Even
from a regulatory standpoint, key changes such as the
prevalence of EDI, self-declaration and RMS, AEO policy,
ACP policy, stringent KYC norms, 24x7 clearance and
single window services will require CHAs to radically
rethink their models. With these changes, customers may
eventually be technologically enabled to handle their
own customs procedures, or this might become yet another ‘tick-in-the-box’ activity, which would not attract
any premium. It is therefore important for CHAs to view
themselves as a higher level logistics service provider.
KPMG - Sankalpa Bhattacharjya, made a well researched presentation
on Logistics Industry status in India

Role of CHA in Logistics, and what is the industry size? What is the future growth of industry?
CHAs play some important roles in the overall EXIM
logistics system. They help with speedy and smooth customs clearance for cargo, ensure appropriate classification and valuation of cargo, assist in the documentation
for EXIM cargo and also provide ancillary logistics services that are critical to the EXIM cargo chain.
The CHA industry was estimated at USD 544mn (net
revenue basis) in FY12, and is expected to grow at 1520% per annum over the next 4-5 years. In 2011, Ocean
CHA contributed 63% of total CHA market and remaining 37% was contributed by Air CHA. Imports form
majority of the percentage in both Ocean and Air CHA
market, contributing 64% and 52% respectively. Ocean
CHA market is expected to grow at CAGR of 19% and
Air CHA market is expected to grow at CAGR of 16%
during 2011-2016.
The industry is a very mature one, as evidenced by the
existence of 4,000+ players providing services ranging
from basic documentation to end-to-end logistics services. Going forward, the industry is expected to consolidate significantly, and many sub-scale CHAs will need
to think of new business models to remain relevant in a
changing trade, regulatory and competitive landscape.
Need for a CHA to diversify or add related
activity Integration into other allied services
The basic CHA services are commoditized to a large
extent, and entry barriers in this industry are very low.
This is also evidenced by the constantly declining pricing
and margins for CHAs, over the years. To survive and
remain profitable, CHAs need to follow some of the
trends occurring in the broader logistics industry – and
they also need to become integrated service providers
to customers, many of whom are today seeking players
to provide customs handling, freight forwarding, transportation and warehousing solutions.
Demanding customers with more services and
lower rates – how should CHA react – sustainability power?

Drivers for CHA growth? Mergers / Acquisition
– MNC entrants in CHA industry with huge
capital investment at low capital cost
Perhaps the biggest driver for the CHA industry is the
growth in EXIM trade itself. However, with declining
pricing and regulatory pressures, there may come a point
where CHA volumes continue to grow whereas the industry itself may start declining. M&A and consolidation
is very much expected in this industry, but then there
would also be a dearth of ‘attractive’ targets; smaller,
standalone CHAs therefore need to think about either
adapting or perishing. MNC will continue to establish a
stronghold in India. The 2000-10 decade saw the entry
of most large global logistics MNCs into India. The next
decade is likely to see more competition from these players, including mid-size international companies.
How can CHA face such challenges? Investments perception in our industry
CHAs need to change their business models dramatically to survive in this rapidly changing environment. The
following 4 questions need to be evaluated very carefully:
1. What business are you in? CHA or logistics?
2. What differentiates you from your competitors? Is
it price, customer relationships or something more sustainable?
3. Have you thought about the impact that IT will have
on your business? Can you envision a scenario where IT
will render the EXIM chain paperless?
4. What additional services can help you stay in the
game and win? Can you become an advisor instead of
an implementor?
Current investor perception of the CHA industry is that
it is highly competitive and commoditized, and this is
why there have hardly been any investments in standalone CHAs. Investors prefer more integrated players
who have more sustainable business models.
Necessity for Coopetition in CHA? Win – Win
situation
This is definitely an area that can be considered where
groups of CHAs share resources and offer complementary services. However, the CHA function alone may not
be sustainable, and diversification into newer areas may
be required.

15

INITIATIVE
YOUTH wing

uth ing
yo w

Dear Members,
It is with our Chairman’s vision and Executive Committee
Members support to have an youth wing Launched on
2nd December 2012 on eve of Golden Jubilee Celebration
of FFFAI .
Our Federation Committee Members have initiated the
task to create a platform for dynamic youth’s of future
leaders in our industry ,Federations has been playing an
important role to have this youth wing launched by inviting nomination , thanks to the Members for enthusiastic
response by nominating the youth.
I will be happy to lead this initiative to make it a great
success. Mr. Samir Shah and Mr. Tej Contractor have
agreed to be Mentor for the Youth Wing. We are happy
to have such personalities to develop and shape future
leader in our Industry.
-To enable and empower future Business Leaders in Leading the Association to Greater Heights
-To encourage support FFFAI at the Local, Regional, National and International Level
The Objective of youth Wing:
- To provide an opportunity to the young forwarders an
insight into the functioning of FFFAI and its Members
Associations by including them in the current functioning
of the association.
- To create a platform thereby harnessing talent within
the Industry to create Future Leaders of the Association.
- To lead and be the future torchbearer leader of this
industry and take it to greater heights especially with
respect to it’s unique positioning and role. The Future
Leader will lead by an example of integrity and knowledge.
Plan of Action:
• To identify the Youths and create team to lead the
youth wing through atleast 2 years of succession.
• To guide youth’s and plan course of action.
• Recommend that each member of the youth wing
should be part of the committee at the local level
(Ordinary Member’s - Youth Wing)
• All the Ordinary Members should nominate 2 youths
from each association in FFFAI e.g. Bombay, Chennai,
Delhi etc.

