India Sea Cargo Manifest (SCMT) Regulations

Further to our earlier updates communicated on the India Sea Cargo Manifest (SCMT) Regulations, as advised by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) vide their latest Notification No. 39/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 31 March 2021, the SCMTR will come in force effective 15 April 2021.

We understand Indian Customs have already readied their systems to digitally accept the Shipping Documents from various stake holders. Indian Customs have also advised all Shipping Lines to come forward to conduct parallel testing of EGM (Export General Manifest) & IGM filing.

While we have embarked upon conducting parallel runs for due submissions of Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) and Sea Departure Manifest (SDM) with ICEGATE, we earnestly request our customers to kindly come forward and be ready to meet the migration that is expected effective 15 April 2021.

We would like to draw your attention on the main requirements of SCMTR.

Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM)

Import manifest will now be known as Arrival Manifest and Shipping Lines will be required to submit details of all import, transshipment & onboard containers to Indian Customs prior to departure or vessel sailing from the last port of call before calling India ports

For the shipments discharging/destined to Indian ports, the Arrival Manifest (SAM) should also include following data elements

• HSN Code (6 digit numeric)
• IEC (Importer Exporter Code) of the Consignee (If IEC not available, PAN of Consignee should be mentioned)
• PAN (Permanent Account Number) of Notify/consignee

The House Bill of Lading (HBL) information needs to be declared in the SAM prior departure from the last port of call.

Arrival Manifest Requirement

Submit all IGM/SCMT relevant information, House Bill of Lading (HBL) or Cargo Summary Notification (CSN) preferred Container Freight Station (CFS) details etc. to Hapag-Lloyd at least 72 hours prior to vessel sailing from last port of call before calling Indian ports.

Important note: For transshipment and in-transit (FROB) containers, above data elements are not required. However, complete Bill of Lading information is required to be available 72 hours prior to vessel sailing from the last port of call.

Sea Departure Manifest (SDM)

Export manifest will now be known as Departure Manifest and Shipping Lines will be required to submit details of all export containers to Indian Customs prior to departure of the vessel.

Departure Manifest (SDM) should also include following data elements.

• HSN Code (6 digits - numeric)
• IEC code of Shipper/Consignor (if IEC not available, PAN of shipper/consignor should be mentioned).
• PAN (Permanent Account Number) of Shipper
• PCIN (Primary Cargo Identification Number) – Date (yyyy-mm-dd)

Important note: The above information must be submitted in Shipping Instructions for exports.

With regards to Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) and Sea Departure Manifest (SDM), CBIC authorities had further clarified as follows

• PCIN (Primary Cargo Identification Number) will be generated by Customs whenever an actual shipper and consignee manifest the House Bill of Lading for Imports or the LEO (Let Order Export) Shipping Bill for Export cargoes.
• CSN (Cargo Summary Notification) will be generated by Customs when a forwarder/consolidator files the House Bill of Lading (HBL)details using CSN format.
• MCIN (Master Cargo Identification Number) will be generated by Customs when details of HBL matches with details of Master Bill of Lading (MBL) with respective CSN or SAM / SDM file.

Departure Manifest Requirement

In order to comply with SCMT deadlines, we will be implementing revised Cut-offs for Export Cargo. Please refer to our website for the cut-offs to be followed for each of our services.

You are kindly requested to submit the PCIN (generated post filing of LEO Shipping Bill) or the CSN (generated by Forwarders/Consolidators generated) to Hapag-Lloyd within the cut-off deadline.

In case CSN not generated by Forwarders/Consolidators, the House Bill of Lading (HBL) data together with PCIN should be submitted to Hapag-Lloyd within the cut-off announced.

Important note: There is no change in the current practice of sending Shipping instruction along with house BL for AMS and Canada filing. However, E-HBL for SCMT is a separate process to be submitted on ODeX

Manifest Amendments

Any amendments post filing of SAM or SDM will be subject to the approval of Indian Customs Authorities and will attract customs penalties/fines.

Switch Bill of Lading

Switching of Bill of Lading will not be allowed for the containers which are loaded from last port of call before India (Local export), Switching of BL for containers loaded from other ports is still allowed but must be completed before 72 hours of vessel sailing from the last port of loading before India.

Change of destination (COD)

COD will be allowed only 72 hours prior to vessel departure from last port of call. Any change in Bill of Lading information after this deadline may result in discrepancies with the Sea Arrival Manifest), resulting in fines and penalties.

For local information requirements with regards to HBL filing requirement, CFS / DPD nominations, SEZ declaration; with SCMTR this cutoff will be revised to 3 working days prior to vessel arrival to last POL.

COD will not be processed unless and until relevant changes are made to the shipping bill and required evidence regarding the same is submitted to the shipping line.

ODeX Solution

We have collaborated with ODeX to provide Online solution for submission of SCMTR related manifest data filing submission. Please refer to below links for ODeX registration and to access the manuals on e-HBL, e-Shipping Bills, e-CFS submissions.