Special OHA appointments replace transferred officers to hear 2A-2B mismatch objections, effective immediately.
Specified Assistant Commissioners are authorized as Special OHA to hear objections regarding the 2A 2B mismatch for 2012 13, replacing transferred officers: Ms. Sushila for Ward 45 and Sh. R.S. Ruhil for Wards 9, 15 and 16; all other provisions of Circular No.27 of 2014 15 remain unchanged.

Export obligation period for raw sugar shortened, pre import condition made mandatory under Advance Authorisation scheme.
Amendment to Appendix 4J adds raw sugar with a six month export obligation period under the Advance Authorisation scheme and makes the pre import condition mandatory. The export obligation period runs from the date of customs clearance of each import consignment and the change takes effect immediately under powers conferred by the Foreign Trade Policy.

Default assessment under CST Act must rely on Form 9 reconciliation and verified central declaration forms, not on originals alone.
Default assessment under the CST Act must be based on the dealer's reconciliation return in Form 9 and due verification of the central declaration/certificate forms declared therein; Assessing Authorities shall not frame central assessments related to central declaration forms where no refund is involved and may frame assessments only when required to process refund claims. Form 9 prescribes quarterly/annual reconciliation of turnover, receipt/pendency of statutory forms, computation of tax liability (including treatment where C or E forms are not received), payment details, interest, and three year pendency reporting.

IEC exemption revised: CIF value thresholds for specified border consignments raised, changing eligibility for IEC exemption.
Amendment revises the category of persons exempted from Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) exemption by adjusting CIF value ceilings for import/export consignments to and from Nepal, Myanmar (through Indo Myanmar border areas), and China (through specified frontier points), allocating distinct per consignment CIF thresholds by route and by port, and thereby changing the eligibility for the IEC exemption for small value border trade consignments.

Expedited clearance for export relief goods to Nepal with special procedural facilitation by customs and excise authorities.
Field formations must facilitate rapid procurement and export of relief items to Nepal by expeditiously completing export formalities, including exports under bond and duty free procurement, and Chief Commissioners may issue temporary administrative orders to remove procedural difficulties and ensure urgent dispatch of consignments.

Customs duty revisions adjust import tariffs and exemptions, with linked excise, CENVAT and service tax modifications affecting specified goods and services.
Revisions adjust customs duties-raising, reducing or exempting basic customs duty on specified commodities and goods, amending export duty for certain iron ore fines, and withdrawing specified additional duty exemptions while preserving basic duty exemptions and government import exceptions. Excise amendments alter deemed capacity and duty parameters for tobacco packing machinery, withdraw select textile and defence-related exemptions, restrict concessional excise treatment for certain computer components to actual users, and extend cess exemptions to DTA clearances from 100% EOUs. CENVAT rules allow specified utilisation of education cesses for basic duty, and a clarification permits simultaneous BCD and CVD concession claims for specified fertilizer inputs. Service tax exemptions are granted for services under certain social insurance and pension schemes.

Customs duty changes and concurrent CVD concession clarified; excise rules and service tax exemptions for select social schemes revised.
Amendments implement Finance Bill, 2015 measures revising Customs tariffs (BCD increases and reductions, selective BCD exemptions, reduced export duty on certain iron ore fines, and withdrawal of some additional duty exemptions), restructure Central Excise duties and capacity rules (tobacco packing machines speed bands, withdrawal of specified input exemptions, narrowed concessional rates for computer components, and withdrawal of certain defence-related exemptions), clarify simultaneous availment of BCD and concessional or exempt CVD for specified imports, amend CENVAT Credit Rules to allow use of education cesses credit for basic excise duty in prescribed cases, and exempt services under specified government social schemes from service tax.

Customs duty revisions change tariff rates and exemptions, altering import duty burdens and concurrent concession eligibility.
Customs duty changes alter BCD rates, exemptions and export duty for specified tariff lines, with certain items exempted and others subject to increased or reduced BCD; exemptions from additional duties under a notification are withdrawn though BCD exemptions continue and specified government import exemptions remain. Amendments to excise law adjust deemed capacities, withdraw specified exemptions, restrict concessional rates to actual users, and extend cess exemptions to DTA clearances from 100% EOUs. CENVAT rules allow use of education cess credits against basic excise duty in limited temporal circumstances. A clarification permits simultaneous claiming of BCD and CVD benefits where notifications allow. Service tax exemptions are provided for services under certain social insurance schemes.

Mutual fund product labeling now uses a five-level Riskometer replacing colour codes, effective July 1, 2015.
SEBI requires mutual funds to adopt product labeling using a five-level Riskometer (Low; Moderately Low; Moderate; Moderately High; High) replacing colour codes, to be applied to all existing and new schemes per AMFI best practices, effective July 1, 2015, with optional early adoption.

Stress testing requirements for liquid and money market funds mandate regular policy-driven tests and trustee reporting.
AMCs must maintain a documented stress testing policy, approved by the Board, mandating at least monthly stress tests of Liquid Fund and Money Market schemes covering interest rate risk, credit risk, and liquidity and redemption risk; methodologies and parameters must be detailed, vulnerabilities must be reported to trustees with corrective actions, the policy must be reviewed annually for adequacy and integration into risk management, and trustees must report compliance and remedial steps in the Half Yearly Trustee Report.

