In order to efficiently implement the various provisions of the trade facilitation agreement, the National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF), established to oversee the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) in India, has developed the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan (NTFAP) that lays down short, medium and long term targets for various government agencies involved in cross border trade. As a part of that plan, in order to comply with article 7.6, NTFAP mandates conducting the TRS on a regular basis across ports. The primary objective, as per the action plan, is to conduct Time Release Study (TRS) in order to eventually bring down the overall cargo release time for– i.     For imports – Within 48 hrs for Sea Cargo, Inland Container Depots and Land Customs Stations and within 24 hrs for Air Cargo ii.    For exports – Within 24 hrs for Sea Cargo, Inland Container Depots & Land Customs Stations and within 12 hrs for Air Cargo As a part of the project, BRIEF aims to conduct TRS at 15 ports in India in 2 stages: Stage 1:

• Sea Ports – Nhava Sheva, Chennai, Mundra, Kolkata
• Inland Container Depots (ICD) – Tughlaqabad, Ludhiana, Whitefield

Stage 2:

• Air Cargo Complexes – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad
• Land Customs Stations (LCS) / Integrated Check Posts (ICP) – Raxaul and Petrapole