16


• The members would be selected to each sub-committee to participate and contribute for the functioning
of each committee.
• Youth Members have to participate in different subcommittee and should not hold on in a single committee for more than 2 years , thereby providing them
an overview of the complete Federation functioning.
• We will encourage Youth participation in events,
Seminars and conferences and expect youth’s contribution.
Background
The need for Youth wing
• Interest and Aggressive to learn / good hand on theory study.
• Opportunities to participate and get familiar to Members in National forum with early Introduction.
• Invite new talents with changing scenario’s .
• Transforming Theory Logistics into Practice ,Prepare
good case study.
• Early Exposure to International forum.
• Encourages to Participate for The Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award.
• Participate in FFFAI Young Freight Forwarder Award.
• Will create good DATA of Young forwarders for nomination to any other forums of youth wing
• Finally pride to FFFAI and India for creating Young
Entrepreneurs
Who can register for youth Wing
• Any youth person below 30 years (Nomination
through Members only)
• Members can nominate their Partners / Directors /
Relative or Managers in Organisation.
• Members related youth, studying of seeking career in
logistics.
• Youths could be studying in India or abroad - (International youth - This will help to understand International perspective in our industry)
Members registered before 2nd December would be the
Founder Member of Youth Wing.
Shankar Shinde, Hon., Treasurer - FFFAI


ACTIVIT Y
REPORT

FFFAI in action

PRE-gOLDEN jUBILEE MEETING AT FFFAI OFFICE

●● Women’s Wing was launched on 14th September,

2012 at Pune. Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, the Arjuna of India,
the Gold Medalist and shooter.
●● FFFAI supported 5th ASSOCHAM International Conference on Civil Aviation held on 21st September, 2012
at New Delhi. The conference was attended by Mr.
Vipin Vohra – Co-Convener of Airfreight Council wherein he was the speaker at the event.
●● hairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar was speaker at
C
East Coast Maritime Business Summit held on 21-22nd
September, 2012 at Visakhapatnam
●● FFFAI supported Gujarat Junction 2012 held on 6th
& 7th November, 2012 at Ahmedabad and was allotted
stall at the event
●● FFFAI supported Intermodal India 2012 held from 2527th September, 2012 at Mumbai. Mr. Shankar Shinde
– Honorary Treasurer delivered speech on Intermodal
Transport.
●● aritime Forum held on 28th September, 2012 was
M
attended by Chairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar
●● FFFAI was facilitated during MALA 2012. The event
was attended by Chairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar.
●● Mr. Shankar Shinde – Honorary Treasurer , Mr. George
Joseph, Mr. Nailesh Gandin,Mr. Sailesh Bhatia had a
meeting on Indian road infrastructure and opportunities
for Investments for Indian Freight Forwerders with Japan
Freight Forwarding Organization with the representatives
of Mizuho Corporate Bank, Singapore on 12th October,
2012 at Mumbai.
●● Mr. Shankar Shinde – Honorary Treasurer attended
Annual gathering of Maharashtra Heavy Vehicle & Interstate Container Operator’s Association held on 10th
October, 2012 at Mumbai.
●● FIATA World Congress 2012 at Los Angele was attended by Mr. Amit Kamat and Mr. Tej Contractor.Mr.
Alan Jose , Mr. C.S. Narendra and Mr. N.T. Rama Rao.
●● hairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar and Mr. Shankar
C
Shinde – Honorary Treasurer attended the Interactive


Women’s Wing MEET AT FFFAI OFFICE

session of network and short presentation on the Port
of Amsterdam on 12th October, 2012 at The Trident
Hotel, Mumbai.
●● Chairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar attended the
Gujarat Star Award held on 13th October 2012 at
Ahmedbad.
●● r. Shankar Shinde – Honorary Treasurer, Mr. Pankaj
M
Shah and Mrs. Philomena Pereira attended the meeting
held in the Office of the Commissioner of Customs (Export), Nhava Sheva on 17.10.2012 regarding illegal export of Red Sandar.
●● omen’s Wing meeting was held on 30th October,
W
2012 at FFFAI office.
●● Chairman attended IFCBA meeting at Brussels and
gave presentation on SMEs and the WCO Economic
Competitiveness Package
●● Meeting was held on 3rd November, 2012 at FFFAI
office to discuss the preparation of Golden Jubilee Celebration on 2nd December and various other issues
●● Chairman Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar along with
other members of FFFAI met Mr. Gautam Chatterjee DG
of Director General of Shipping on 5th November, 2012
●● Mr. Amit Kamat – Honorary Secretary and Mr. Sarfaraz Khan met Honorable Minister of Shipping Mr. Milind Deora on 12th November, 2012 at Mumbai
●●FFFAI alongwith BCHAA organised a knowledge seminar

with Yes Bank on on “New Opportunities in the Logistics
Sector” for the Members of BCHAA and FFFAI

