Re-testing of import samples: written requests allow a second laboratory test and require written laboratory designation and reasoned decisions.
Opportunity for re-testing of imported goods is a trade facilitation measure: importers may request a second test in writing within ten days of receiving the first test result; Customs must promptly communicate test reports. If granted, the Additional/Joint Commissioner shall name in writing the laboratory for the re-test, using remnants or duplicate sealed samples in Customs custody; fresh sampling requires the importer's presence. The competent authority shall consider re-test results without prejudice to the first test, record written reasons when relying on either result, and may order a further re-test only when necessary and the consignment remains under Customs control.

Continuity bond acceptance: B-17 bond valid; inter-unit transfers require GST and recipient customs duty liability.
The B-17 running bond shall serve as the continuity bond under the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, 2017; estimated import quantities and values may be submitted for periods up to one year and amended as needed; transitional option permits use of Rule 5 or procurement certificates; inter-unit transfers require invoice and GST payment, no customs duty at transfer, supplier to endorse any customs duty exemption, and recipient bears customs duty liability upon DTA clearance.

GSTIN requirement clarified: authorised PAN may be used for customs clearance when GSTIN is not legally required.
Requirement of GSTIN for import and export is clarified: persons exclusively supplying goods that are not taxable or wholly exempt need not obtain GSTIN and may use authorised PAN (as IEC) for bills of entry and shipping bills; customs must not delay consignments where GSTIN is legally unnecessary and stakeholders should quote authorised PAN for clearance.

Bond or Letter of Undertaking for exports without integrated tax clarifies eligibility and security requirements for exporters.
Exporters making zero-rated supplies without payment of Integrated Tax must furnish a bond or Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11; Notification No.16/2017 identifies who may submit LUTs and others must submit bonds on non-judicial stamp paper. Where bonds are required, exporters shall furnish a running bond covering estimated tax liability and top up or submit a fresh bond if liabilities exceed the bond. A bank guarantee may be required with the bond, but the jurisdictional Commissioner may reduce or waive it based on exporter track record; such guarantees should normally not exceed fifteen percent of the bond amount.

Brand rate drawback jurisdiction shifted to Customs commissionerates; transition claims barred from concurrent GST input credit or refund.
With effect from 1.7.2017 Brand rate fixation under Rules 6 and 7 will be handled by the Customs commissionerate having jurisdiction over the place of export, with exporters able to file where exports occur from multiple places. A three month transition preserves the extant duty drawback scheme but conditions draw back claims to preclude simultaneous CGST/IGST input tax credit or IGST refund and bars carrying forward Cenvat credit; prescribed declarations are required. Pending Brand rate applications will be transferred to the chosen Customs commissionerate and prior circulars continue to apply.

Drawback transition period permits composite AIR claims while restricting input tax credit and Cenvat carry forward on exports.
A transition regime permits exporters to claim composite All Industry Rates (AIR) of duty drawback or brand rates for exports during the transitional window, provided they file prescribed declarations and accept conditions preventing concurrent receipt of composite drawback and input tax credits or IGST refunds, and barring carry forward of Cenvat credit; alternatively exporters may claim only the Customs portion of AIR and retain input tax benefits. Concurrently, AIRs and tariff classifications have been adjusted and responsibility for brand rate fixation and supplementary claims has been transferred to Customs formations, with interim discharge of functions by designated Central Excise officers.

Exports under Letter of Undertaking: LUT or bond required for integrated-tax-free exports, with running bonds and limited bank guarantees.
Exports without payment of integrated tax require a bond or a Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11 under rule 96A; eligible exporters may use LUT, others must furnish a bond on non-judicial stamp paper. Bonds may be running, covering estimated tax liability across consignments, and must be topped up if insufficient. A bank guarantee may be required at the Commissioner's discretion and should normally not exceed 15% of the bond amount. LUTs are valid for twelve months and jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioners accept bonds/LUTs, with temporary filing permitted before central or state authorities.

GST registration requirement: PAN/IEC may suffice for certain importers and exporters, quote PAN in shipping documents.
Registration for import and export follows CGST Act provisions applied to IGST via Section 20; Section 23 excludes from registration persons engaged exclusively in supplies of goods that are not liable to tax or wholly exempt, and in such cases the PAN (authorised as IEC) suffices. Importers, exporters and customs brokers must quote the authorised PAN in bills of entry and shipping bills for clearance.

Import duty concession rules now place responsibility on customs officers while central excise officers continue duties until jurisdictions transfer.
The Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, 2017 replace the 2016 rules for concessional imports tied to manufacture of excisable goods or provision of services, effective 01.07.2017; operational responsibilities assigned to Customs officers will be assumed, but until Board issues notifications altering Commissionerate jurisdictions, Central Excise Commissionerate officers will continue to perform those functions, supported by existing legal empowerment under the Customs Act, 1962.

Duty Drawback jurisdiction now rests with Customs Commissioners who will process DTA-to-SEZ supplier claims and fix brand rates.
Drawback claims by DTA suppliers for supplies to SEZ units or developers shall be processed and paid by the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs in whose jurisdiction the DTA supplier falls, who will also fix Brand rates where required; this applies to fresh claims filed from 1 July 2017, while claims pending with Central Excise up to 30 June 2017 must be transferred to the jurisdictional Customs office with careful coordination, and Central Excise formations will continue to discharge Customs functions until Customs Commissionerates are notified.

