Declaration of commodity specifications required: importers must state out-turn, nut count, defective nuts rate and moisture in bills.
Importers and customs brokers must declare, in the description field of the Bill of Entry, specifications affecting the value of imported raw cashew nuts including Out Turn (KOR), Nut Count, Defective Nuts Rate and Moisture; Country of Origin is to be shown in the designated field and year of crop should also be recorded where applicable.

FPI investment limits revised: increased government securities allocations take effect; SEBI to issue operational guidelines.
The circular increases Foreign Portfolio Investor limits in Central Government Securities and State Development Loans for January-March 2018, provides prior and revised numerical ceilings and aggregate totals, makes the revisions effective from January 1, 2018, directs that allocation and monitoring will follow operational guidelines to be issued by the securities market regulator, instructs Authorised Dealer Category I banks to inform constituents, and states that the directions are issued under statutory foreign exchange powers without prejudice to other required permissions.

Recovery proceedings monitoring required; asset disclosures and vetted early-hearing applications mandated by zonal chiefs.
C&AG audits found delays in orders, recovery action, non-transfer to Recovery Cells and lack of case-tracking. The Board directs Zonal Chief Commissioners to strengthen monitoring of tax arrears, require asset disclosures from assessees above a threshold, and revamp Recovery Cells to expedite liquidation. It also mandates that early-hearing applications be filed after vetting by the Law Officer to prevent dismissal for improper drafting, and warns that non-compliance will be viewed seriously.

Manual filing of GST refund claims for zero-rated supplies prescribed; forms, registers and timelines required.
Manual filing and processing of refund claims for zero-rated supplies is required while the portal refund module is unavailable: submit printouts of FORM GST RFD-01A and supporting documents to the jurisdictional proper officer; for unutilized ITC the electronic credit ledger must be debited to generate an ARN which must accompany the manual submission; maintain bounded refund registers; follow timelines of 15 days acknowledgement, 7 days provisional refund and 60 days final order; rejected amounts to be re-credited by FORM GST PMT-03 and actual credit via FORM GST RFD-01B; payment handled by Central/State authorities with mandated inter-authority communication.

Application fee requirement: import licence applications must include prescribed processing fee or they will not be processed.
Importers must submit import authorization applications at the Regional Authority with the prescribed application fee, the processing fee under Appendix 2K of FTP 2015-20. Applications filed at DGFT headquarters without a copy of fee payment will not be processed and no import authorization will be issued.

Standard Input Output Norms amended: revised raw-material input quantities for specified chemical exports take effect immediately.
Amendment revises SION entries for Chemical & Allied Products: SION A-343 reduces Acetic Anhydride for paracetamol from 0.95 kg to 0.75 kg while retaining Phenol and Sodium Nitrite quantities; SION A-3488 reduces Para Amino Phenol from 0.91 kg to 0.80 kg and Acetic Anhydride from 0.85 kg to 0.75 kg. Changes affect input requirements used for export entitlement calculations and take effect from the Public Notice date under powers of the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedure.

Pure agent treatment for GST requires registered custodians and CHAs to generate online THC and ensure GST accuracy.
Compliance requires application of pure agent treatment under Rule 33 and mandatory online generation of THC receipts in the custodian management system: importers/exporters/consignees and authorised brokers must register and open PID accounts and furnish undertakings; CHAs acting as pure agents must generate THC online for registered principals and are solely responsible for GST details captured in receipts; custodians will provide system fields for GST data and stakeholders must follow SOPs and report implementation difficulties.

Export General Manifest filing: steamer agents must file complete, error-free EGMs within prescribed time to enable refunds.
Improper EGM filings in ICEGATE are causing Shipping Bills to remain in error queues and delaying IGST refunds. Steamer Agents must ensure EGMs cover all Shipping Bills and that Shipping Bill details are entered accurately so EGMs can be closed within the prescribed period; failure to do so attracts statutory penalties. The Commissionerate has published the list of Shipping Bills in error queues online and directs Steamer Agents to seek rectification from the Proper Officer with supporting documents, with such lists to be posted regularly.

Electronic sealing for containers: exporters must register self seal permission in ICES before exporting under self sealing procedures.
Exporters authorised for the self sealing procedure and exporters with AEO status who intend to export through the port must submit their self sealing permission or AEO certificate to the Superintendent of Customs (EDI) at the customs house for registration in ICES as a prerequisite to operate under the self seal procedure.

ICES system downtime prompts manual clearance and case-by-case import OOC; stakeholders to file entries before migration.
Planned migration will make ICES unavailable; stakeholders should file Shipping Bills/Bills of Entry before the outage so LEO/OOC can be issued manually. Manual clearance applies to urgent exports; import OOC grants will be decided case-by-case by the Deputy Commissioner. Examination officers must record manual LEO/OOC in a register and regularize the entries in ICES when restored, and implementation difficulties should be reported to the Deputy Commissioner.