Upcoming Events
Conquest 2013 is scheduled to be held on 13th February, 2013 at New Delhi
FFFAI supported Hazmat 2013 scheduled to be held
on 26-27th April 2013 at Mumbai
FFFAI’s Chairman invited by Gateway Media Private
Limited, to be Jury Member of the Gateway Awards
of Excellence 2013


17

ACTIVIT Y

FELICITATION AND HONOURS

49th AGM of the `Federation of Freight
Forwarders’ Associations in India` (FFFAI)

T

he 49th AGM Of the `Federation of Freight
Forwarders’ Associations in India` (FFFAI)
was held on Friday, 14th Sept 2012 at Marriot
Hotel & Convention Centre, Pune. Coinciding
with the AGM, from 13th Sept 2012 to 15th Sept 2012,
FFFAI held the Executive Committee Meeting; the `Pune
Customs House Agents Association` hosted the meeting. The Golden Jubilee Celebration Mini Seminar, a
series instituted during the term followed the AGM.
The meetings were attended by the Executive Committee Members from all over India. Numerous issues
of importance to CHAs in particular and trade in general were discussed. Amongst the issues discussed pertained to infrastructure, capacity building including
training, opening of training centres of Indian Institute
Of Freight Forwarding, 24 x 7 Customs operations etc.
Shri Vasa Seshagiri Rao, Commissioner of Customs
– Pune while being felicitated, appreciated the new
initiatives taken up by FFFAI & acknowledged that Customs house Agents play an very important role in the
EXIM trade of the country.
The highlights of the evening event held on
Friday, 14th Sept 2012 at Marriot Hotel & Convention Centre were:
● Launch of the `FFFAI Women’s Wing`, by the ace
shooter, Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, the former world number
one & one of the greatest Indian women athletes of all
time. Women Forwarders, members of `FFFAI Women’s
Wing` representing FFFAI Member locations participated in an elegant launch. Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, while
launching this new initiative encouraged the women
to participate in the National and International events.

Giving the background for launch of this wing, Chairman Shri Shantanu Bhadkamkar explained that not
only as a responsible national body, women’s empowerment needs to be an integral part of our agenda but if
we need increased parThe new wing will
ticipation of women in
help women from
the industry to bridge the
the second generaskill gap. He also shared
tion work wide pride
that in South East Asia
in this industry; it
and Far East, women in
will also open opporfact dominated certain
tunities to fresh infunctional segments of
cumbents to be part
the Freight Forwarding
of this industry,
Industry. With FFFAI’s
which is an impornew initiative for Brand
tant segment of the
Building, surely more
Logistics Industry
women will be attracted
to this field, he felt.
Smt. Philomena Pereira, the Convenor of the Women’s Wing, stated that empowering women engaged
in International Freight Forwarding was a need of the
hour and the women were confident of taking the challenge & the newly launched wing will take new initiatives for women’s empowerment in this field, she
thanked Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman of FFFAI
for his encouragement & vision of initiating such an
important well thought out initiative for the industry,
which is largely men dominated. The new wing will help
women from the second generation work wide pride
in this industry; it will also open opportunities to fresh
incumbents to be part of this industry, which is an important segment of the Logistics Industry.

Shantanu Bhadkamkar, CHAIRMAN, FFFAI

18



Smt. Jyoti BhadkamNumerous issues of
kar, while thanking Smt
importance to CHAs
Bhagwat,
informed
in particular and
foundation of this wing
trade in general
was blessed by the then
were discussed.
President of India, H.E.
Amongst the issues
Smt. Pratibhatai Patil.
discussed pertained
During the audience
to infrastructure,
granted by the former
capacity building
President, Her Excellency
including training,
was very pleased to note
opening of training
about launch of the
centres of Indian Inwomen’s wing, shared
stitute Of Freight
very encouraging words.
Forwarding, 24 x 7
●FFFAI also felicitated
Customs operations
and honoured the FFFAI
Board of Advisors and presented them a Plaque, ‘In
Appreciation Of Outstanding Contribution To The Fraternity Of Custom House Agents’.
● xecutive Committee Member & Former Vice ChairE
man, Shri Ashish Pednekar was felicitated, and presented a Plaque ‘In Appreciation Of Outstanding Contribution To The Fraternity Of Custom House Agents’,
in appreciation of his important role in the finalisation
of CHALR 2004.
The highlight also included FFFAI CSR initiative of acknowledging the contribution of
sports personnel & Armed Forces to the nation.
The following personalities were honoured by presentation of FFFAI Plaque of Honour ‘In Appreciation
of Outstanding Contributions to Sports in the Country
& for Service to the Nation’:
Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, professional shooter: She has
won 31 Gold, 23 Silver and 7 Bronze medals. She has
set 13 new records in International competitions and
has won 55 Gold, 35 Silver and 16 Bronze medals, with