Drawback of integrated tax and compensation cess includes refund on re exported imports, subject to GST officer certificate preventing credit claims.
Drawback under Section 74 now includes refund of integrated tax and compensation cess on re exported imports; the Re export Rules have been amended accordingly. A certificate from the relevant GST officer is required to confirm that no credit of integrated tax or compensation cess has been availed and no refund claimed, to prevent dual benefit. Existing procedural instructions for drawback claims remain unchanged.

Auction-based allocation of FPI corporate debt limits activates when utilisation breaches the threshold, governing bids and reinvestment timelines.
The Combined Corporate Debt Limit (CCDL) is available on tap until overall FPI utilisation reaches 95%, after which custodians must halt purchases and depositories notify exchanges to conduct auctions for unutilised limits. The circular sets auction procedures (timing, access, bid sizes, tick, allocation by price-time, minimum fee) and grants successful bidders 10 trading days to utilise allocations; reinvestment after sale/redemption is permitted for 2 trading days. Single FPI/group bidding is capped at one-tenth of the auctioned limits. Overseas issuance of rupee bonds by corporates is suspended while high utilisation persists. Reporting and dematerialisation requirements are mandated.

Export without payment of integrated tax: furnish Bond or Letter of Undertaking before jurisdictional tax authority for acceptance and recordation.
Supply of goods or services for export without payment of integrated tax under rule 96A requires a prior Bond or Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11. Until the common portal module is operational, the Bond/LUT may be furnished manually to the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner or before Central or State Tax authority; the jurisdictional office shall accept, record and acknowledge the submission and maintain proper registers. A bank guarantee may be required, with amount to be decided by the Joint Commissioner based on exporter track record.

Appointment of Principal Commissioner (Revision Application) - officers assigned ex officio Additional Secretary status with fixed two year tenure.
Two IRS (C&CE) officers are appointed as Principal Commissioner (Revision Application) and ex officio Additional Secretary in the Revision Application Unit, effective from assumption of charge, for an initial period of two years or until further orders.

Administrative promotion orders: Principal Commissioner grade conferred and consequent postings and compliance requirements announced.
Promotion to the grade of Principal Commissioner of Customs, GST & CX is ordered for listed IRS (Customs & Central Excise) officers for panel years 2015-16 and 2016-17, effective from assumption of charge. Two officers' promotions will take effect only after repatriation and reporting to the Board. Consequent postings in the grades of Principal Commissioner/Principal ADG and transfers in the grade of Commissioner are ordered with immediate effect, and officers must join by the prescribed date; compliance reports on relieving and joining are to be sent to the Board as directed.

Registration cancellation notice under Uttar Pradesh VAT law lists cancelled trader TINs and effective cancellation dates.
Registration cancellation information is issued under section 17(11) of the Uttar Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2008 read with rule 37-A of the Uttar Pradesh VAT Rules, 2008. The circular communicates that, on the basis of information received from different commercial tax circles, the provincial and central TIN registrations of specified traders have been cancelled by the assessing authorities. It serves as a consolidated notice to departmental officers and sets out the names and addresses of the firms, the nature of goods or business, the TIN numbers, the effective dates of registration, and the dates of cancellation for each listed dealer.

Export goods are zero rated under IGST; exporters may use LUT/bond or pay tax and claim refunds, and use approved self sealing.
Export supplies are zero rated, allowing exporters to either export under bond or Letter of Undertaking without paying integrated tax and claim refund of unutilized input tax credit, or pay integrated tax and claim refund via shipping bills treated as deemed refund applications subject to valid returns. Shipping bill formats are modified for IGST compliance. Self-sealing of containers replaces CBEC sealing for approved premises where exporters notify customs, obtain premises approval, use tamper proof electronic seals with embedded export and invoice data, and comply with risk based examination at ports; transitional implementation is effective 01.09.2017.

Exports under Letter of Undertaking: bond/LUT procedures permit running bonds and conditional bank guarantees for IGST-free exports.
Exporters removing goods or services without payment of integrated tax must furnish a bond or a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) in FORM GST RFD-11 under rule 96A; eligible categories may use LUT while others must furnish bond on non-judicial stamp paper. Bonds may be running bonds covering estimated tax liability and may require a bank guarantee at the Commissioner's discretion, though a Commissioner satisfied with an exporter's track record may accept bond without a bank guarantee. LUTs are valid twelve months and bonds/LUTs are accepted by the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner with jurisdiction over the exporter's principal place of business.

Zero-rated exports under IGST: Bond/LUT acceptance delegated to jurisdictional deputy commissioner, enabling export without IGST payment.
Zero-rated exports may be effected by furnishing a Bond/LUT in FORM GST RFD-11 to supply without payment of IGST and claim refund of unutilized input tax credit; refund applications are filed electronically and deemed filed only after export manifest/report and valid return are furnished. LUT is available to status holders or exporters meeting specified foreign inward remittance criteria and is valid for 12 months; others must furnish a running bond on stamp paper covering self-assessed tax liability. Acceptance of Bond/LUT is delegated to the jurisdictional Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner and manual RFD-11 is allowed until the portal module is available.

Proper officer designation assigns registration and composition functions under the central GST framework to designated officers.
Designation of officers as proper officers allocates statutory functions under the Central Goods and Services Tax framework for registration, composition levy and related administrative provisions. The notice specifies that Principal Commissioners/Commissioners, Additional/Joint Commissioners, Deputy/Assistant Commissioners, Superintendents and Inspectors of Central Tax are each assigned defined sections and rules under the Act and Rules to exercise registration, composition-related, verification, assessment and procedural enforcement functions.