The service of the Customs’ Electronic Data Interface (EDI) system will be available at the Beypore Port soon to facilitate easy international cargo shipping operations. The decision to introduce EDI was taken subsequent to the port obtaining International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) certification, thus enabling it to receive foreign ships and handle immigration clearance.
The EDI service has been a long pending demand of the exporters in the northern Kerala region as they have been heavily dependent on the services at the airports to carry out their business. Quick clearance of the goods for import and export through electronic data interchange will be possible through the launch of the new facility.
According to officials, the government has already sanctioned ₹15 lakh for setting up the EDI office at Beypore. The work is in full swing for the construction of a 1550-sq. ft. office at the transit area near the new wharf. With the opening of the facility, the clearance service will be available 24x7 for the stakeholders in the international shipping and logistics business.
The main advantage of EDI system is that it can facilitate online documentation of all exports and imports through the port apart from reducing the physical interface between customs, traders and other regulatory agencies. It will also address the challenge the port faced till very recently to promote the international cargo movement. Those who have been depending on other ports will be able to explore Beypore better for business.
Leading exporters in the city point out that the port has mainly been facilitating unloading of containers rather than exploring its export potential. Though the port has been facilitating container movement since 2017 under the coastal shipping promotion programmes of the State government, the lack of EDI clearance has been an obstacle, they add.
Officials with the Department of Ports say there have been a lot of security upgrades at the port that helped it secure the ISPS. X-ray scanning systems, metal detectors, barbed wire fence around the compound and automated radar surveillance to detect approaching ships were some of the additional measures introduced, they add.
