Extension of warehousing period must be limited and accompanied by interest payment to discourage prolonged storage.
Extension of the warehousing period must be granted sparingly only for circumstances beyond importer control; financial difficulty is not sufficient. Second or further extensions should generally be denied but, if unavoidable, must be accompanied by payment of interest on duty for the prior extension, to be adjusted at clearance. Collectors must scrutinise requests, issue public notices, and ensure prompt raising of duty demands with interest and recovery action on expiry, with senior officers periodically reviewing warehouse records.

Registration requirement for tobacco exporters restricts exports unless registered and compliant with Tobacco Board price or NOC rules.
Exports of tobacco and tobacco products require registration with the Tobacco Board under Section 12 of the Tobacco Board Act, 1975; exports without such registration are not permitted. For unmanufactured tobacco, exports are subject to a minimum export price rule and are allowed only on production of a price certificate or a no objection certificate from the Tobacco Board; these conditions must be strictly complied with in export clearances.

Interest on customs duty remains payable where goods were dutiable on warehousing even if later exempted.
Interest on customs duty is payable where goods were dutiable at the time of initial warehousing, and such interest must be calculated with reference to the rate of duty assessed at warehousing. A subsequent exemption of duty does not automatically relieve the importer from interest liability accrued up to the date of exemption unless the interest is specifically waived under the proviso to Section 61(2) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Royalties in customs valuation: add only when they relate to imported goods and are a condition of sale.
Royalties and licence fees must be added to invoice value only when they relate to the imported goods and are paid as a condition of sale; if such royalties cannot be objectively quantified, the transaction value may be rejected and valuation proceeded under successive rules. Test values are applicable to related party transactions and, if unavailable or unacceptable, permit adoption of alternative valuation methods rather than arbitrary additions. Buying commissions are not deductible from invoice value and are excluded from computing transaction value; an agent issuing the invoice is treated as the seller.

Import classification: Hop Pallet confirmed as covered by an Appendix Part B entry, prompting customs administrative action.
The Ministry of Commerce's Chief Controller of Imports & Exports advised the Department of Revenue that the Hop Pallet is covered by the relevant Appendix Part B entry of the Import and Export Policy, based on technical clarification from the Directorate General of Technical Development, and conveyed the clarification for administrative information and necessary action by customs authorities.

Valuation adjustment for freight and insurance: apply flat rate for non-air imports including postal consignments when charges unavailable.
When freight and insurance charges are not available, postal consignments and all non-air imports must be valued by applying the flat uplift prescribed by the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988; the Board's 1956 instruction prescribing alternative flat percentages is withdrawn.

Bonded warehouse policy revised: state warehousing corporations may open public warehouses in underserved areas and private specialized warehouses permitted.
State Warehousing Corporations may be appointed as public bonded warehouses in interior locations lacking Central Warehousing Corporation facilities without a no objection certificate, subject to approval by the jurisdictional Collector. Private bonded warehouse licences may be granted for goods requiring specialised storage when Central or State warehouses cannot provide such facilities; Collectors must forward such applications with recommendations to the Board for decision, and earlier instructions are modified accordingly.

Relevant date for customs duty: rate determined on date of payment when goods are removed after warehousing expiry.
When goods remain in a customs warehouse beyond the permitted warehousing period they cease to be warehouse goods and their removal after expiry is not covered by the warehouse-specific provision; the residual clause applies and the rate of customs duty is the rate prevalent on the date of payment of duty. The warehouse provision still applies where removal occurs after an approved extension but before expiry of that extension, provided the extension application was received before the permitted period expired.