Govt abolishes Mate’s receipt for containerised cargo

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Ministry of Shipping has been asked to abolish the Mate’s receipt for containerised cargo, after a committee noted that with the automation of customs procedures and message exchange system, issuance of hard copies of mate receipts in case of containerised cargo has become redundant.

Earlier, the Ministry of Shipping had formed a committee to look into prominent issues and recommend simplification and automation of several procedures including customs, coastal shipping, transshipment and port clearance.

On Thursday, the committee gave its recommendations on various issues pertaining to clearance of cargo coming through sea, IGM amendment, rotation number and Mate’s receipt.

The Shipping board has examined the recommendation and observed that the Mate’s receipt was used mainly to ensure that the export container is loaded on the vessel, and now the drawback disbursal is done after the EGM has been filed at the gateway port. Therefore, in the backdrop of a changed business workflow, the Ministry felt there was no longer a need for the issuance of Mate’s receipt.

The Board has, therefore, decided that customs houses should no longer insist for issuance of Mate’s receipt in case of containerised cargo. However, in case of non-containerised export cargo like bulk cargo, the practice of issuing Mate’s receipt would continue.

Mate receipt serves as a documentary evidence of cargo loaded on the vessel, and it contains date of sailing. The ship captain or mate of the vessel issues the receipt which is endorsed along with the shipping bill by the customs officer in the docks.