Certificate of Origin authorization added - Visvesvaraya Trade Promotion Centre and branches now authorized to issue non preferential certificates.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has added Visvesvaraya Trade Promotion Centre and its two branches to S.No. 9 (Karnataka) of Appendix 2E of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015 2020, authorising that agency to issue Certificate of Origin Non Preferential; the amendment is made under paragraph 2.04 and continues earlier administrative recognition referenced in Public Notice No.11/2009 2014 dated 07.05.2013.

Sanction of prosecution: prescribed internal routing and approval channels for Group A customs officer prosecution proposals.
Sanction of prosecution for Group 'A' customs officers where the Prevention of Corruption Act is not invoked shall be processed by the Commissioner (Investigation Customs) and the Commissioner (GST Investigation) through the Member in charge of the Zone; proposals from DRI/DGGSTI shall be routed through Member (Investigation), CBIC. Cases involving the Prevention of Corruption Act must be routed to the Directorate General of Vigilance. Chief Commissioners and Director Generals must circulate these guidelines and report difficulties to the Board.

Paperless LPCO upload requirement: beneficiaries barred from self-upload; PGAs must upload authorisations and ensure ICEGATE email registration.
Implementation of PGA eSANCHIT mandates electronic uploading of digitally signed LPCOs by PGAs; three additional PGAs are enabled and beneficiaries will be deactivated from uploading previously issued LPCOs from the cut off. PGAs must upload LPCOs issued in the 15 days before the cut off and may upload earlier LPCOs. Communication and IRN transmission will use ICEGATE registered email addresses, with simplified auto registration based on GST email ids for limited eSANCHIT functions. Customs formations must publicise this requirement and assist beneficiaries with correct ICEGATE email registration.

Authorization under Rule 86A permits specified state tax officers to exercise duties within their territorial jurisdiction.
Authorization under Rule 86A delegates duties under that rule to Senior Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Joint Commissioner of State Tax, Deputy Commissioner of State Tax and Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, subject to exercise only within their respective territorial jurisdiction; the order notes the authorization is effective from 26.12.2019 and is issued by the Commissioner, State Tax, West Bengal.

Exporters: follow SOP, submit Annexure A for withheld IGST refunds; CGST verification within 14 working days.
The SOP requires that refunds suspected of fraudulent IGST monetisation be kept in abeyance, with selected exporters' consignments subject to 100% examination and verification driven by data analytics. Exporters must submit the Annexure A dataset and documents to jurisdictional CGST authorities; verification is to be completed within 14 working days, with escalation to the Pr. Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner and a further seven working days for resolution. Annexure A lists detailed GST, transactional, financial and documentary evidence; Annexure B provides escalation email contacts.

All Industry Rates revision for duty drawback updates tariff-specific rates and claim suffixes, affecting multiple export sectors.
Revision of All Industry Rates (AIR) assigns tariff-specific AIRs with applicable caps and requires exporters to suffix tariff items with 'B' to claim standard AIRs and 'D' where an alternative lower AIR applies for apparel produced under the Special Advance Authorization Scheme. The revision adjusts rates across multiple sectors due to changes in duties, import input prices, export FOB values and import intensity, introduces new tariff items, revises certain descriptions, deletes drawback entries linked to Section 65 units, and modifies caps for selected motor vehicle-related items.

Shipping bill data requirement: include district, SQC, PTA/FTA details and cess to improve export data quality.
Exporters must furnish additional mandatory fields in the Shipping Bill including State and District of Origin, Standard Unit Quantity Code (SQC), applicable Preferential/Free Trade Agreement particulars, and GST Compensation Cess to improve export data quality and enable monitoring of exports under PTAs; implementation issues are to be reported to the Additional Commissioner (Air Cargo Export).

Shipping bills must list state/district of origin, SQC, PTA status and GST compensation cess; invoices require IRN uploads.
From 15.02.2020, each Shipping Bill item must mandatorily declare State and District of Origin (using prescribed codes), Standard Unit Quantity Code and quantity, Preferential/FTA status using prescribed codes (or a non preference code if none), and GST Compensation Cess amount in the Single Window Table; invoices must be uploaded to e Sanchit with document codes and IRNs; GSTIN declaration is mandatory for GST registered persons.

Extension of time for FORM GST TRAN-1 granted for registrants unable to file due to common portal technical issues.
The Commissioner, exercising powers under the relevant rule and the Act and on the Council's recommendation, extends the period for submitting the declaration in Form GST TRAN-1 until 31 March 2020 for registered persons who could not file by the due date due to technical difficulties on the common portal; the Order supersedes Order No. 01/2019-GST except as to prior actions.

Rule 86A credit blocking procedure set for suspected ineligible input tax credit and non-existent firms
Blocking and unblocking of input tax credit under Rule 86A is prescribed for cases involving invoices or other documents issued by non-existent firms or other specified indicators of fraudulent or ineligible credit. The circular authorises designated Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners to act within their territorial jurisdiction, requires inter-office requests and communication by e-mail, and limits action to the conditions expressly stated in Rule 86A(1). Action is to be completed within prescribed working timelines, communicated to the registered person, and recorded with reasons; cases not fit for action are to be returned with reasons and evidence.

