CLEARING AND FORWARDING AGENT

CLEARING AND FORWARDING AGENT

The job of Customer House Agent(CHA) or clearing and forwarding agent is an absolute necessity for any kind of import –export trade, which involves processing of documents with customs authority. The role of CHA is to pass all the documents required for Exim trade through from customs on behalf of shippers by paying the requisite customs duty

In India, the sector is highly fragmented with a handful number of CHAs active through-out the country, not only in major ports but also in dry ports and other export processing zones .While many of the big export/import houses have their own C&F cells, others have long-term tie –ups with different CHAs for passing of documents.

The clearing & forwarding process in India is marred due to cumber-some customs procedures involving high volume of paper works. In order to streamline the customs formalities, different, port trusts and  Customs Department have come out with the idea of EDI(Electronic data interchange) and are implementing the EDI process in selected major ports to reduce the paper works.

Looking at the prospects of CHA sectors in India, it can be told that with the increase of exim trade, the Importance and volume of the sector is likely to grow.  However ,Application of IT is an absolute must for trading in future.

The candidates can look for jobs here by joining Indian customs and other government organizations related to shipping .And you can apply to all clearing & forwarding agents for clerical or ground jobs. Even IT professionals have a very bright future in this field.