Late presentation charges waiver for delayed bills of entry due to EDI outage; relief limited to affected consignments.
The notice records an ICEGATE EDI outage that prevented timely filing of Bills of Entry under Customs Act provisions and the Bill of Entry (Forms) Regulations. As trade facilitation, exemption from late presentation charges is granted for consignments with the affected entry inward dates, limited to an administratively specified cutoff; filings after that cutoff will not be exempt. Stakeholders may report further difficulties to the issuing office.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers permits importers to obtain listed agencies' inspection/appraisement when overseas reports are unavailable.
Amendment identifies specific Chartered Engineer and valuer firms empanelled under Appendix-2G of the Handbook of Procedure for valuation of second-hand machinery at the Bangalore port and provides that if an importer fails to procure an overseas inspection/appraisement report, the importer may obtain inspection and appraisement from any of the listed recognized firms to satisfy customs valuation requirements.

Centralized KYC cell streamlines KYC submission and verification for first-time importers, with assessing groups forwarding documents centrally.
First-time importers must submit specified KYC documents (IEC, VAT/Sales Tax registration, bank certificate confirming account and signatures, proof of payment, previous year balance sheet if applicable, and last income tax/VAT/Sales Tax return) to the concerned assessing group, which will check and forward them to the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Centralized KYC cell for central processing and verification.

Offline challan regularisation for IEPF enables SRN generation so affected companies can file e form IEPF I online without extra fees.
Affected companies that paid to the Investor Education and Protection Fund using challans not generated on the electronic portal must submit prescribed challan details with professional authentication to the IEPF Authority by the deadline; the Authority will process the data and provide a front end service to generate an automated reference number usable as the SRN to file e form IEPF I online without additional fees within a limited window.

Diplomatic engagement on customs procedures: administrative instruction to senior customs officials to coordinate with foreign missions on operational matters.
Meeting arrangements and procedural engagement with representatives of foreign missions regarding customs administration and related operational coordination, directing senior customs leadership and directorates to facilitate consultations and to disseminate guidance via circulars, trade notices, public notices and office orders so that Commissioners and directorates can implement liaison protocols, information exchange and operational clarifications for handling diplomatic consignments and mission-related customs queries.

Project goods classification under 9801: rescission of advisory circular after judicial acceptance of individual notification benefits.
Board previously directed that imports under contracts for plant setup or expansion be treated as project goods assessed under CTH 9801, losing individual identity and precluding application of exemption notifications; judicial authority subsequently permitted benefit of individual notifications for such imports, and the Board has rescinded Circular F. No. 528/213/87-Cus. (T.U.) dated 08.08.1987 accordingly.

Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms updates product description to Acetyl Salicylic Acid (Aspirin) under Chemicals group.
Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms A-39 revises the export product nomenclature in the Chemical and Allied Products group to Acetyl Salicylic Acid (Aspirin), clarifying export classification under the SION regime and incorporated into the Handbook of Procedure (Vol. II) pursuant to powers in the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedure.

Position limits for interest rate futures: opening-time limits govern trading and increases barred until compliance achieved.
Position limits for Interest Rate Futures are assessed at the time of opening a position; existing positions need not be unwound if open interest later declines, but those participants cannot increase or open new positions in the affected maturity bucket until they comply with applicable position limits. Stock exchanges may require faster reductions for risk management or surveillance reasons, and exchanges and clearing corporations must amend rules, notify members, publish the changes, and report implementation status to the regulator.

Levy of Fees amendment updates fee schedule for customs document alterations and certified copy requests, standardising administrative charges.
Amendment substitutes the fee table in the Levy of Fees (Customs Documents) Regulations, 1970, setting fixed administrative charges for amendments, cancellations and supply of certified copies of customs and shipping documents, while providing nil treatment for a specific category of prior-filed bill of entry amendments and prescribing fees for other bill of entry amendments.

Waiver of merchant overtime fees: customs policy removes MOT collection at continuously operating ports and airports.
Waiver of Merchant Overtime Fee (MOT) applies where customs officers provide services at continuously operating ports and airports, pursuant to a Board circular interpreting the Customs (Fee for Rendering Service by Customs Officers) Regulations, 1998; the public notice directs cessation of MOT collection at the specified air cargo complex.

EU GSP REX registration: exporters must self certify origin for consignments over 6000 and retain records.
Indian exporters must register under the REX self certification system with designated Local Users by submitting IEC and Importer Exporter Profile and obtaining a 20 digit REX number that embeds the IEC and Local User identifiers. REX numbers must be shown on Statements on Origin for consignments exceeding EUR 6000 (multiple shipments under one invoice count as one consignment). Erroneous REX numbers require revocation by the Local User (annulment needs Department of Commerce approval). Exporters must retain origin documents for three years and submit fortnightly trade documents to Local Users; supplier declarations and EU GSP rules of origin compliance are required.

