CBIC Circular No. 35/2026-Customs: New SOP for Clearance of Personal Postal Imports through Foreign Post Offices

CBIC Introduces Uniform SOP for Clearance of Personal Postal Imports through Foreign Post Offices

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, has issued Circular No. 35/2026-Customs dated 6 August 2026, prescribing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the clearance of imported goods through Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) under the Postal Import Regulations, 2025. The circular seeks to establish a uniform, technology-driven and risk-based framework for processing personal postal imports. It also aims to reduce delays, standardise Customs procedures across FPOs and strengthen the use of electronic systems and the Risk Management System (RMS) in postal import clearance.

Background and Objective

Postal imports constitute an important channel through which individuals receive goods from outside India. These imports may include personal purchases, gifts and other articles sent through international postal services. With the increasing volume and complexity of postal imports, CBIC has been moving towards greater digitisation and risk-based Customs processing. The new SOP has been issued in the context of the Postal Import Regulations, 2025, notified through Notification No. 18/2025-Customs (N.T.) dated 28 March 2025.

A key feature of the new framework is the FPO Import Application, developed for processing personal imported goods. The application has been integrated with the RMS, allowing Customs authorities to undertake automated risk assessment and system-based facilitation. As stated in the circular, the application is presently operational at Bengaluru, Kochi, Mumbai FPO, APSO Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Delhi.

Need for a Uniform Procedure

Before the issuance of the circular, individual field formations had issued Public Notices and local SOPs dealing with Customs clearance at their respective Foreign Post Offices. While such instructions addressed operational requirements specific to particular locations, CBIC observed the need for greater uniformity.

Circular No. 35/2026-Customs therefore establishes a common procedural framework for the processing of personal postal imports across FPOs. The objective is not merely administrative standardisation. The SOP also attempts to combine risk-based Customs control with faster clearance of compliant postal articles.

Electronic Presentation of Postal Articles

Under the new procedure, the Postal Authority is required to electronically present the list of imported postal articles, together with the postal articles themselves, to the proper Customs officer on the day of arrival at the FPO.

The relevant information is received in the FPO Import Application under the "Article Arrival Info" tab. Once the information and postal articles are presented, the proper officer is required to ensure that the articles are taken up for screening, inspection and further Customs processing without undue delay. This electronic presentation is an important component of the new system because it allows Customs processing to begin on the basis of advance information wherever such information is available.

Risk-Based Assessment through RMS

One of the most significant features of the SOP is the greater reliance on the Risk Management System. Where Electronic Advance Data (EAD) is available, Customs may undertake assessment of postal articles before their physical arrival at the FPO. Such assessment is to be carried out in accordance with RMS instructions.

Where EAD is not available, assessment is undertaken after the postal articles are presented by the Postal Authority.

The RMS selects postal articles for assessment and/or examination on the basis of prescribed risk parameters, taking into account the declaration data accompanying the articles. The approach is intended to ensure that Customs resources are focused on articles that present a higher risk, while low-risk consignments can receive faster processing.

Restriction on Physical Examination

The circular also seeks to limit unnecessary physical examination.

Physical examination should generally be restricted to postal consignments selected by the RMS or those otherwise identified on the basis of:

• Intelligence;
• Regulatory requirements; or
• Discrepancies noticed during processing.

An important safeguard has also been introduced for RMS-facilitated articles. Where an article has been facilitated by RMS but the officer nevertheless considers physical examination necessary, the specific reason or reasons for examination must be recorded in the scan report column of the FPO Import Application.

This requirement creates a system-based record of why an otherwise facilitated article was selected for physical examination and promotes greater accountability in the examination process.

Document Call Letters and Additional Information

Customs assessment may sometimes require information or supporting documents from the importer. In such cases, the proper officer may issue a Document Call Letter, commonly referred to as a D-Call Letter. Under the new SOP, the D-Call Letter should ordinarily be issued electronically through the FPO Import Application. It is to be communicated to the importer or authorised agent through the registered email address available in the system. Where electronic communication is not feasible or the communication remains undelivered, the D-Call Letter may also be issued manually.