Extension of validity for Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies: recognitions expiring by March extended to end of month.
The Director General extends recognition validity for Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies listed in Appendix 2G of the Aayat Niryat Forms whose three-year tenure would expire on or before 30.3.2020, by continuing their recognition up to 31.3.2020, invoking powers under the Foreign Trade Policy and relaxing the relevant Handbook of Procedure provision.

Electronic sealing for bonded warehouses: RFID one-time locks required to secure and track movement of goods to and from warehouses.
The circular extends RFID-based REID self-sealing to goods deposited in and removed from customs bonded warehouses, requiring use of RFID one-time-locks sourced from CBIC-listed vendors that meet ISO specifications. Licencees must procure readers and ensure seals link TID numbers to warehouse codes; specified data elements (including IEC, entry/shipping bill numbers, seal serial, sealing time/date, container or vehicle registration, and origin/destination codes) must be captured in a web application. Tampered seals trigger examination or refusal to unload and trip reports from destination scans serve as statutory acknowledgements.

Customs Health Cess imposed on imported medical devices, requiring specific BE declarations and verification of system duty calculations.
A Customs Health Cess of 5% ad valorem applies to imports of medical devices under headings 9018-9022, effective 02.02.2020, with exemptions under Notification No. 08/2020. ICES has been updated to calculate the cess automatically; to claim exemptions filers must use Notification Type "C" and AD Flag "+" in the Bill of Entry. Trade must verify duty calculations for entries cleared on 02-Feb-2020, manually check initial assessments, and report discrepancies to the Assistant Commissioner (EDI) or [email protected].

SGST reimbursement on movie tickets: theatres must reduce price by SGST and claim refund after filing returns.
GRs reimburse the SGST component on specified movie tickets; registered theatres must indicate CGST and SGST, reduce the ticket price by the SGST amount and prominently show the reimbursement. Theatres must still deposit SGST and CGST in returns; only theatres that pass the SGST benefit to consumers and timely submit Annexure I details are eligible. After filing the return under section 39, theatres must apply using Annexure II within thirty days for reimbursement; jurisdictional officers will verify records and compliance and, after verification, refund within 30 days.

Disclosure standards for alternative investment funds require standardized PPM templates and mandatory performance benchmarking for funds.
SEBI mandates a two-part Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) template for Category I and II AIFs and a separate template for Category III, requires alignment of subscription agreements with the PPM, and an annual audit of PPM compliance (with certain audit items optional). Mandatory industry and fund-level performance benchmarking is introduced: Associations representing a majority of AIFs shall appoint Benchmarking Agencies, AIFs must report scheme-level valuation and cash-flow data for schemes one year past first close, and benchmarking reports must accompany any disclosed past performance; exemptions apply to certain Angel Funds.

Customs Health Cess on medical device imports requires declaration and specified Bill of Entry entries to claim exemption.
Introduction of Customs Health Cess imposes a 5% ad valorem duty on imports of medical devices under headings 9018-9022 as valued under the Customs Act; the system will calculate the cess on tariff declaration. Notification No. 08/2020 provides exemptions for certain goods, and importers claiming exemption must declare Notification Type "C" and AD Flag "+" in the Bill of Entry SBE Duty Tag when filing via RES software.

GST refund reconciliation against VAT arrears directs case-by-case bank account attachment and monitoring to avoid refund delay.
GST refund claims made by dealers migrated from VAT are to be checked against outstanding VAT arrears available in the RC Module, and recoverable dues may be pursued through bank account attachment in accordance with the prescribed rules. During processing of refund applications of such defaulters, the refund claim must be reconciled with arrears reflected in the RC Module. Bank account attachment is to be used on a case-to-case basis only where genuine default exists, and cases not requiring attachment are to be recorded separately.

Withdrawal of administrative circular on ITeS clarifications; ab initio withdrawal under statutory power to ensure uniform implementation.
The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes has withdrawn ab-initio Circular No. 107/26/2019-GST (which had provided clarifications on supply of Information Technology enabled services) by exercising statutory power under section 168(1) of the Jharkhand GST Act, 2017, and has requested issuance of trade notices to publicize the withdrawal to ensure uniform implementation.

Mandatory export data enhancement: shipping bills must record origin, preferential agreement and standard unit code, and GSTIN required.
From 15.02.2020, Shipping Bills filed electronically on ICEGATE must include for each item the State and District of Origin, any applicable Preferential Agreement, and the Standard Unit Quantity Code (SQC) for the tariff heading; additionally, GSTIN declaration is mandatory for GST registered importers and exporters, and DG (Systems) will publish field level technical guidance.

Transhipment of export cargo: pilot facility via land customs to Kolkata extended; stakeholders urged to report implementation difficulties.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has extended a pilot mechanism permitting transhipment of export cargo from Bangladesh through designated Land Customs Stations for onward movement to Kolkata Port or Airport in containers or closed bodied trucks; the facility continues under prior circulars as amended and officers are instructed to facilitate prescribed customs controls, documentation and container integrity, while reporting any implementation difficulties to the Board.