Customs shipping procedures require strict compliance with circulated instructions, while implementation difficulties must be promptly reported.
Customs procedures for shipping are addressed through circulation of an enclosed central customs circular for information, guidance and necessary action. Trade participants and clearing agents are directed to comply strictly with its instructions and promptly report implementation difficulties to the customs office.

Port-to-port transshipment procedures permit Chennai exports routed through L&T Kattupalli under a temporary Customs operational protocol.
Temporary procedure allows exports routed from Chennai Sea Port through L&T Kattupalli Minor Port: file shipping bill checklists at Chennai Customs using INKATI as port code; present goods at designated CFSs for Customs examination and stuffing under INKATI with L&T warehouse code; officers to record examination reports and grant LEO at the CFS; containers to be sealed, labeled "L&T Port" and CFS short-form, and moved after gate passes; custodians must submit daily electronic lists and execute bonds, bank guarantees and indemnity undertakings as per Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009.

Limit on carriage of Indian currency notes enhanced for residents and visitors; airports and customs must enforce and publicize rules.
Regulation increases the permitted carriage of Indian currency notes for physical export and import: the currency carriage limits for residents and temporary visitors are raised to a specified maximum for taking out of, or bringing into, India (excluding travel to and from Nepal and Bhutan). Foreign visitors (excluding citizens and travellers of Pakistan and Bangladesh) are subject to the same limit but may enter or exit with such notes only through airports. Customs officers must implement, display and publicize the guidelines and report difficulties.

Cenvat credit verification required where FOB exceeds ARE value; refer such exports for customs verification and record ARE details.
Officers must state in inspection reports whether exporters availed CENVAT credit or duty relief notifications when ARE 1/ARE 2 are referenced in shipping bills so drawback is assessed correctly. If the FOB declared exceeds 150% of the ARE 1 value, the case must be referred to the Dy./Asstt. Commissioner of Customs at the exporting CFS for verification, and ARE 1 values must be recorded for project exports. No endorsements of subsequently produced ARE forms are permitted without proper amendment of the shipping bill; instructions also apply to RMS and factory stuffed container shipments.

Focus Product Scheme product description corrected: cornmint and dementholised peppermint oil spellings revised in Appendix 37 D.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, under powers conferred by the Foreign Trade Policy, corrects typographical errors in Appendix 37 D Table I of the Focus Product Scheme by revising the product description for the FPS entry at serial number 777 (HS code 33012590), substituting the corrected terms "Cornmint Oil" and "Dementholised Peppermint Oil"; the amendment is issued as a corrigendum to Public Notice No. 52 and applies to the notified Appendix 37 D entry.

First-time importer verification: submission of identity, bank and financial documents required for customs clearance and verification.
First-time importers must submit VAT/Sales Tax registration, a bank certificate verifying account and signatures, proof of payment through the importer's account, prior year balance sheet, and last income tax or VAT/Sales Tax return to the assessing officer or to the officer granting Out of Charge for RMS-facilitated Bills of Entry; CHAs must assist, the Additional Commissioner may relax requirements on merits, and verification reports from other Mumbai zones will be accepted while random checks remain possible.

Importer verification requirement: mandatory documentary proof of genuineness for first-time imports before customs clearance and possible administrative relaxation on merits.
First-time importers must submit VAT/Sales Tax registration, a bank certificate confirming account details and signatures, proof of payment through the importer's account, the prior year's balance sheet, and the latest income-tax or sales-tax return to the Assessing Officer or, for RMS-facilitated Bills of Entry, to the officer granting Out of Charge; duty payment follows filing. Administrative relaxation may be granted by the Additional Commissioner on merits if documents cannot be produced. Verification reports from any Mumbai customs zone for first-time importers will be accepted by other Mumbai zones, with CHAs expected to assist and random verifications permitted.

Reduction of documentary requirements: customs limits hard copies and streamlines bonds while permitting mode-change with intimation.
Customs procedures are streamlined by restricting hard copies of the Import General Manifest to two, permitting steamer agents to provide a continuity bond and merge guarantees to reduce duplicate instruments, limiting Sub Manifest Transhipment Permit hard copies at ICDs to one, and eliminating separate permission for change of transport mode during transshipment provided the carrier intimates the jurisdictional Commissioner and the bond covers both modes.

Hedging under past performance route: simplified documentation lets CFO and CS certify declarations and excess limit use.
Amendments relax documentary requirements for hedging under the Past Performance route by allowing quarterly declarations and excess limit certifications to be signed by the Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary (or CEO/COO with CFO if no CS), replacing prior statutory auditor certification; AD Category I banks may permit aggregate outstanding contracts beyond fifty percent of the eligible limit after examining a prescribed CFO/CS declaration and turnover certificate; statutory auditors continue to certify amounts booked and compliance annually.