Anjali Bhagwat being felicitated

Subhedar Major Vijay Kumar

Shri. Chandrakant Borde



19

ACTIVIT Y

FELICITATION AND HONOURS

Shri Surendra Chavan

8 new records in national competitions in India. She is
recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna & Arjuna Award.
Subhedar Major Vijay Kumar, Sport Shooter: Silver
medallist in London Olympics. Winner of 3 gold medals
and a silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games
& 2 gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Padma Bhushan Shri Chandrakant Borde, former
Cricketer: Member of the Indian team between 1958
and 1970; he captained the Indian team in the First Test
against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December
1967; cricket administrator, serving as the Chairman of
national selectors. He is a recipient of Arjuna Award &
Padma Shri Award.
Shri Surendra Chavan, Mountaineer: Scaled the
Mount Everest Summit in 1998 from the North Side
Shri Raj Khalid, Sport Shooter: Raj Khalid is a former
national champion, he is well known to the industry as
India Representative of Port of Antwerp.
It was a proud and an emotional moment for all when
FFFAI Plaque of Honour was presented to War Veterans,
‘In Appreciation of Extraordinary Gallantry beyond Call
of Duty & for Service to the Nation’.
Col. Sadanand B. Salunke, Vir Chakra (VrC): Major
Sadanand B. Salunke was commanding a company of
Maratha Light Infantry in Shakargarh Sector. On 10
December 1971, he was ordered to attack certain enemy positions. Major Salunke led his men and captured
three enemy posts. Finding the enemy in the process
of readjusting his defences, he rallied his men and
launched an attack with speed and captured the objective, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.
Col. Gautam Khot, Vir Chakra (VrC): Col. Gautam
Khot was the first pilot of the Army Aviation to have
landed at Tololing, the first victory of the Indian Army
in the Kargil conflict of 1999. For his act of bravery that
involved flying for over 100 hours saving the lives of his
comrades and delivering ammunition and essential

Shri. Raj Khalid

Col. Sadanand B. Salunke

20



In Appreciation of Extraordinary
Gallantry beyond Call of
Duty & for
Service to the
Nation

loads despite heavy enemy shelling
to the troops engaged, Col Khot
was awarded Vir Chakra by the
President in November 2000.
While acknowledging the felicitation, Col Salunke announced that
it was great to be recognised for
the duty executed toward the nation and we really feel proud when
we are recognised for our work.

The Golden Jubilee Mini Seminar included
presentations by:
● hri Anand Deshpande, M.D. Persistent Systems Ltd,
S
who shared his success story and entrepreneurial vision,
explaining how in each phase of growth, the entrepreneurs should change their business and themselves. He
also explained that business grows in quantum leaps.
● hri Sankalp Bhattacharya of KPMG, made a presenS
tation on the State of the Industry highlighting key
findings.
●Shri S. D. Chand, Dy. Commissioner of Customs,
President Gold Medallist and the only WCO Accredited
Trainer in India made an excellent presentation on
Valuation, citing several cases. In course of deliberations, it was decided to study and address the issue of
DDP/DDU/DAP shipments for ascertaining the assessable value.
FFFAI also proudly launched it’s in-house magazine,
‘FFFAI News’, a quarterly. Smartly brought out inaugural issue has raised great expectations from the next
issue, which will be a Golden Jubilee issue.
All the participants complemented, Capt Samarth and
his team from Pune Customs House Agents Association
for excellent organisation and wonderful hospitality. ●

