Pure biodiesel classified as an oleo chemical for customs purposes, advising import-export parties to follow this classification.
The notice clarifies that 100% biodiesel is an oleo chemical derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, referencing an earlier instruction issued after trade representations; it advises importers, exporters and clearing agents to note the classification and to report implementation difficulties to the issuing office.

Duty credit scrip registration procedure clarified; electronic verification and No Alert checks required before EDI registration.
Procedure prescribes submitting the original scrip and annexure with a photocopy to the TA in Licence Section for completeness check and acknowledgement; the ACAO/Executive Assistant must confirm and endorse No Alert after consulting the Alert Register; the Tax Assistant records licence particulars and files; the AO/Superintendent verifies genuineness on ICES 1.5, addresses discrepancies, registers the licence in the EDI system, endorses the generated registration number on documents, and permits return of the original against written acknowledgement.

Taxpayer access to customs officials is streamlined through weekly appointment-free meetings for resolving pending departmental issues.
Taxpayer access to customs officials is facilitated through a weekly open-meeting arrangement to reduce delays associated with prior appointments and pending departmental issues. Importers, exporters, clearing agents and other taxpayers may meet Group 'A' officers without prior appointment on Wednesdays, designated as Taxpayers' Day, during stipulated hours. Implementation difficulties are to be reported to the Principal Commissioner.

Custodian appointment under Customs Act imposes MIAPL custody duties, compliance obligations and liability for pilferage, with specified storage areas.
MIAPL is appointed as Custodian under Sections 45(1) and 141(2) of the Customs Act to provide custody of cargo at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar, with obligations to comply with the Customs Act, related regulations including Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, and to pay on demand any customs duty for pilfered or unaccounted imported goods under Section 45(3). Specific export, import, heavy, light, cold storage and warehouse areas are designated for storage and handling, and the appointment is valid for a five year term while superseding earlier notices.

Adjudication timelines: expedited disposal of live bills when importer waives show cause notice to reduce dwell time.
Directs Addl. Commissioners, Asst./Dy. Commissioners and Appraisers in charge of Assessment Groups at JNCH to complete adjudication of cases arising from Docks staff objections to live Bills of Entry within a short specified working period when the importer waives issuance of a Show Cause Notice, aiming to reduce import costs and dwell time; implementation difficulties must be reported to the Commissioner.

Adjudication of live Bills of Entry: complete within three working days if importer waives show cause notice.
All Addl. Commissioners, Asst./Dy. Commissioners and Appraisers in-charge of Assessment Groups in NS-I to V Commissionerate are directed to complete adjudication of cases arising from docks staff objections to live Bills of Entry within three working days of receipt of the objection where the importer waives issuance of a Show Cause Notice; difficulties in implementation must be reported to the Commissioner.

Valuation of secondhand machinery: inspection reports required to determine assessable value under the residual valuation method.
Imports of used second hand machinery are valued by the transaction value if Rule 3 requirements are met; where pre sale or pre import alterations or added costs exist or where Rules 4-8 cannot be applied due to lack of comparables or production cost basis, the proper officer may apply the residual method under Rule 9 factoring condition, depreciation, refurbishment, disassembly, packing and pre shipment inspection fees. Inspection/appraisement reports by overseas Chartered Engineers (Form A) or notified domestic agencies (Form B) are to be used to examine declared values and may trigger sequential valuation under Rules 4-9 if discrepancies arise.

Prohibition on importing handsets with duplicate or fake IMEI requires certified IMEI certificates and customs electronic verification prior to clearance.
Prohibition on import of mobile handsets with duplicate, fake or non-genuine IMEI and equivalent ESN/MEID requires Type Allocation Holders to obtain TAC/IMEI allocations from the GSMA, secure IMEI certificates through the GSMA/MSAI ICDR system, and present consignment-specific IMEI certificates to Customs. Customs must validate certificates via ICDR to confirm genuineness, correct allocation, matching make/model/form factor and absence of prior Indian entry; green-channel consignments may face limited random physical checks while red-channel consignments may be treated as prohibited imports with penal consequences.

Labelling requirements permit limited rectification in customs bonded warehouses, while most labelling remains mandatory to facilitate trade.
FSSAI permits limited rectification of certain labelling elements for imported food in customs bonded warehouses: declaration regarding veg or non veg, name and address of the importer, and FSSAI logo and license number may be corrected. All other labelling requirements under the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation, 2011 remain mandatory and non rectifiable, including name of food, ingredients, nutritional information, manufacturer details, net quantity, batch identification, manufacture/pack dates, best before/use by dates, country of origin, and instructions for use.

Export remittance monitoring: BRC module transmission limited, exporters must verify ICEGATE status or liaise with AD banks.
A technical failure prevented authorized dealer banks from transmitting realization details to the EDPMS BRC Module for an earlier LEO period, so RBI-sourced online realization information will be available only for shipping bills with LEO after the affected period. Exporters must check BRC integration via ICEGATE or follow up with their AD banks and report any difficulties to customs.