Jurisdiction for SEZ refunds and demands now lies with jurisdictional customs authorities, with SOPs for filing and adjudication.
Amendment to SEZ Rules vests responsibility for refunds, demands, adjudication, review and appeal with jurisdictional Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax or GST authorities prospectively. SOPs require SEZ units to file refunds with jurisdictional DC/AC (Policy/Technical), permit Development Commissioner comments within two weeks, and mandate speaking orders on sanction. Draft demands are prepared by Development Commissioner offices and transferred with relied-upon documents to jurisdictional DC/AC for issuance if time-bar and sponsorship conditions are met. Adjudication and appeals follow the applicable statutory procedures; past refundable claims meeting limitation and merit should be processed by Customs officers, and duties on exit-stock are recoverable by jurisdictional authorities with Development Commissioner assistance for realization.

Reporting obligations on ITSC orders and 245D(4) demand realization require revised quarterly returns in prescribed formats.
Revised reporting requirements require tax authorities to submit quarterly reports in the prescribed Annexure A/B formats on writ petitions filed against Income Tax Settlement Commission orders and on demands pending realization following ITSC orders under section 245D(4), including section wise counts of orders, departmental challenges, case level details for High Court filings and decisions, and submission of reports by designated Chief Commissioners and DGIT (Inv.) offices.

Tariff Rate Quota increase for specialty sugar permits exporters to access non-country specific allocation via first-come-first-serve.
USDA has increased the non-country specific Tariff Rate Quota for refined/specialty sugar for US fiscal year 2017; the additional specialty sugar quota is non-country specific and will be operated on a First-Come, First-Serve basis. Indian exporters are advised to identify a US company to apply to USDA for the tariff-free quota and to consult the USDA links for application procedures so as to utilize the additional allocation promptly.

Derivatives on equity shares permitted in IFSCs subject to SEBI approval and specified participant and position limits.
Inclusion of Derivatives on Equity shares is authorised under SEBI (IFSC) Guidelines, 2015 subject to SEBI approval; eligible participants include SEBI-registered FPIs operating in IFSC and other IFSC entities. Position limits follow existing SEBI circulars, and the Market Wide Position Limit (MWPL) for these derivatives equals ten percent of non-promoter free-float shareholding of the underlying, reckoned separately for IFSC exchanges and capped in value at fifty percent of the domestic-market MWPL.

Amendment to Customs notification updates import procedures and directs guidance to importers and clearing agents online.
Amendment to Customs notification: Notification No. 35/2017 Customs (N.T.) seeks to further amend Notification No. 40/2012 Customs, changing regulatory provisions relating to import procedures. The amendment is communicated by public notice for the guidance of importers, clearing agents and the trading public and the full text is made available on the Central Board of Excise and Customs website.

Commercial tax arrears recovery duties under the RC module stress monitoring, coercive action, and strict reporting compliance.
Duties and responsibilities are prescribed for the integrated computerized recovery of Commercial Tax arrears through the RC module, with emphasis on systematic monitoring, timely issuance of recovery certificates, coercive recovery steps, periodic reporting, and reconciliation of recovery records. Collection Ameens, supervisors, tax assessment officers, tax recovery officers, nodal officers, and zonal commissioners are assigned specific functions for recovery, review, coordination, inspection, and submission of prescribed returns. The circular requires recovery from large defaulters, stayed or pending cases, government dues, and out-of-state dues, with strict compliance through the departmental software-based module.

Government-backed line of credit supports exports with majority domestic sourcing requirement and mandatory EDF shipment declarations.
A Government-supported Line of Credit from Exim Bank to Nicaragua finances exports for transmission and substation works, requiring at least 75 per cent of contract value to be supplied from India and permitting up to 25 per cent foreign procurement; effective March 30, 2017 with a terminal utilization period of 60 months post completion. Shipments must be declared on the Export Declaration Form, no agency commission is payable under the LOC though exporters may remit commission from own resources or EEFC balances subject to AD Category I bank compliance, and AD banks must notify exporters and obtain LOC details from Exim Bank.

Importer liability for service tax on foreign sea carriage to Indian customs station with alternate calculation and credit mechanism.
The exemption for sea carriage services by persons in non taxable territories was withdrawn and liability to pay service tax is placed on the importer of goods; an alternate mechanism permits payment calculated on the customs value of imported goods with applicable cesses, the point of taxation is the bill of lading date at port of export, and importers who pay may claim Cenvat credit on the basis of the challan.

Product description amendments align MEIS Schedule entries with ITC(HS), applying corrections retrospectively to included products.
Director General of Foreign Trade corrected product descriptions in Table 2 of Appendix 3B of the MEIS Schedule for ITC(HS) codes 62099090, 84879000 and 94019000, replacing existing descriptions with amended text to align entries with ITC(HS). These corrections are deemed applicable from 01.04.2015, the initial inclusion date of the products in the Schedule, and rectify descriptions that existed prior to Public Notice 61 to conform with ITC(HS) nomenclature.