Shri. Anand Deshpande

Shri Sankalpa Bhattacharya

Shri. S. D. Chand



21

PICTORIAL ALBUM

FFFAI - FELICITATION AND HONOURS

Shri. Vasa Seshagiri Rao - Commissioner of Customs

Shri. Naval Mehta

Shri. Vinod Chowdhary

Shri. Rafeeq Iqbal

Shri. P. S. Krishnan

Shri. Ram Sharma Chanduru

Shri. Radhakrishnan

Shri. Ashish Pednekar

22



Shri. Prahlad Tanwar

EC Meet

AGM Meet

AGM Meet

Award Ceremony

Award Ceremony

FFFAI Office Bearer Meeting

FFFAI News release by Vinod Chaudhary and Naval Mehta



23

initiative

IIFF educ ation wing of fffai

IIFF - FIATA offers Courses in
Logistics & Freight
Forwarding

I

ndian Institute of Freight Forwarders (IIFF), the education wing of Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) has been conducting Vocational Training since 2005. FFFAI is the apex body of
Custom House Agents (CHAs) in India and formed IIFF to
institutionalize their training programmes. 24 CHA Associations from all over India and more than 3500 individual companies are FFFAI members. Incorporated in
1962, the 50 year old organization FFFAI is celebrating
its Golden Jubilee year in 2012.
Individual members of FFFAI, who are majorly CHAs
are multifaceted. They are CHAs, Air Cargo Agents, Multimodal Transporters, CFS operators, 3PL Service Providers, Shipping Agents, Ocean carriers, Truckers, Consolidators, NVOCCs, International transport operators and are
involved all aspects of Cargo Freight logistics. These
members together provide employment to more than
100,000 persons all over India.
To induct talent and value amongst its personnels, FFFAI has embarked on its vocational Training Programmes
through IIFF. Twin Diploma programme is IIFF’s initiative
to provide National & International Diploma in Logistics
and Freight Forwarding to both the professionals and
freshers interested in building a career in Logistics &
Freight Forwarding industry. This course will first commence in 1st week of June 2012 at Mumbai.
IIFF International Diploma is a highly sought after Vocational Training programme and is accredited by FIATA,
the International Apex body of Freight Forwarders. FFFAI
is a member of FIATA for the last 4 decades. The FIATA
Diploma course is managed by Advisory Body Vocational Training (ABVT), the education arm of FIATA. ABVT
approves and validates the course material periodically
and gives accreditation to the Institutes run by their Member associations to conduct the FIATA Diploma course.
Globally 52 countries have validated their Vocational
Training programmes through FIATA and students all over
the world take benefit from these FIATA Diploma course
year after year.
In India, IIFF is the only institute accredited by FIATA to
conduct their diploma course. FFFAI in their Golden Jubilee year have an ambitious plan to expand their education and training programme through IIFF Education
Centres, in all the 24 locations of their Member Association by December, 2013.
Mr. Pankaj Shah, Hon. Secretary of IIFF mentioned, IIFF
is committed to provide quality education to enhance
the professionalism in Freight Forwarding industry and
hence we are very cautiously selecting our Faculty and

24


the teaching methodology. IIFF have a regular assessment
programme for both students and faculty, to ensure the
training course is matching with international quality and
standards.
Mr. R. Radhakrishnan, President of IIFF mentioned, we
are planning to provide placement for their students at
the end of the course and will be also affiliating with
similar foreign Institutes for student exchange programme. The Twin Diploma course will provide for an
optional tour to a similar foreign institute to study the
Freight Forwarding process in a foreign land.
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman of IIFF mentioned, we have a short supply of qualified professionals
in Logistics & Freight Forwarding sector and IIFF is endeavoring to bridge this gap by their Vocational training
programme through Twin Diploma course. In the Golden
Jubilee year, FFFAI has committed to focus on education
and training and we will be commissioning IIFF Centre of
Education in many locations in India to promote our
courses. Mr. Bhadkamkar added, I am very confident,
shortly IIFF will be emerge as the Top class institute in this
Logistics & Freight Forwarding sector providing for quality vocational training.
The admissions for IIFF Twin Diploma Course are open
and details are available at FFFAI. Further details can be
obtained through email info@fffai.org or Telephone +91
22 67107495/96.

INITIATIVE
Womens wing

Fffai Women’s Wing officially launched by Mrs. Anjali Bhagwat, Arjuna Awardee in 2000 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2002.

FFFAI Launches ‘Women Wing’
A platform for Women empowerment

F

FFAI, a National Body is an important Forum for
the establishment of Women in Freight Forwarding Industry. Women’s Wing exist to promote the
full participation and empowerment of women engaged
in International Freight Forwarding Industry in particular.
It will encourage more women, particularly young women to join the industry and make it a top choice of occupation right from education stage. Greater opportunities to those already in the business for both career opportunities and for representation in the industry leadership. There are women in this industry by family lineage,
but few; we need to encourage more women.
Women’s Wing is constitued of women engaged in
International Freight Forwarding & Custom Clearance
and will chapter at 24 member locations of FFFAI with a
national secretariat based in Mumbai. The main goal of
the women’s wing is to empower its members to be
productive and contribute positively to society in general and International Freight Forwarding industry in
particular. This will help the women from the second
generation to take pride in this industry and also open
up opportunities to fresh incumbents.
Women’s Wing was launched in Pune during the during the Golden Jubilee Celebrations and FFFAI Executive
Committee Meeting at the hands of Ms.Anjali Bhagwat,
the Gold Medalist and Champion of Champions in Shooting on 14th September, 2012. Ms. Anjali Bhagwat encouraged the women to take part in national and international events. Infact, women’s wing was also fortunate
to brief the former President Smt. Pratibha Patil about
the launch of women’s wing for the Freight Forwarding
Industry and she very much appreciated the venture.
FFFAI Chairman, Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar firmly supports that women empowerment needs to be integral

Former President-India Smt. Pratibha Patil

part of the agenda to facilitate the increased participation
of women in the industry to bridge the skill gap. In South
East Asia and Far East, women dominated certain functional segments of the freight forwarding industry.
Ms. Jyoti Bhadkamkar, the Chairperson of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), Entrepreneur- women’s wing- also contributes to
the growth of this wing. This wing is also supported by
all the Presidents and Executive Committee Members at
24 member locations.
The objectives
To mobilize women engaged in International Freight Forwarding & Custom Clearance, To assist women engaged
in International Freight Forwarding & Custom Clearance,
To raise awareness of the industry amongst women and
encourage women in International Freight Forwarding &
Custom Clearance, To empower women engaged in International Freight Forwarding and Custom Clearance through
education, job placement, skills and training, To assist in
the provision of welfare services for women engaged in
International Freight Forwarding and Custom Clearance, To
net-work with organisastions with similar objectives.


