Customs exemption continues until rescinding notification is effectively published and made public, protecting earlier import filings.

A fiscal notification rescinding a customs exemption becomes operative only when it is effectively published and made available to the public, not merely on the date it is printed or bears on its face. Since the later notification was made public after the bills of entry had already been filed, the imports remained governed by the earlier exemption notification. The court therefore held that the later notification did not apply to the petitioners' consignments, and the exemption benefit under the earlier notification was available.

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Issues: Whether the customs notification rescinding the earlier exemption became effective against the petitioners only on the date it was made available to the public, so that the goods covered by bills of entry filed before that date remained entitled to exemption under the earlier notification.

Analysis: The decisive date for a notification issued under statutory powers is not merely the date borne on the notification or the date on which it is printed, but the date on which it is published and made available to the public so that the public is duly notified. On the facts, the later notification was printed on 16-2-1987 and made available to the public on 18-2-1987, while the bills of entry had been filed earlier. The earlier exemption notification therefore continued to govern the imports in question until the later notification became effective by public circulation.

Conclusion: The later customs notification did not apply to the petitioners' imports, and the benefit of the earlier exemption notification was available to them.

Ratio Decidendi: A fiscal notification becomes operative only when it is effectively published and made available to the public, and not merely on the date it is printed or bears as its date.

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