The circular emphasises that Customs queries should be specific, relevant and, as far as practicable, consolidated into a single communication. Repeated or piecemeal requests for documents should ordinarily be avoided. This is a significant procedural safeguard for importers because it seeks to prevent assessment from being prolonged through multiple rounds of fragmented document requests.

The 30-Day Provision

The circular establishes an important timeline for cases where a D-Call Letter has been issued. If no response is received within 30 days from the date of receipt of the D-Call Letter, or if the information supplied by the importer is inadequate for assessment, the proper officer may proceed to assess the goods on the basis of the declaration and other information available on record.

Such assessment is to be undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. The provision gives Customs a mechanism to bring pending assessments to a conclusion where the importer does not provide the requested information. At the same time, it places importance on the importer responding promptly and adequately to Customs communications. Importers receiving D-Call Letters should therefore carefully review the documents requested and provide a complete response within the prescribed period.

Expeditious Finalisation of Assessment

Once the requested documents or clarification are received, the proper officer is required to examine them and finalise the assessment expeditiously. Responses received from the importer may be processed and appropriately recorded in the FPO Import Application. The circular also directs field formations to periodically monitor pending assessments. The purpose is to ensure timely clearance of postal articles and minimise avoidable delays.

Thus, the SOP places responsibilities on both sides: importers are expected to provide required information, while Customs formations are expected to monitor pendency and process assessments without unnecessary delay.

Clearance and Delivery of Postal Articles

After completion of assessment and other Customs formalities, the proper officer will issue an order permitting clearance of the imported postal article through the FPO Import Application. The clearance order is to be communicated electronically to the Postal Authority.

For non-EAD articles, a manual clearance order may be issued until electronic processing for such articles is enabled through the FPO Import Application. A crucial requirement is that the Postal Authority must ensure that no postal article is delivered unless the Customs clearance order has been issued and the applicable Customs duty has been paid or realised in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

Accordingly, Customs clearance and duty payment remain essential conditions before delivery of the imported postal article to the recipient.

Commercial Imports Remain Outside the New SOP

The circular specifically distinguishes personal postal imports from commercial or non-personal imports. The new SOP applies to the processing of personal imported goods at FPOs. The processing of non-personal or commercial imported goods will continue to be governed by the existing procedure prescribed under Circular No. 14/2018-Customs dated 4 June 2018. This distinction is important because the new FPO Import Application-based procedure described in Circular No. 35/2026-Customs should not be interpreted as replacing the existing framework for commercial postal imports.

Impact on Importers

For individuals receiving goods through international post, the new system should bring greater reliance on electronic processing and risk-based assessment. A low-risk postal article that does not require additional documentation or examination may potentially move through the Customs process more efficiently. On the other hand, articles identified for further scrutiny may be subject to examination or a D-Call Letter.

Importers should therefore ensure that the information accompanying their postal articles is accurate and that relevant supporting documents; such as purchase or transaction records where applicable, are readily available if requested by Customs. Particular attention should be paid to the registered email address because electronic D-Call Letters may be communicated through the email address available in the system.

Conclusion

CBIC Circular No. 35/2026-Customs represents an important step towards standardised, digital and risk-based Customs clearance of personal postal imports through Foreign Post Offices.

The integration of the FPO Import Application with RMS is intended to facilitate compliant imports while allowing Customs to concentrate examination and assessment resources on higher-risk articles. The provisions relating to consolidated D-Call Letters, the 30-day response period, electronic clearance orders and monitoring of assessment pendency are aimed at creating a more structured clearance process.

In practical terms, the framework can be viewed as a shift from a predominantly article-by-article procedural approach towards a technology-enabled Customs clearance model based on advance data, automated risk assessment and electronic communication.

The success of the system will ultimately depend on effective implementation across FPOs, timely responses from importers, accurate declaration data and consistent application of the prescribed procedures by Customs and Postal Authorities. With these elements in place, the new SOP has the potential to make personal postal imports more predictable, transparent and efficient while retaining the necessary Customs controls.

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