25

FFFAI NE W S

Milind Deora takes charge as MOS
in Shipping Ministry

Milind Deora, Minister of State for Shipping

N

ewly appointed junior shipping minister Milind Deora today said his top most priority, along with inviting private participation in the sector, would be to utilise
the country’s massive coastline by creating economic
opportunities.
“Sea is an untapped resource, specially from recreation point of view and my priority will be to utilise our
massive coastline, in terms of employment and investment opportunities in the sector,” Deora told reporters
after taking charge as Minister of State for Shipping.
Deora, the Minister of State for Telecom and IT, has
been given the additional portfolio of the Shipping Ministry. “We aim to use the coastline in a way that allows
economic opportunities,” he said adding that he is greatful to his leadership for bestowing him with this respon-

sibility. “This (Shipping) industry is a barometer of what
we can expect from the global economy. In the area of
shipping there is a lot of opportunities like in ship building for Indian companies,” Deora said, adding his ministry would look at investment proposals from private
companies in the sector.
Another area that the newly appointed Minister aims
to focus, is the safety of sailors or seafarers.
“Other issues of concern are protection of seafearers,
how do we protect them and also people who have
invested in the shipping sector,” Deora stated.
Ministry of Shipping has set a target of awarding 42
projects during the current financial year (2012-13) including two new major port projects.
The total capacity addition would be 245 million
tonnes involving 42 projects at an investment of about
Rs 14,000 crore.
“We have received in-principle approval for two new
major ports, we have already floated a new note, we
hope by November we should be able to get Cabinet
approval,” he said.
The government has selected two sites - Sagar island
(West Bengal) and Ramyapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) -- for
constructing two new major ports in the country.
There are 12 major ports - Kandla, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Marmagao, New Mangalore, Kochi,
Tuticorin, Chennai, Ennore, Vishakhapatnam, Paradip
and Kolkata-Haldia - in India.

Intermodal transport Operations
There is an huge opportunity to integrate the logistics
systems in EXIM trade , Government initiatives to go
green , control pollutions , and develop ports , Coastal
shipping and Inland waterways systems will provide further scope an opportunity to the Custom House Agents
( CHA’s) and freight forwarders to change their perspective of working in National and International Logistics ,
there is a demand for coastal shipping and Inland waterways , however the Freight forwarding fraternity has
neglected this area of operation due to lack of development in infrastructure and Government support.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) ,came
into existence on 27th October 1986 by an Act of Parliament, has been entrusted the task of development and
regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on
national waterways through grant received from Ministry
of Shipping. India has about 14,500 km of navigable wa-

26


terways which comprise of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc.
About 55 million tones of cargo is being moved annually by Inland
Water Transport (IWT), a fuel - efficient and environment -friendly mode. Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches
in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers , the Brahmaputra, the
Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland
waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari Krishna rivers. Besides these organized operations by mechanized
vessels, country boats of various capacities also operate in various
rivers and canals. and substantial quantum of cargo and passengers are transported in this unorganized sector as well.
NW I – 1986 ,Haldia – Allahabad stretch of the GangaBhagirathi-Hooghly river system between Haldia (Sagar) &
Allahabad (1620 kms) was declared as National Waterway No.
1(NW-1) during October 1986.
NW2 -1988 , Sadiya - Dhubri stretch of the river Brahmaputra having a length of 891 Km between Bangladesh Border
to Sadiya was declared as National Waterway no. 2 (Nationsl
Waterway-2) on 1st September, 1988.

FFFAI delegation meets
DG Shipping

India Eases
Cabotage
Laws at
Port of
Cochin

Gautam Chatterjee-Director General of Shipping, Directorate General of Shipping

FFFAI Chairman with a members delegation meets Mr.GautamChatterjee -Director General of Shipping, Directorate General of Shipping
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar.Mr. AmitKamat,,Mr. Shankar Shinde, Mr. Sailesh
Bhatia SarfarazKhan, Salian, Pankaj Shah, Philomenna Pereira, Rajendra Garach, Mr.Gautam Chatterjee-D.G. Shipping was happy to meet the Chairman
along with the member delegation of FFFAI and understand the important
role played by them in the EXIM trade.Mr.ShantanuBhadkamkar – Chairman
of FFAI appraised him of the activities of the Federation and highlighted
the need for developing Coastal Shipping and IWT as an integral part of
EXIM trade. He also mentioned the studies that FFFAI conducted with KPMG
and Delloite and offered to share the feedback and also said that FFFAI
would be happy to carry a study on coastal development through one of
the consulting agencies for the development of trade.
FFFAI – Chairman requested for the appointment of a nodal officer for
better guidance and communication in developing the coastal shipping.

