Declaration of complete product specifications required for marble slab imports; mis-declaration triggers action under customs law.
Importers and Customs House Agents must declare complete specifications of imported marble slabs including type, design and colour in import documents and Bills of Entry; consignments lacking such description will be taken up for assessment/examination only after the requisite declaration is made. Goods found to differ from declared specifications during examination will be treated as mis-declaration and subject to customs enforcement action. Accurate specification also aids trade statistics collection and analysis.

WCO Certificate of Merit nominations invited; customs formations to submit proposals with vigilance clearance and report celebrations.
Field formations must nominate customs officers and private sector or academic representatives for the WCO Certificate of Merit with justification; customs officer nominations require vigilance clearance. Nominations are to be submitted to the Joint Secretary (Customs), CBEC and may be sent by email to the designated addresses by the prescribed deadline. Delhi Customs will organise the national function in coordination with other agencies, and all formations must celebrate International Customs Day locally and send post event reports with soft copy photographs to the same e mail contacts.

Self-sealing restrictions for export containers; unauthorized seals require destuffing, inspection, and customs re-sealing under supervision.
Self-sealing is limited to exporters with prior Commissioner approval; unauthorized self-sealed containers at CFS must be destuffed and goods stacked for examination. Packages selected by EDI will be opened and inspected; if satisfactory the Appraiser/Superintendent issues the Let Export order and goods are restuffed and sealed under Preventive Officer supervision with Customs one-time seals. Packages must bear prominent, unique serial numbers and marks (non-removable), with alternatives for bales, and any marking discrepancies reported to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner.

Functional control of Special Valuation Branches centralised to Directorate General of Valuation, with DGOV supervising inquiries and valuation orders.
The Board vests functional control of Special Valuation Branches in the Directorate General of Valuation, requiring SVB officers to work exclusively on SVB investigations while DGOV approves and supervises inquiries, monitors pendency, and seeks qualitative improvement. Upon completion, the SVB proper officer will issue a statutory value determination order to the importer, the referring Custom House and DGOV. Review, appeal and other legal matters remain with jurisdictional Commissioners, who must consider DGOV's views when examining orders under statutory review provisions.

Appointment of CFS custodian: LCL Logistix must provide bond, bank guarantee and comply with customs regulations.
M/s. LCL Logistix (India) Pvt. Ltd. is appointed custodian of containers and related cargo at its Haldia CFS under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, with the CFS declared a Customs Area. The appointment requires a Rs. 12.48 crore bond with surety and a Rs. 1.25 crore bank guarantee, compliance with Section 45(2) and Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, insurance and liability for goods, provision of security and facilities for Customs staff, responsibility for transit and recordkeeping, and subjects the custodian to review, termination for cause, and procedural obligations including sale of unclaimed goods after Customs NOC.

Drawback claim queries: exporters must submit required replies or face processing at zero drawback with right to supplementary claim.
Exporters must submit replies and BRCs for shipping bills shown as "Query raised" in the EDI system by the specified deadline; absent required documents, those shipping bills will be processed at zero drawback while preserving the exporter's right to file a supplementary claim. The notice directs exporters to use service centre printouts, the Drawback Help Desk, and the automatic e-mail enquiry facility to ascertain query status and aligns prior notices with this procedure.

Container Freight Station at Dighashipur notified as Customs Area for examination and clearance of import and export cargo.
The Commissioner of Customs notified the CFS of M/s. LCL Logistix (India) Pvt. Ltd., Dighashipur, Haldia, as a Customs Area under Section 8 of the Customs Act for examination and clearance of imported FCL/LCL containers and for examination, stuffing/loading and sealing of export cargo into FCL containers for one time export via Haldia/Kolkata port; the premises and boundaries are specified. A subsequent note records de notification by Public Notice No. 02/2026 (Port) dated 07 01 2026.

Interest calculation under Section 61: ICES requires correct warehousing date to file ex-bond bills and determine interest-free period.
ICES 1.5 now includes a facility to record the warehousing date for automated calculation of interest under the Customs Act for ex-bond bills of entry. The warehousing date must be entered by designated Superintendent roles for warehoused bills and at the customs location for into-bond bills; importers and CHAs must ensure the correct warehousing date is recorded before filing ex-bond bills, since filing is not possible without it and that date governs the interest-free period.

Additional Duty refund: procedural checklist and statutory auditor certification required to process eligible claims promptly.
Refund of Additional Duty under Notification No.102/2007 requires filing a single claim per bill of entry within one year of duty payment, provision of a mandatory CA/statutory auditor certificate (by a CA who certifies the importer's financial records under Companies Act/ST/VAT/Income Tax Act) that correlates imports, sales and VAT/CST payments and explains non passing of duty; electronic sales invoices are acceptable with a paper declaration; accredited clients may receive preliminary sanction on specified documents; a detailed checklist of originals and certified evidence and prescribed annexure formats must accompany claims and forged documents will attract penal action.

Know Your Customer requirements: Container lessors must verify exporters and payments before delivery, with documented KYC checks.
Shipping lines, container lines, their agents/sub-agents and freight forwarders must implement Know Your Customer (KYC) norms before leasing or renting containers for stuffing of export cargo, maintaining self attested records including photo ID, address proof, Import Export Code, a banker's certificate, PAN and prior year tax returns, and VAT/sales tax registration where applicable; payments must be by account payee cheque or internet banking and IEC details verified prior to delivery.