Processing of income-tax returns halted after issuance of a scrutiny notice, preventing refunds before assessment completion.
Once a scrutiny notice under sub-section (2) of section 143 has been issued, processing of the return cannot be undertaken; this rule prevents issuance of refunds arising from processing where subsequent scrutiny may produce tax demands, and authorities should complete scrutiny assessments expeditiously.

Reassignment of hearing authority: objections on audit return mismatches to be heard by newly authorised Assistant Commissioner.
The Circular administratively reassigns the Assistant Commissioner authorised to hear objections concerning 2A-2B mismatch, specifying the new officer and the ward for which objections are to be heard; hearing dates other than those in paragraph 8 will continue to be notified by Public Notices and all other provisions of the earlier Circular remain unchanged.

Taxpayer's day designated weekly for walk-in meetings with senior officers to address grievances and facilitate compliance.
Designation of a weekly Taxpayer's day requires Heads of field offices to meet taxpayers without prior appointment to address grievances and resolve issues expeditiously, as part of non-adversarial tax administration and trade facilitation measures aimed at simplifying procedures and improving compliance.

Market-wide circuit breaker triggers coordinated trading halt and purging of unmatched orders upon specified index movement.
Stock exchanges must compute market-wide indices after every trade and check for breach of circuit breaker thresholds; on breach they shall stop matching executable orders to effect a trading halt and purge all unmatched orders. Exchanges must prioritise circuit-breaker messages and reserve the systems and networks used for index computation and halt initiation from other uses. Annual system audits shall review the mechanism for improvements. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, implement necessary systems, notify brokers and disseminate the provisions, pursuant to regulatory authority to protect investors and regulate the market.

Risk management framework: depositories must adopt board approved policies and establish a Chief Risk Officer led committee to oversee risks.
Depositories must adopt a Board approved Risk Management Framework aligned with FMI principles that provides an integrated view of risks (including technological, legal, operational, custody and business risks), specifies systems, policies and procedures to identify, assess, monitor and manage risks, states a risk tolerance policy, and allocates responsibilities and accountability. A Risk Management Group/Committee headed by a Chief Risk Officer must periodically identify and evaluate risks, recommend mitigation, monitor framework effectiveness and report to the Board; bye laws must be amended and implementation status reported to the regulator.

Commercial invoice cum packing list accepted for customs filings, simplifying documentation and facilitating import-export trade compliance.
The Board permits a commercial invoice cum packing list to substitute for separate commercial invoice and packing list filings when it includes packing-list-specific fields - description of goods, marks and numbers, quantity, gross weight, net weight, number of packages, and types of packages - while preserving the importer/exporter's option to submit a separate packing list. Chief Commissioners must ensure implementation, publicize the change to trade, monitor compliance, and report any difficulties to the Board.

Good-governance compliance requires trade participants and clearing agents to follow circulated departmental instructions and promptly report implementation difficulties.
Good-governance compliance was notified through circulation of a departmental letter concerning initiatives towards good governance. Trade participants and clearing agents were directed to take note of, and strictly comply with, the instructions contained in that letter. Any difficulty in complying with the instructions was to be promptly brought to the notice of the customs office.

Bank guarantee exemption: Commissioner may waive full BG requirement when satisfied there is no risk to revenue.
An amendment to Circular No. 58/2004-Cus permits the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs, for reasons recorded on file, to conclude that a full bank guarantee is not justified where there is an absence of risk to revenue; this applies when the existing penalisation-based condition for reduced BG exemption is not met, allowing a discretionary waiver of the full-security requirement for Advance Licence and EPCG schemes.

Export obligation period reduced for natural rubber under Advance Authorization/DFIA, imposing a shortened compliance timeframe.
The amendment to Appendix 30A adds Natural Rubber as a specified input for Advance Authorization and DFIA schemes and fixes the Export Obligation Period measured from the date of clearance of each import consignment by the customs authority. Where Natural Rubber is allowed as an input under these schemes, the export obligation period is reduced to six months from the date of customs clearance, and the change takes immediate effect.

Round-the-clock customs clearance centralises factory-stuffed container processing and after-hours facilitated bill clearance at CONCOR CFS.
A round-the-clock customs clearance regime is established at M/s. CONCOR CFS, Tuticorin for factory-stuffed export containers and for goods under 'facilitated' Bills of Entry and free Shipping Bills beyond normal working hours; all factory-stuffed containers must be presented only at CONCOR CFS for inspection and clearance, while Free Shipping Bills and facilitated Bills may be processed at all CFS/ICD during normal hours but only at CONCOR CFS after hours. Implementation issues to be reported to the Assistant Commissioner (CFS).

24x7 customs clearance requires completed documentation and prior agency endorsements for extended-hour import cargo processing.
Round-the-clock customs clearance is provided for RMS-facilitated Bills of Entry without examination, staffed by RMS officers during normal hours and an Import Freight Officer during extended hours, and requires completion of all documentation, duty payment and any mandatory interagency clearances before presentation to the Import Shed officer; suspected consignments may be examined during normal hours with written grounds recorded and reviewed weekly.