NW3 – 1993 ,Kollam - Kottapuram stretch of West Coastal Canal ( 410
Kms)alongwith Champakara canal and Udyogmandal canal (205 km )
declared as National Waterway-3in 1993
NW4 – 2008 , Bhadrachalam – Rajamundry stretch of river Godavari and
Wazirabad Vijaywada stretch of River Krishna along with Kakinada Canal
, Eluru canal, Commamur canal, Buckingham canal and Kalucelley tank
upto Puducherry ( 1095)) km declared a National Waterway-4 in 2008
NW5- 2008, Talcher Dhamra stretch of Brahamani Kharsua – Dhamra
river system along with Geonkhali Vharbatti stretch of east coast canal &
portions of Matai River and Mahanadi delta river system between Mangalgadi and Paradip (623km)declared as National Waterway- 5 in 2008
Indian Logistics players need to adventure into opportunities in transportation and movements through coastal and IWT systems to make the trade
competitive. The Governments future initiatives shall be into Carbon credit basis transportation modes utilisation for movement of cargo rather than
by land, Developing every segment of transportation Sea, Air , Land , Rail
to integrate and perform through seamless operation will lead to futuristic
boom of operations in EXIM trade.


Officials said the easing of
the regulation, which came
amid protest from domestic
ocean carriers, would be subject
to review after three years.
“The primary objective of relaxation in the cabotage policy
for VICTT is to attract cargoes
destined for Indian ports, which
are presently being transshipped
at Colombo (Sri Lanka) and
other foreign ports. This initiative is expected to promote
transshipment of Indian cargo
from VICTT and reduce dependence on nearby foreign ports,”
the official release said.
Officials said cabotage restrictions had been a major deterrent to many mainline carriers
wishing to offer regular calls at
the Vallarpadam terminal, a DP
World facility.
“The Indian container trade
has seen a steady growth over
the years. Despite this, more
than half of Indian containers
are being transshipped at ports
outside India, mainly at Colombo, Singapore, Salalah and Jebel Ali,” officials said.
VICTT, which began commercial operations in February last
year, has been struggling to turn
around its throughput volumes.
Traffic from April through July
declined to 45,000 20-footequivalent units from 56,000
TEUs a year earlier.
The $600 million terminal is
the first stage in DP World’s
three-phase development at
Vallarpadam, offering an annual capacity of 1 million TEUs
in the initial phase and 4 million
TEUs when fully built out.


27

FFFAI international nEWS
IFCBA MEETS WITH MR. KUNIO
MIKURIYA, SECRETARY GENERAL
OF THE WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION

IFCBA PRESENTS VIEWS ON SMEs
AND THE WCO ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS PACKAGE

IFCBA Managing Directors recently met in Brussels, Belgium to discuss a number of issues of importance to IFCBA members worldwide. IFCBA Chairman George Zografos from Greece was joined by Immediate Past Chairman Jaime King of Mexico, Past Chairman Federico Zuniga of the United States and Directors Shantanu
Bhadkamkar from India, Pedro Beqangue from Angola,
Vito Totorizzo from Italy and Michel Vallée from Canada.
On the morning of 9 November, 2012, IFCBA representatives met with Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of
the World Customs Organization to discuss areas of shared
interest and concern. Discussions focused on the role
played by customs brokers in facilitating international trade
for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and Mr.
Mikuriya thanked IFCBA Managing Director, Mr. Shantanu
Bhadkamkar and IFCBA Secretary, Ms. Carol West for their
presentations during the previous day’s Permanent Technical Committee’s session on Economic Competitiveness and
SME. Ms. West confirmed that the IFCBA would share
with WCO officials a small business lens checklist that
supports WCO efforts to ensure that SME are considered
when laws, policies and procedures are drafted.
During the meeting, Mr. Mikuriya reiterated his belief
that the customs broker is a critical piece in compliance
and that active collaboration between the WCO and the
IFCBA is to the advantage of both. IFCBA initiatives related to education and training, current and potential
partnerships were discussed in the context of trade facilitation, compliance, capacity building and economic
competitiveness.
The meeting closed with a discussion of current economic conditions in IFCBA member countries and with a
statement of appreciation by IFCBA Chair, Mr. George
Zografos regarding WCO support of the 2012 IFCBA World
Conference in Athens , in particular the active participation
of Mr. Zhu Gaozhang.

Meeting with Pro Vice Chancellor of
University Of Mumbai for IIFF

28


T

he IFCBA was requested to present its views on
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the
WCO Economic Competitiveness Package at the
meeting of the Permanent Technical Committee
on 8 November, 2012. IFCBA Managing Director Shantanu Bhadkamkar and IFCBA Secretary Carol West together raised awareness of the critical role of customs
brokers for the SME sector, underlining the fact that customs brokers’ knowledge base and commitment to compliance are factors which directly contribute to trade facilitation and economic competitiveness. How borders
work directly influences investment decisions by business
and there is a high cost to inefficient customs procedures.
The presentation pointed out that there are challenges
defining and identifying SMEs - there is no global agreement on what this sector is and there is a transitory nature
of SMEs, that is, businesses may grow into and out of the
sector. Nevertheless, then percentage contribution of
SMEs to GDP ranges from about 15% in low-income countries to about 40% in middle-income countries and about
50% in high-income countries, according to World Bank
data. In addition, it is fair to state that many customs
brokers themselves are SMEs, whose core business is facilitating the movement of goods across borders.
Trade facilitation today extends beyond the traditional
role of customs to other government agencies which regulating the movement of goods across borders, and any
strategy for economic competitiveness must recognize the
importance of coordinated border management and single
window. The WCO Economic Competitiveness Package and
action plan supports the extended implementation of WCO
instruments, especially the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC),
and the IFCBA sees the effective implementation of the RKC
as a benefit for SMEs as well as large business.
The IFCBA presentation was well received by the Customs delegates to the PTC meeting, with several questions
from the audience and in the margins of the meeting, and
the IFCBA appreciated the opportunity to share its views
on such an important subject.


