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CA Bhargav (Chartered Accountant) (698 Points)

20 July 2010

What is the difference between the functioning of Inland Container Depot - ICD and Container Freight Station - CFS?

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3 Replies

Ashish Ojha (Chartered Accountant) (469 Points)
Replied 24 July 2010

No Functional Difference... ICD are situated far away from Port like tughlakabad in New Delhi... CFS are situated at a place which is near to port.. Like CFS at Eastern Express Highway in Mumbai.. For Custom Purpose no seperate Treatment... Cost of Transportaton from port to ICD/CFS will not be included in the Assessable Value for the purpose of levying duty

RAMESH KUMAR VERMA ( CS PURSUING ) (43848 Points)
Replied 24 July 2010

An Inland Container Depot / Container Freight Station may be defined as:-

A common user facility with public authority status equipped with fixed installations and offering services for handling and temporary storage of import/export laden and empty containers carried under customs control and with Customs and other agencies competent to clear goods for home use, warehousing, temporary admissions, re-export, temporary storage for onward transit and outright export. Transhipment of cargo can also take place from such stations.

Functionally there is no distinction between an ICD/CFS as both are transit facilities, which offer services for containerization of break bulk cargo and vice-versa. These could be served by rail and/ or road transport. An ICD is generally located in the interiors (outside the port towns) of the country away from the servicing ports.

CFS, on the other hand, is an off dock facility located near the servicing ports which helps in decongesting the port by shifting cargo and Customs related activities outside the port area. CFSs are largely expected to deal with break-bulk cargo originating/terminating in the immediate hinterland of a port any may also deal with rail borne traffic to and from inland locations.

Keeping in view the requirements of Customs Act, and need to introduce clarity in nomenclature, all containers terminal facilities in the hinterland would be designated as " ICDs".

The main function of an ICD/CFS being receipt, despatch and clearance of containerised cargo, the need for an up-to-date inventory control and tracking system to locate containers / cargo is paramount. Each functional unit of the facility (e.g. siding, container yard gate, stuffing/destuffing area, etc.) should have up-to-date and where possible on-line, real time information about all the containers, etc., to meet the requirements of customers, administration, railways etc. As far as possible, these operations shall be through electronic mode.