What is Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Shipping?
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Internal Container Depot (ICD) and Container Freight Station (CFS)
Inland Container Depots (ICDs) are container storage facilities located in the interiors of a country, away from the servicing gateway ports and port towns. Shipping companies utilize ICDs to store and move containers before and after transporting them to the seaports. Such facilities are also sometimes referred to as “Dry Ports” because they are located away from the sea and major river routes. ICDs help importers and exporters process their shipment near their warehouses and factories, while the ports themselves benefit from de-congestion by making optimum use of the limited space available. It serves as a common user facility with public authority status for handling containers carrying goods for import and export under Customs control and other authorities authorized to clear merchandise for consumption, warehousing, re-export, temporary storage for onward transit and export. At ICDs, freight forwarders, carriers, customs agents and officials offer their services to importers and exporters facilitating the smooth handling of cargo away from ports. Such de-centralization helps ICDs perform important functions closer to the major production centers, industrial complexes, warehouses and consumption hubs in the country where they operate.
Major functions and benefits of Inland Container Depots:
They operate as facilities to store the containers for a brief duration prior to transferring them to the port for loading into the ships.
They provide import and export customs clearances, serve as warehouses for temporary storage for onward transit and exports, and also add up as hubs for transshipments.
Inland Container Depots offer facilities for the repair of containers and equipment used in the lifting and movement of containers.
Their services result in reduced movement of empty containers and help to consolidate shipments that are “Less than Container Load” (LCL).
By serving as feeder infrastructure for the ports, ICDs contribute to higher and more streamlined exports for a country.
They act as transit points for rail & road to and from the serving ports, function as concentration and consolidation hubs for long-distance cargo.
Customs clearance facilities at ICDs located close to the production and consumption centres result in a streamlined and smooth movement of goods.
Better control over demurrage charges and pilferage of goods, economical transportation & inventory costs and issuance of through bills of lading by shipping lines.
Cargo that goes through all customs formalities at ICDs and cleared for despatch do not have to undergo further inspections or scrutiny at the port.
CFS stands for Container Freight Station and refers to a warehouse where cargo that belongs to various exporters or importers is consolidated or deconsolidated before being exported or imported. For LCL Shipments, the CFS is usually owned by a shipping line or a terminal and responsible for customs examination and clearance procedures. You have to move your goods to the CFS, where your transloading company or shipping lines will pack all the items into a shipping container with other LCL shipments. CFS shipping plays a vital role in both importing and exporting and create a centralized location for suppliers to send their products and act as a staging area.
Functions and responsibilities of CFS
Receives and consolidates LCL shipments for export
De-consolidates container at destination and dispatches shipment for final delivery
Prepares container load plan
Stuffs and de-stuffs containers (for both LCL and FCL cargo)
Marks and seals containers for identification
Serves as temporary storage space for cargo, empty and laden containers
Moves empty containers from container yards (CY) and laden containers to port/terminal
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Stacks, sorts, tracks and tallies containers before and after shipping
Maintenance and repair of containers
Transit operations by road/rail to and from port/terminal
Organize customs clearance procedures such as classification, examination and assessment of goods
Keeps goods safe till they are shipped or picked up
Deals with break bulk (loose, non-containerized) cargo originating or terminating in the immediate hinterland of the port or terminal and with rail-borne traffic to and from inland locations
Export process at CFS
Exporter loads goods on truck, delivers it at CFS with shipping bill
Goods are unloaded and received by CFS custodian
Goods undergo customs clearance procedures
After customs authorities endorse shipping bill with “let export order”, CFS stuffs goods into the container
CFS seals container hands it over to port/terminal for export
Import process at CFS
Importer/carrier/steamer agent files import general manifest (IGM) – with details of cargo, exporter, importer, ship/aircraft – at port/terminal to move cargo to CFS
Container received at port/terminal is forwarded to CFS
Cargo is offloaded, stacked and de-stuffed at CFS
Cargo owner or their clearing agent files bill of entry, proceeds with cargo clearance and duty payment
Customs endorses bill of entry with “out of charge” order
CFS custodian issues gate pass to release cargo to the importer
Difference between ICD & CFS
Although ICD and CFS perform a lot of similar operations, they are two different entities.
A CFS is located near a seaport and mainly consolidates and segregates the cargo. CFS majorly handles LCL shipments, since they require consolidation services. CFS is set up to decongest the ports and free up the valuable physical space near the sea.
ICDs are located far away from the ports and connect the ports with the hinterlands. All the customs related services that are available at the ports, can also be availed at the ICDs, along with consolidation and storage of cargo.
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