Faster clearance, Courier facility for import of Covid vaccine

In order to tackle a possible third wave, which is expected to hit India in next few months if the people don't follow the Covid appropriate behaviour, the Union government changed its vaccination policy in the first week of June to vaccinate all adult Indians free of cost at a public healthcare centre, writes ETV Bharat's Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi: In order to support the country's ongoing battle against the Covid-19 global pandemic, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has made special arrangements for faster clearance of Covid-19 vaccine consignments at all major airports as the faster vaccination is considered crucial for tackling a possible third wave that is expected to hit the country in next few months.

The CBIC said it has put in a plan, Covid Response Plan (CRP) for faster clearance of Covid vaccines as an efficient and faster release of temperature sensitive vaccines would be a critical requirement in the collective fight against the global pandemic.

The Covid-19 global pandemic has killed more than 4,11,000 people in the country since the first Covid death was reported in the state of Karnataka in March last year, while the global Covid tally exceeds 4 million people with the USA being the worst hit country with over 6,23,000 deaths so far.

India has recently experienced a wildfire second Covid wave that killed more than 2,50,000 people since the start of March this year as the second wave hit its peak in May with close to 4,300 daily deaths and over 4,00,000 daily new cases in the month of May this year.

In order to tackle a possible third wave, which is expected to hit India in next few months if the people don't follow the Covid appropriate behaviour, the Union government changed its vaccination policy in the first week of June to vaccinate all adult Indians free of cost at a public healthcare centre.

The government also announced faster approval for Covid vaccines approved in foreign countries such as the USA, European Union, Japan and Russia to vaccinate a large number of Indians before a third wave hits the country.

However, given the problems faced during the import of medical supplies such as oxygen concentrators, medicines, oxygen cylinders on account of slow custom clearance during the second Covid wave, the government is not taking any chance and trying to streamline the custom clearance for Covid related material.

Covid desks at airports, cargo terminals

The CBIC said its Covid Response Plan (CRP) provides for setting up of COVID-19 Vaccine Response Team (CVRT) at each Air Cargo and Courier Terminal.

“The CVRT will function as a single point of contact for all the clearance related to COVID-19 vaccine shipments and coordinate among the concerned stakeholders to ensure that vaccines are given instant delivery upon arrival,” said the Board.

The Board said the CVRTs will develop a standard practice (covering Customs, local PGA and other stakeholders) and sensitize traders on the requirements for instant release of vaccines.

Importers can use Courier services

In addition to setting up special desks at airports and cargo terminals, the CBIC has also allowed the import and export of Covid vaccines through Courier, by issuing the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Amendment Regulations, 2020.

The Courier Regulations had certain limits on the value of goods that could be brought in through courier, whereas the amended regulations allow the import and export of COVID vaccines through courier without any value limit.

Easy movement for special Covid vaccine containers

The third major step taken by the CBIC is to allow duty-free temporary admission of special containers fitted with temperature monitoring and tracking devices that are used in vaccine transportation.

The Board said it would closely monitor the vaccine logistics to ensure their seamless movement at the borders and address any future difficulties.

The CBIC said it had introduced simplified customs procedures, reduced the scale of interventions, and increased the use of automation and staff health protocols to tide over the supply chain disruptions in the supply of Covid related material.