Aadhaar-PAN linkage requirement: deadline extended by tax authority to allow additional time for taxpayers to comply.
Under the statutory requirement of section 139AA, taxpayers with an Aadhaar number or enrolment number must link it to their PAN for filing tax returns; the Central Board of Direct Taxes, invoking administrative powers under section 119, extends the period for completing that Aadhaar to PAN linkage to provide additional time for compliance.

Haryana GST territorial divisions specified: ranges, districts, circles assigned and officer jurisdictions designated under state GST Act.
The Commissioner of State Tax, under section 4(2) of the Haryana GST Act, specifies Ranges, Districts and Circles with detailed geographical boundaries and assigns administrative responsibility: each Range to a Joint Commissioner, each District to a Deputy Commissioner and each Circle to an Excise and Taxation Officer or Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer, with Deputy Commissioners empowered to allocate circles to officers; schedules identify included industrial areas, exempted units and enforcement notes for roadside checking.

Security requirements for concessional import duty relaxed; reduced bank guarantee and surety norms with compliance conditions.
Clarification prescribes reduced security and surety norms under the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, 2017: government entities are exempt from bank guarantee and surety; Authorized Economic Operators and compliant GST-registered manufacturers/service providers must give surety or, if unable, furnish bank guarantee/cash security up to five percent of duty foregone; other importers must furnish bank guarantee/cash security up to twenty-five percent. Higher security may be required by Assistant/Deputy Commissioner with Commissioner approval up to full duty foregone. Relaxations do not apply where prosecution was initiated under central or GST laws in the preceding three financial years. Consignment-wise guarantees and self-renewal clauses are permitted.

Enrolling authority for GST Practitioners: jurisdictional Assistant/Deputy Commissioner may approve or reject applications per FORM GST PCT-I.
The Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner having jurisdiction over the address declared in FORM GST PCT-I is the officer authorized to approve or reject enrolment applications for Goods and Services Tax Practitioners; applicants may choose Centre or State as the enrolling authority and must specify that choice in Item 1 of Part B of FORM GST PCT-I.

Drawing of samples: senior customs officers decide case-by-case; RMS risk selection and intelligence guide sampling decisions.
Sampling for export drawback claims is now governed by the Risk Management System and by case-by-case determination by an officer not below the rank of Assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Customs; older circulars prescribing fixed monetary sampling limits and exemptions have been rescinded, and sampling may be performed where specific intelligence or suspicion of misuse or fraud exists.

Sampling for drawback: customs to draw samples only when necessary, senior officers authorize and ensure timely case closure.
Sampling for grant of drawback is limited to cases selected under the Risk Management System or justified on merits; a Customs officer not below Assistant or Deputy Commissioner must decide sample-drawing, and samples may be drawn where there is specific intelligence or suspected misuse or fraud, with senior monitoring to ensure necessity and timely finalisation after test reports.

Inter-state supply of warehoused goods: IGST applies on sale before customs clearance while customs duty remains deferred until ex-bonding.
Sale or transfer of imported goods while deposited in a customs bonded warehouse is a supply taxable under IGST as an inter state supply; IGST is leviable on the value of the supply determined under GST valuation provisions. Customs duty treatment is distinct: customs duty liability remains deferred while goods are in the warehouse and is collected only upon ex bonding, assessed on the value determined at import under the Customs Act, payable in addition to any IGST due on the intervening transfer.

Database migration planned causing temporary system unavailability; stakeholders must halt filings and clear consignments beforehand.
Planned migration of the ICES production database will render Customs applications unavailable during the migration window; filings of declarations are halted from 1700 hours on 08.12.2017 with processing for clearance available only until 2200 hours on 08.12.2017, and the migration is scheduled from 0000 to 2200 hours on 09.12.2017 with system availability expected from 2200 hours on 09.12.2017. Stakeholders should clear consignments before the cutoff and contact the Saksham Seva Helpdesk for clarifications.

GST notification effective date fixed for Uttar Pradesh, with directions for wide dissemination among stakeholders.
The Uttar Pradesh Commercial Tax Department issued a circular forwarding the Hindi and English copies of Notification No. 2-1845/Eleven-9(52)/17-U.P.A.-1/2017-(94)-2017 dated 06-12-2017, which appoints 16-12-2017 as the date on which the notification comes into force under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The circular directs officers to ensure wide publicity of the notification among departmental stakeholders in their respective zones.

Export under Letter of Undertaking: exporters may export without IGST subject to LUT, eligibility, timelines, and safeguards.
Exporters may supply goods or services zero-rated without paying Integrated Tax by furnishing a Bond or Letter of Undertaking (FORM GST RFD-11) to the jurisdictional Nodal Officer prior to export; LUT is valid for the financial year and available to all registered persons except specified prosecuted parties. Exporters must meet prescribed time limits for exporting or receiving payment or face tax and interest liability and temporary withdrawal of LUT until compliance. Bonds, where required, must be on stamp paper with an accompanying bank guarantee and running bonds must cover outstanding self-assessed liabilities. Nodal Officers must process submissions within three working days, failing which acceptance is deemed.