The report by an inter-ministerial committee, comprising officials from the Union Commerce and Revenue departments is expected to permanently clear ambiguities regarding supervisory authority in port-based Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
The Committee, set up in April this year, is likely to submit its report soon, reliable sources said here on Wednesday.
Members of the committee visited container transshipment terminals in Colombo and Dubai to study their operations and to assess security setups at these ports.
The committee was set up in the wake of confusion over the role of the Customs Department in a port-based special economic zone after the first of its kind facility in the country came up here on Vallarpadam island.
There is still some lack of clarity in operational matters, which will be cleared by the inter-ministerial committee report, sources added.
These confusions, pending ever since the inauguration of Vallarpadam ICTT in February, raised their heads again last week after a consignment of red sanders was seized from the parking area of the ICTT.
The Customs Department objected to a team of DRI officials not being permitted to enter the ICTT by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel in the early hours of October 28.
The DRI officials had arrived to seize a container load of red sanders but were not initially allowed to enter the terminal area as they did not have the requisite permission from the Special Economic Zone authority.
After the incidents, Customs Commissioner Vijay Kalsi wrote to the Chairman of Cochin Port Trust Paul Antony warning that Customs officials would be withdrawn from the ICTT unless the air was cleared.
Port Trust sources said that the Port had no authority in a matter between two Union government departments. The Commissioner of Customs drew the attention of the Port authority to provisions in Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulation 2009. If the Customs Department withdraws its officials, who are posted at the terminal on a 24-hour basis, it will adversely affect the business at the terminal, Port Trust sources said.
The development Commissioner in charge of Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) M. S. Rao held a meeting here on Wednesday to take stock of the security arrangements at the Vallarpadam ICTT. The meeting was convened in the wake of the recent seizure of red sanders and was attended by officials from the State Police, Cochin Port Trust, CISF and Dubai Ports World, operator of the terminal. Customs officials did not participate in the meeting. The Customs Commissioner told The Hindu that he could not attend the meeting as he was busy for the day. He said that he had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Rao and that they had agreed to meet at a later date for discussions.
Wednesday's meeting was of the view that there were no security lapse at the ICTT.