Authorisation to appear before appellate tribunal; corrigendum deletes text following clause a in prior instruction
Authorisation for officers of the Zone to appear before the appellate tribunal is modified by a corrigendum which directs that the subsequent text in paragraph 2 after clause (a) of the prior instruction is deleted, altering the prior procedural direction on representation before the tribunal and requiring dissemination to relevant commissioners and directorates.

Withdrawal of appeals under higher court precedent accepted by the Department directs departmental committees to seek withdrawal and report progress.
Instruction requires zonal Committees of Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners to review appeals in High Courts and the Appellate Tribunal and, where appeals are covered by an accepted higher court precedent, direct Commissioners to apply for withdrawal; exclusions apply where multiple issues exist or substantial questions of law remain undecided. Monthly reports on reviews and withdrawals must be submitted to the Board and the instruction is effective immediately.

Audit lapse accountability: officers must face responsibility and disciplinary action for failures to detect or act on audit objections.
The Ministry directs that officers responsible for serious lapses in furnishing remedial Action Taken Notes must be identified and subject to disciplinary action; internal auditors must follow the Audit Manual and assessing officers must adhere to Ministry and DG(System) instructions in scrutiny of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills. Jurisdictional Commissioners must examine audit objections when submitting ATNs and, where serious lapses are found, fix responsibility and initiate action under CCS(CCA) conduct rules.

Link officer arrangement ensures impartial review committee membership and resolves jurisdictional conflicts in administrative tax reviews
The Board extended the existing Link Officer arrangement to Review Committees considering appeals under the provisos to Section 35B(2), Section 86(2A) and Section 129A(2), to mitigate jurisdictional conflicts where Principal Commissioners holding charge as Chief Commissioners also serve as committee members due to unavailability of Commissioners.

Monetary limits for government appeals restrict departmental filing of appeals below prescribed appellate thresholds.
The Board prescribes monetary limits below which the Department shall not file appeals at successive appellate forums to reduce government litigation. It fixes separate thresholds for appeals to the appellate tribunal, higher courts and the apex court. The instruction, issued under the statutory delegation applicable to excise, service tax and customs, partially modifies the earlier instruction by adding a sub clause allowing appeals on classification and refund issues that are of legal and/or recurring nature; all other terms of the prior instruction remain.

Indirect Tax Ombudsman complaints process enables conciliation or binding awards, streamlining grievance resolution for taxpayers.
The Indirect Tax Ombudsman at Lucknow, covering four states, accepts complaints after departmental representation is made and unresolved within one month or rejected; grounds include delays in refunds, adjudication, registration, enforcement of appellate orders, release of seized assets, procedural non-compliance, and misconduct. The Ombudsman may settle disputes by conciliation/mediation or issue a binding speaking award under prescribed conditions; proceedings are summary and not bound by formal rules of evidence. Complaints must be written or filed electronically (with a signed printout) and include facts and relief sought; confidentiality is maintained except as needed for fair process.

Look Out Circular procedures centralized, requiring designated agencies to route LOC requests and maintain real time databases.
Issuance of Look Out Circulars is centralized: LOC requests for Customs Act contraventions must be routed through DRI (Headquarters) and requests for cognizable offences under the Central Excise Act and service tax provisions through DGCEI. DRI and DGCEI shall maintain and update a reliable real time database of all LOC requests and issuances. An operational exception permits immediate short duration LOCs at airports on specific intelligence. The instruction recalls MHA guidelines that LOCs may be used in cognizable offences where an accused is evading arrest and that searches or interrogations may occur in non cognizable matters without detention.

Sample testing validity for imported crude oil: prior accredited reports may replace consignment sampling under conditions.
Conditional acceptance of a test report for a particular crude type as valid for six months where supplier is same, provided each consignment has an accredited country-of-loading test report confirmed by CRCL at first import, and the importer files an in-house accredited laboratory report within 15 days of Bill of Entry, subject to up to five random samplings and customs' power to sample on doubt or intelligence.

Authorised representative: Chief Commissioners may delegate zone officers to appear before the appellate tribunal when local officers are unavailable.
Chief Commissioners may nominate a jurisdictional officer to plead departmental cases before the appellate tribunal as an authorised representative; if no officer is available, the Chief Commissioner may, based on merits, authorise any other officer from the zone to appear before the Bench.

Drawback disbursal procedure: manual cheques issued after NEFT/RTGS failure upon DBK-1 application and verification within three months.
Manual cheque disbursal is authorised for drawback claims where NEFT/RTGS credit failures returned funds to the exchequer. Exporters must apply on form DBK-1 with the relevant Shipping Bill and BRC; after scrutiny by the Drawback Cell a Pay Order will be issued, which must be presented to the CAO, CC(P), W.B., Kolkata within three months to collect the cheque.