WCO report on Meeting
with FFFAI

National Associations in the Shipping &
Logistics fraternity forms

India’s preparedness for the WCO Economic Competitiveness Package

T

AT the invitation of the Chairman of the Indian Central
Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC), S.K. Goel, the Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, visited New
Delhi, India on 9 July 2012 for a working session on
India’s progress regarding WCO initiatives.
Indian Customs has examined its situation in relation
to the Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP) conceptual chart and supporting tools presented to the
WCO Council during its recent sessions in Brussels.
Viewing the CBEC as a comprehensive package for
streamlining Customs activities through various tools,
India has already identified areas where further progress may be required. In addition, they will contribute
to sharing best practices to promote the ECP at the
regional level and consider major elements of the ECP
in future bilateral discussions.
Indian Customs also informed the Secretary General
of their completion of their AEO pilot project and their
role out of a full-fledged AEO programme as the next
step. In line with the Guidelines for Post Clearance
Audit (PCA) included in the WCO Revenue Package,
India implemented onsite PCA in 2011 and introduced
self-assessment at the same time, which has benefited
trusted traders for facilitation purposes and also improved their compliance. CBEC is also interested in
research on the informal sector which the WCO intends
to undertake.
The Secretary General appreciated the work done by
Indian Customs in adapting and incorporating WCO
initiatives at the national level, in order to enhance the
value of these initiatives. He also thanked CBEC for
their willingness to share their experience and lessons
learned with other WCO Members, thereby promoting
connectivity and the spirit of cooperation.
Whilst in New Delhi, the Secretary General also took
the opportunity to meet senior representatives of the
Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Association in India
which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Indian Customs
Act of 1962. The Federation is keen to strengthen its
partnership with Customs and enhance the professionalism of Customs brokers in the fast-evolving environment in which Customs and business operate.

‘The Maritime Forum of India’
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, FFFAI to lead and chair the forum.

his platform is conceived and constituted in order to
create a unified constituency for the stakeholders in the
Maritime industry in India. All the Bodies have been
highlighting and taking up different issues relating to
their respective area of activities with various Agencies. It was
unanimously felt that a unified approach in addressing such
issues will be beneficial to all the stakeholders as well as to the
Government functionaries, instead of having a fractured approach. An idea to formulate unified platform was initially conceived by some of the very senior and well meaning Government
functionaries in the past. The Forum aims at developing the
idea further to a practical and functioning level.
Time and again, some of the associations and bodies mentioned above have been taking up issues relating to the Maritime
industry like infrastructure, legal & statutory matters, administrative hurdles. Maritime Forum of India, would like to address
such issues in a focused, cohesive and coordinated manner for
the benefit of all concerned..To make India’s international trade
more competitive the Forum would also like to focus on specific initiatives such as development of coastal shipping, waterways, green logistics and reduction in transaction cost etcThe
coming together of different National Trade Bodies within the
Shipping and Logistics field would certainly promote National
Maritime interest in general and the related segmental issues in
particular. Informatively, the Maritime Forum has already held
two meetings, 6th July 2012 and 14th Aug. 2012. During these
meetings, it was unanimously felt that the Maritime industry in
India needs more attention from the Government Ministries and
also from the Planning Commission. In this regard, the groupis
of the view that the Maritime Industry should solicit specific
support from the Shipping Ministry, as a Sponsoring Authority
in addressing many related issues where other Ministries are
involved. As a matter of fact, it is only natural that the Ministry
of Shipping and the Directorate General of Shipping extend its
support as a Sponsoring Authority for Maritime Industry so that
many related issues falling in the realm of other Ministries such
as Commerce, Civil Aviation, Finance, Agriculture, etc. could be
effectively represented and resolved. Such axis-oriented representation will certainly get better attention from the respective
Authorities / Ministries.
The following associations are the creators of this unified
initiative: INSA - Indian National Ship-owners’ Association, FEDSAI - The Federation of Ship Agents Association of India, CAI
- Consolidators Association of India, AMTOI - Association of
Multimodal Transport Operators of India, FFFAI - Federation of
Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India, and CSLA - Container Shipping Lines Association. The local and regional trade
associations, constituents of the national apex bodies, such as
MANSA ((Mumbai And Nhava-Sheva Ship Agents Association),
BCHAA (Bombay Custom House Agents Association) and other
stakeholders would be Associate Member and would play an
active role as chapters.
Chapters would be progressively launched at different locations with involvement of respective trade bodies.


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