Verification of Certificate of Origin: centralised transmission to Board via Headquarters; direct contact with foreign administrations prohibited.
All retroactive verification requests for Certificates of Origin must be routed to the Valuation Branch, Headquarters, Shillong, for onward transmission to the Board in accordance with Board Instruction No.31/2016 Customs; field formations must not communicate directly with foreign administrations, must refer any direct foreign communications to the Board, and must ensure requests include proper enclosures and annexures, while verification requests from foreign administrations are to be sent to the Board via the Commissionerate office.

Export obligation intimation under EPCG: filings to Regional Authorities may be made without a digital signature requirement.
Authorisation holders under the EPCG Scheme must intimate the Regional Authority about fulfilment of the export obligation and average exports within three months of block completion; Para 5.14(b) of the Handbook of Procedures 2015-20 is amended to permit such intimation without a digital signature.

Shifting of capital goods under EPCG permitted during export obligation period subject to fresh installation certificate and conditions.
Shifting of capital goods under the EPCG Scheme is permitted throughout the export obligation period to other units listed in the IEC and RCMC, provided a fresh installation certificate is produced to the concerned RA within six months of shifting. Certificates may be issued by the jurisdictional customs authority or an independent Chartered Engineer, and where the latter is used a copy must be sent to the customs authority. Initial installation certificates must be produced within six months of import, with a one time extension available on payment of a composition fee.

Investigation-Customs office established to coordinate customs investigations, intelligence sharing, risk management and inter-agency enforcement actions.
A new post of Commissioner (Investigation-Customs) reporting to Member (Investigation) is established at CBIC to formulate and oversee policy on search, seizure, arrest, prosecution and compounding under the Customs Act, monitor DRI and field investigations (including seizures, foreign assets and search operations), coordinate intelligence analysis and dissemination, manage data warehousing and risk management functions, handle preventive customs staffing and infrastructure, cyber forensics, rewards, disposal of confiscated goods, MLAT matters, inter agency coordination and representation on national intelligence platforms.

Rupee Drawing Arrangement permits exchange-house remittances to Kerala relief fund where banks credit fund and retain remitter details
AD Category I banks may receive remittances to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund, Kerala, via non resident exchange houses provided the banks directly credit the fund and maintain full details of the remitters; the Master Direction on Rupee/Foreign Currency Vostro Accounts of Non resident Exchange Houses is updated accordingly.

Photograph removal from IEC: IEC is now PAN based and should not be treated as an identity card, affecting RCMC processing.
The IEC format change dispenses with a photograph on IEC printouts and has led to EPCs denying RCMC applications lacking photographs. Clarification: from 9.8.2018 IEC is a PAN based system generated code and is no longer to be treated as an identity card for identity verification; stakeholders should accept electronic IECs without photographs for RCMC and related trade formalities.

Duty free relief imports: customs exemption pathways and ad hoc application procedure for humanitarian consignments cleared efficiently.
Duty-free customs exemption for relief imports is available under Notification No.148/94 (Section 25(1) Customs Act) for specified items imported by charitable organizations; where those conditions are not met, applicants may apply for an ad-hoc exemption under Section 25(2) following the guidelines in Circular No.09/2014-Customs (para-6 and para-8). Applications must be addressed to the Member (Customs), CBIC with required documents. Importers may file Bills of Entry via EDI or a service centre at the Air Cargo Complex and may use provided contact points for assistance and coordination.

Advance authorization norms for spices redeemable on Spices Board sample analysis reports; regional authorities need not refer to norms committee.
Regional Authorities may redeem advance authorisations for spices on the basis of Sample Analysis Reports furnished by the Spices Board, Cochin, without sending such applications to the Norms Committee; this applies to pending and future cases. While redeeming, RAs must ensure that samples were drawn for the entire export quantity, and the circular references the existing practice of furnishing consolidated monthly reports of such redemptions to Norms Committee IV at DGFT(HQ).

GST migration: taxpayers with provisional IDs may apply for GSTIN through nominated nodal officers immediately.
Taxpayers who received only a Provisional Identification Number and did not complete registration by 31 December 2017 may apply for a GSTIN by furnishing details specified in Notification No.31/2018-Central Tax dated 06.08.2018, and may submit those particulars directly to the nominated nodal officer or to the jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner for further action.

Extension of return filing deadline for flood-affected Kerala assessees under Section 119 granting additional time to file returns.
Under Section 119 the Board extends the due date specified under Explanation 2 to section 139(1) for assessees in Kerala who were liable to file returns by the original filing deadline, postponing the filing date for that class of taxpayers affected by severe floods and thereby modifying the operative compliance date for furnishing income-tax returns.

Tax evasion prevention in rail transport goods through inspection centres, 24x7 monitoring, and parcel-office record scrutiny.
Preventing tax evasion in rail-transported goods through under-valuation or misdeclaration requires coordinated inspection at railway premises. The State tax department is directed to identify a suitable location near the parcel office within railway premises for an inspection centre, consistent with the Railway Board's freight marketing instructions and the collection of consignor and consignee details from parcel office records. Mobile squad officers are to be deployed at and around the site on a 24x7 basis with camera-equipped vehicles, and designated officers must collect dispatch and movement information from parcel office records for analysis by enforcement units.