Merchanting trade classification clarified: consignments to Nepal and Bhutan may qualify as traffic in transit if treaty compliant.
Goods acquired for merchanting trade must not enter the Domestic Tariff Area or be transformed, must be permitted under the prevailing Foreign Trade Policy, and must comply with export leg and import leg regulatory requirements (excluding Export Declaration Form and Bill of Entry). Where such goods are consigned to importers in Nepal and Bhutan from third countries through India under Customs Transit Declarations, they will qualify as traffic in transit if compliant with the India Nepal and Indo Bhutan Treaties of Transit.

Special Currency Basket valuation revised; authorised dealer banks directed to apply updated rupee value and notify constituents.
AD Category I banks are directed to adopt the revised rupee valuation of the Special Currency Basket with effect from the stated effective date and to notify their constituents; the instructions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and are without prejudice to other statutory permissions or approvals.

Steamer agency registration requires bank security, guarantee bond and strict manifest filing compliance or face penalties and renewal denial.
Registration and renewal for steamer/shipping agents require an application, fixed deposit and solvency certificate from a nationalised bank, a standard guarantee bond under relevant Customs provisions, firm constitution and authorisation documents, appointment letters from ship owners or charterers, banker particulars, and an authorisation permitting forfeiture of security for violations. Renewals must be applied for in advance with existing security instruments and a fresh standard guarantee; registrations and renewals operate on a three year validity cycle. Agents must file prescribed import and export manifest documents within prescribed times, with penalties for late submission and potential denial of renewal for repeated lapses.

VAT reconciliation returns must report statutory forms; missing forms can trigger system-generated default assessments and tax computation.
The Systems Branch auto-generated default assessments for dealers with central concessional sales in 2010-11 who failed to declare receipt/status of central statutory forms in prescribed returns; tax was assessed based on declared rates or at 12.5% where undeclared. Form 9 mandates annual reconciliation of interstate sales/stock transfers against statutory forms, prescribes reporting of forms received and pending, and sets tax computation rules including DVAT rates when form C is missing and 2% where C is received but E I/E II are not. Dealers may seek review from the Assessing Authority with documents.

Committee on Quality Complaints and Trade Disputes established to handle trade quality complaints and coordinate responses under foreign trade procedures.
Constitutes a Committee on Quality Complaints & Trade Disputes (CQCTD) for Kerala, including Regional Authority, Trivandrum, chaired by the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Cochin, to implement Chapter 8 of the Handbook of Procedures of the Foreign Trade Policy for effective handling of quality complaints and trade disputes; lists named members from DGFT, industry, standards, MSME, trade bodies, banks and special invitees, and directs circulation to DGFT offices, EP councils, Customs and notice boards for stakeholder notification and coordination.

Document Management System requirement: attaching the EDI DMS coupon is mandatory for shipping bill and bill of entry dockets at clearance.
The Document Management System requires scanned preservation of Shipping Bills and Bills of Entry at designated CFS scanning centres, mandates attachment of the EDI copy of the DMS coupon to SB/BE dockets at LEO/OOC, and establishes vendor-led scanning within a prescribed timeframe, tagging, boxing and departmental supervised storage with retrieval only on written departmental direction.

Document Management System implementation mandates digital scanning and mandatory coupon attachment for customs dockets to enable secure retrieval.
Implementation of a Document Management System at Nhava Sheva mandates electronic scanning and storage of customs dockets (Bills of Entry, Shipping Bills and connected documents) generated on or after 7 May 2015. The DMS, operated by an authorized vendor under a three year contract, requires purchase and attachment of duplicate coupons/stickers (one retained by trade, one affixed to the docket) and submission of the EDI copy with the document set; the scheme aims to secure retrieval for refunds, drawback, re import/re export, statutory amendments and investigations.

Photography of cargo mandated in specified inspections; images stored with scanned dockets to supplement examination records.
Implementation of ZapIn integrates photographic capture with the Document Management System to store cargo images with scanned import/export dockets. Photographs are taken during examination in specified cases, uploaded via the ZapIn mobile application, and automatically deleted from the device after transfer; mobile registration and deregistration procedures are required. Photography is limited by case categories, exemptions for accredited clients except where specified criteria apply, numerical limits per consignment, and quality and selection guidelines to ensure images supplement examination reports.

Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee established to ensure expeditious clearance of imports/exports and resolve trade grievances.
Establishment of a Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee (CCFC) for Chennai Customs Zone to ensure expeditious clearance of imported and export goods and time bound resolution of trade grievances. The CCFC, chaired by the Chief Commissioner, includes representatives of key regulatory and infrastructure agencies and is tasked to monitor compliance with prescribed timelines, identify and remove procedural and infrastructural bottlenecks, initiate Time Release Studies, recommend best practices to CBEC and concerned agencies, and resolve trade grievances. The committee will meet at least weekly and modalities will be finalised after stakeholder deliberation.

Factory stuffing permission requires documented application, jurisdictional verification and supervisory NOC, with provisional grants and periodic review.
Factory stuffing permission requires a formal application with certified IEC, PAN/Central Excise registration, Status Holder and RCMC documents, and depends on prior feasibility and verification reports plus a No Objection Certificate from jurisdictional Central Excise authorities confirming availability to supervise stuffing; DGFT confirmation of IEC genuineness is required. Manufacturer-exporters using free shipping bills are ineligible and stuffing is allowed scheme wise; status holders may receive provisional permission subject to timely submission of verification or face cancellation. Permissions cover nominated customs stations, require attested production at export, and are subject to periodic monitoring and cancellation for misuse.