Docket shipments list: every container with its ETA, remaining free time, clearance stage, document count and status.
Shipments — free time remaining, next to how far the paperwork has got.

Entry inwards in customs: the date unloading can start

Entry inwards is an order by the proper officer of customs granting a vessel permission to unload its imported goods. Under section 31 of the Customs Act 1962 the master may not permit unloading until it is given. At an Indian seaport its date is also the date from which late filing charges on a bill of entry are counted.

Entry Inwards
The order by which a customs officer grants a vessel permission to unload imported goods. Under section 31 of the Customs Act 1962 no unloading may begin before it, and no order is given until the import manifest has been delivered.
Three dates an import desk keeps confusingArrival of the vessel (ok), Entry inwards granted (ok), Discharge of the container (ok), The date free time starts (missing), The date a bill of entry is due (missing)Arrival of the vesselEntry inwards grantedDischarge of thecontainerThe date free timestartsThe date a bill ofentry is due
Three dates an import desk keeps confusing They fall in this order and they govern different clocks. Only the first is entry inwards.

Entry inwards is the permission a ship needs before a single container comes off it. Section 31(1) of the Customs Act 1962 states the rule in one sentence: “The master of a vessel shall not permit the unloading of any imported goods until an order has been given by the proper officer granting entry inwards to such vessel.” Until that order exists, the cargo is on board and nothing about it has started.

Section 31(2) sets the condition. No order is given until the import manifest has been delivered, or the officer is satisfied there was sufficient cause for not delivering it. The manifest is the carrier’s declaration of what the ship is carrying, filed under section 30, so entry inwards is customs saying it knows what is on the vessel and will allow it ashore. Section 31(3) carves out the exceptions that cannot wait: baggage accompanying a passenger or a crew member, mail bags, animals, perishable goods and hazardous goods.

Why the date is worth writing down

For an importer the entry inwards date is not paperwork trivia, it is a reference date. At an Indian seaport it is the date the bill of entry deadline is measured against for late filing charges. CBIC Circular 08/2021-Customs says so in terms, carrying forward Circular 12/2017-Customs: the relevant date is “Entry Inwards for the Seaport and Date of Arrival at the Airport, ICDs/Air Freight Stations and Land Customs Stations”.

That single line separates two kinds of import desk. A desk clearing at a gateway seaport counts from entry inwards. A desk clearing at an inland container depot counts from the date the cargo arrived at the depot. The same importer, on the same shipment, can be working two different reference dates on the same day.

Entry inwards is not when your clock starts

The one thing entry inwards does not do is start the charges. Free time and the terminal’s storage clock run from discharge, which happens after entry inwards is granted, and demurrage accrues from the end of that free time whatever the customs position is. So the order matters twice over: it is the gate that lets discharge happen, and it is the date a late filing is judged against, but it is not the moment the money starts.

Worth keeping in the shipment record for exactly that reason. When a carrier’s invoice or a customs charge is questioned months later, the argument turns on which date was which, and the entry inwards date is the one nobody writes down.

Which is the whole case for recording it where the shipment lives rather than in somebody’s mailbox. A desk that has the entry inwards date, the discharge date and the filing date against the same container can answer a late-filing charge and a demurrage invoice with the same file — and knows which of the two clocks it is actually fighting. That is what demurrage and detention software that counts from entry inwards is for: not a countdown on a screen, but the dated record the charge will be argued against.

Questions traders ask

What is entry inwards in customs?

An order given by the proper officer of customs granting a vessel permission to unload the imported goods it carries. Section 31(1) of the Customs Act 1962 puts it plainly: the master of a vessel shall not permit the unloading of any imported goods until an order has been given by the proper officer granting entry inwards to such vessel. Section 31(2) adds the condition, which is that no such order is given until the import manifest has been delivered, or the officer is satisfied there was sufficient cause for not delivering it.

What is the difference between entry inwards and arrival?

Arrival is the ship reaching the port. Entry inwards is customs allowing it to unload, and it can come later. The gap matters because the two dates govern different things. At an Indian seaport the entry inwards date is the reference date for late filing charges on a bill of entry, while the terminal's storage clock and the carrier's free time run from discharge, which follows entry inwards.

Why does the entry inwards date matter to an importer?

Because it is the date a late bill of entry is measured against at a seaport. CBIC Circular 08/2021-Customs restates the position set out in Circular 12/2017-Customs: the relevant date for late charges is entry inwards for the seaport, and the date of arrival at an airport, an inland container depot, an air freight station or a land customs station. An importer clearing at an ICD and one clearing at a gateway port are counting from different events.

Does entry inwards apply to goods arriving by air or road?

No. Section 31 is about vessels. Goods arriving by aircraft or by vehicle have no entry inwards order, which is why the reference date for late filing charges at an airport, a land customs station or an inland container depot is the date of arrival instead.

Related terms

  • Bill of Entry — The customs declaration an importer files to clear imported goods in India, filed electronically on ICEGATE, normally by the CHA, and required before the goods can be assessed, duty paid and the cargo released.
  • Arrival Notice — A notification sent by the carrier or its agent to the consignee and notify party named on the bill of lading, stating that a shipment is due to arrive or has arrived, and setting out the charges to be settled before the cargo is released.
  • Free time — The grace period allowed before demurrage or detention begins to accrue, measured in calendar days from discharge and set by the carrier's tariff or by the importer's service contract.
  • Demurrage — The charge a carrier or terminal levies when a container remains inside the port past its allotted free time, accruing daily per container until the box is collected.
  • Inland Container Depot — An inland facility with customs jurisdiction where import and export containers are received, stuffed, destuffed and customs-cleared, functioning as a port of clearance without being on the coast.

Sources

  1. Customs Act 1962, section 31 — imported goods not to be unloaded from vessel until entry inwards granted; section 31(2), no order until the import manifest has been delivered; section 31(3), exceptions for baggage, mail bags, animals, perishable goods and hazardous goods · checked 2026-09-23
  2. CBIC Circular No. 08/2021-Customs, F.No.450/77/2021-Cus-IV, 29 March 2021 — 'relevant dates for determining the late charges as clarified earlier by Circular No. 12/2017-Customs, dated 31st March, 2017 for different types of Customs Stations remains unchanged i.e., Entry Inwards for the Seaport and Date of Arrival at the Airport, ICDs/Air Freight Stations and Land Customs Stations' · checked 2026-09-23
  3. Customs Act 1962, section 30 — delivery of the arrival manifest or import manifest by the person in charge of a conveyance · checked 2026-09-23