Import policy clarification upheld as valid, and pea import restriction applied to all peas under the notified code.
A trade notice issued under the import policy was treated as a valid clarification, not an amendment, because it resolved ambiguity on whether "advance payment" covered only full advance payment and remained consistent with the notification's transitional framework for goods already imported. The notification was also read as applying to peas under the relevant Exim Code as a whole, not only yellow peas, so no separate bifurcation by variety was permitted. The practical effect was that the clarified import restriction operated within the policy framework and applied to all peas covered by the notified code.
Issues: (i) Whether the impugned trade notice merely clarified the import policy notification or impermissibly amended it by restricting the benefit of registration to cases of full advance payment or irrevocable commercial letter of credit; (ii) Whether the notification governing import of peas applied to all peas covered by the relevant Exim Code and not merely yellow peas.
Issue (i): Whether the impugned trade notice merely clarified the import policy notification or impermissibly amended it by restricting the benefit of registration to cases of full advance payment or irrevocable commercial letter of credit.
Analysis: The import policy was amended under the statutory power to regulate imports, and paragraph 1.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy permitted transitional treatment unless otherwise stipulated. The notification itself stipulated that "already imported" would include shipments already arrived and shipments backed by irrevocable commercial letters of credit and advance payment made through banking channel before the cut-off date. The later trade notice was issued to remove doubts expressed by Regional Authorities on whether "advance payment" included part payment or only full payment. On a reading of the notification as a whole, the clarification that only full advance payment would qualify was treated as consistent with the policy condition and not as an amendment of the notification.
Conclusion: The trade notice was upheld as a valid clarification and not struck down.
Issue (ii): Whether the notification governing import of peas applied to all peas covered by the relevant Exim Code and not merely yellow peas.
Analysis: The notification and the trade notices referred to the item description as peas under the relevant Exim Code. The Court held that the policy change was not confined to yellow peas alone and that no bifurcation between yellow peas and other varieties of peas was permissible once the item description covered all peas under the code.
Conclusion: The notification was held to apply to all peas covered by the Exim Code.
Final Conclusion: The petitions failed because the impugned clarification was treated as consistent with the statutory import policy framework and the restricted import regime applied to all peas covered by the notified code.
Ratio Decidendi: A trade notice that resolves ambiguity in the implementation of a statutory import policy, without adding a new substantive restriction, is valid if it remains consistent with the notification and the policy's transitional framework.
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