Customs Area declaration enables supervised examination and sealing of full-container import and export cargo at designated CFS.
Declaration that the premises of M/s. L&T Shipbuilding Ltd., Kattupalli, are designated as a Customs Area to function as a Container Freight Station for examination and clearance of imported full-container load cargo from the minor port, and for examination, stuffing/loading and sealing of export cargo under Customs supervision, excluding less-than-container-load cargo and passengers' unaccompanied baggage; procedures for handling import FCL and export cargo will be notified separately.

Custodian appointment under Customs Act: L&T Shipbuilding designated to hold imported and export cargo pending clearance or transshipment.
The premises of M/s. L & T Shipbuilding Ltd., Kattupalli, are appointed as CUSTODIAN under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act to hold imported containerized goods and export cargo until cleared for home consumption, warehoused, or transshipped; the custodian must comply with Section 45(2), HACCR, 2009, and related rules, regulations and instructions.

Warehouse storage under Section 49 enables de stuffing into domestic containers under Customs supervision to reduce import costs.
Importers may avail the statutory warehouse storage facility under Section 49 of the Customs Act, 1962 and may de stuff foreign containers at CFSs/ICDs, transferring goods into empty domestic containers or storing them in customs warehouses under Customs supervision pending lawful clearance; Customs formations must issue Standing Orders, public notices or instructions to notify officers and trade of this option to promote import cost efficiency.

Double-payment refund process requires administrative verification and a formal claim to recover excess customs duty.
Excess payments transferred to the Government can be refunded only by formal claim under Section 27 of the Customs Act, 1962, filed with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner, CRC I, JNCH. The claimant must submit a bank letter confirming debit and credit to government account, the cyber receipt, and the bank scroll attested with Bill of Entry and challan details. The proper officer will verify PAO/e PAO records, ICEGATE challan enquiry, ICES transaction data and bank confirmation before processing and sanctioning the refund.

Declaration requirement for cashew kernels mandates full product details on Bills of Entry, non compliance may attract penalty.
Imports of cashew kernels under tariff headings 080132 and subheadings must include a declaration of full description in Bills of Entry, specifying processing characteristics, product type, grade, size (count/454 g), colour, origin and any other importer parameters; the unit code from the Customs Tariff Act First Schedule must be recorded in the quantity field; incomplete descriptions or incorrect unit codes will be examined on first check and assessed after amendment, and amendments for non compliance will attract customs penalty provisions under Section 117 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Authorized Economic Operator status: streamlined certification and enhanced customs facilitation for compliant supply chain actors, and prioritized risk profiling.
The Circular sets out a revised AEO Programme certifying compliant supply chain participants-importers, exporters, warehouse operators, customs house agents, logistics providers, custodians and couriers-and prescribes eligibility criteria (legal entity, three years' activity, compliance record, financial solvency, security standards), application requirements (application, security plan, process map, site plan, self assessment), verification procedures including pre certification audits, and timelines for decisions. It links AEO status to targeted facilitation benefits (reduced examinations, streamlined transit, reduced/waived bank guarantees, extended licences/approvals), and details suspension, revocation and appeal mechanisms together with ongoing review and notification obligations.

Refund of Additional Duty: originals returned on claim submission; endorsed photocopies used for processing and audit.
Refund of Additional Duty claims require presentation of the original Duplicate Bill of Entry (Importer's copy) and corresponding TR 6 Challan; upon filing, originals and photocopies are endorsed and signed by the processing officer, originals are returned to the importer, and the endorsed photocopies are retained as the operative documents for processing, audit and review. Postal claims follow the same endorsement and return-by-post procedure. The endorsement is treated as defacement of the original Bill of Entry under CBEC guidance.

Customs area designation expands port limits, enabling regulated unloading of imports and loading of exports under the Customs Act.
Declaration designates the Minor Port at Kattupalli as a CUSTOMS AREA for unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods under the Customs Act, 1962, subject to applicable provisions, rules and instructions. It specifies the geographic limits, constituent survey numbers and coastal area inclusion as certified by a Special Tahsildar, sets boundary landmarks, states the effective date, and supersedes a prior public notice.

Mandatory declaration of material specifications: importers must state grade, thickness and core loss to secure correct customs assessment.
Importers and CHAs must declare clearly the grade, thickness and maximum core loss (or the applicable nomenclature) and use standard units in the bill of entry for Prime CRGO sheets, because classification and valuation vary with these technical parameters. Appraising Groups and Import Docks shall verify these particulars; incomplete declarations may require testing of coils, delay assessment, and amendments arising from non-compliance will attract statutory penalties. The notice includes an illustrative table of common grades and warns that poor data quality compromises assessment consistency and national import statistics.

Warehousing date for interest calculation must be entered in ICES for ex-bond bills before filing; scrip-paid duty requires manual calculation.
ICES 1.5 now calculates warehousing interest under Section 61 for ex-bond Bills of Entry when duty is paid in cash, effective 16.10.2012, and requires entry of the warehousing date in the SUP or SUX roles before filing; duties paid by reward scrips must be calculated manually. Warehousing date is the relevant date for the interest-free period, and an annexed Certificate of Warehousing must be produced to evidence the date of deposit for goods removed to bonded warehouses.