Right to Information Act implementation: designation of Central Public Information Officers updated and Annexure substituted for public dissemination.
The Annexure to Public Notice No.01/2018 listing Central Public Information Officers and First Appellate Authorities is substituted by Annexure-A due to change in charge of certain officers; trade associations and custom house agents are requested to publicize the amended list for information and necessary action.

Ahmedabad Customs creates a new Export Promotion Circle at Bharuch to reduce distance and improve trade facilitation.
Ahmedabad Customs created an additional Export Promotion Circle (EPC) at Bharuch, posted officers there, and issued an amended consolidated list of EPCs and their territorial jurisdictions to reduce distance and facilitate trade; stakeholders may notify the Department of difficulties.

License application status: online viewing available for import and export authorizations, include ECOM reference; website status informational only.
Applicants for import, Non SCOMET export and SCOMET export licences must include the ECOM reference with their PDF application and supporting documents. Application status can be viewed on the DGFT website under Exporter Facilitation Restricted Licenses Application Status for SCOMET Restricted Import Licences, Non SCOMET Licences, or Restricted Import Licences. Website status is updated as inputs arrive from administrative Ministries/Departments and may lag; the displayed status is informational only and the actual signed minutes uploaded on the website must be used to regularise an Authorization.

GST registration irregularities: special procedure enables taxpayers with only provisional identification to complete registration under notification.
Special procedure requires affected taxpayers who received only a Provisional Identification Number (PID) after incomplete FORM GST REG-26 to complete registration under Notification No. 31/2018-Central Tax. Jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners are nominated as nodal officers to coordinate implementation and address difficulties, which must be reported to the Commissioner; trade bodies are requested to publicise the procedure to members.

Special registration procedure requires taxpayers with provisional IDs to submit specified details to the nodal officer for regularization.
Taxpayers who obtained only a Provisional Identification Number by failing to complete FORM GST REG-26 must furnish the particulars specified in the Notification's table to the jurisdictional Nodal Officer to regularize registration; the Delhi South Commissionerate has designated a Nodal Officer to receive such registration/migration grievances and the Trade Notice supplies the officer's contact details for lodging those submissions.

Electronic sealing with RFID one time locks required for bonded warehouse movements, with technical specs and mandatory data capture.
RFID tamperproof One Time Locks (RFID OTL) are required for deposit, removal and inter-warehouse movement of bonded goods where a One Time Lock is prescribed; seals must be sourced from CBIC-listed vendors, conform to ISO 17712:2013 and ISO/IEC 18000-6 Class Gen2, and carry unique vendor-format serials. Readers and web-application data capture of specified elements (IEC, bill of entry, seal number, sealing date/time, container/vehicle identifiers, warehouse and customs location codes) are mandatory. Licensees must procure readers and seals, match warehouse codes to seals, and follow prescribed procedures including tamper responses and limited exemptions.

Zone profile and weekly revenue review require targeted monitoring of assessment, enforcement, tax audit, and mobile squads.
Each zonal additional commissioner must prepare and maintain a zone profile reflecting geographical and commercial characteristics, major revenue sources, sensitive goods and services, transport routes, and mobile squad check points. Zonal officers must also conduct weekly review of assessment, enforcement, tax audit, recovery of arrears, refund disposal, return scrutiny, and mobile squad performance, with progress and results monitored at headquarters level.

Migration reinstatement procedure enables taxpayers with provisional IDs to complete migration and restore original GSTIN through specified nodal process.
Re-opening prescribes that taxpayers with provisional IDs who did not complete FORM GST REG-26 must submit a request to the jurisdictional CGST Nodal Officer with the Primary Authorized Signatory's email and mobile. The nodal officer verifies and forwards cases to the Zonal Nodal Officer, who recommends them to GSTN. GSTN sends preliminary approval, the taxpayer files Form GST-REG-01 using the same e-mail, receives a second e-mail with ARN, new GSTIN and access token, requests GSTN to replace the new GSTIN with the old GSTIN, and after GSTN's backend replacement receives a third e-mail to activate the old GSTIN; registration effect date is set as 01.07.2017.

GST migration completion procedure for provisional registrants requires portal re-registration and GSTN backend mapping within prescribed timelines.
Procedure to complete migration for taxpayers with provisional GST IDs requires submission of a request letter to the jurisdictional CGST nodal officer with the Primary Authorized Signatory's e-mail and mobile; nodal officers verify and forward cases to the Zonal Nodal Officer who recommends to GSTN. Post preliminary GSTN approval the taxpayer files Form GST REG-01 using that e-mail, receives ARN, new GSTIN and access token, and must request GSTN to replace the new GSTIN with the old GSTIN so GSTN can perform backend mapping and issue a final access token with the old GSTIN.