National Time Release Study

For the first time the Ministry of Finance conducting national Time Release Study (TRS) as part of its strategic commitment for improving global trade.

Time Release Study

• TRS is an internationally recognized tool advocated by World Customs Organization to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of international trade flows.
• The initiative on the ground is lead by the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs.
• TRS will measure rule-based and procedural bottlenecks (including physical touchpoints) in the clearance of goods, from the time of arrival until the physical release of cargo.
• The study aims to identify and address bottlenecks in the trade flow process and take the corresponding policy and operational measures required to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of border procedures, without compromising efficient trade control.
• The exercise will be conducted at the same time across 15 ports including sea, air, land and dry ports which cumulatively account for 81% of total Bills of Entries for import and 67% of Shipping Bills for export filed within India.
• TRS will establish baseline performance measurement and have standardized operations and procedures across all ports.
• The Ministry of Finance will be institutionalizing the TRS study on an annual basis, during the same period every year hereafter.
• The results of the TRS will aid government agencies associated with cross border trade to diagnose existing and potential bottlenecks which act as barriers to the free flow of trade, and take remedial actions for reducing the cargo release time.

Benefits of TRS

The outcomes of the study will help India maintain the upward trajectory on Ease of Doing Business, particularly on the Trading Across Borders indicator which measures the efficiency of the cross border trade ecosystem.

The export-oriented industries and MSMEs will enjoy greater standardization of Indian processes with comparable international standards.