Late fee waiver for delayed bills of entry: import consignments may be cleared without late charges until further notice.
Bills of entry delayed due to coronavirus-related document or ICEGATE access disruptions and pertaining to inward general manifests filed on or after 20 March 2020 will not attract late fee charges for clearance of import consignments; this direction is to be treated as a standing order for officers and staff and stakeholders may report specific difficulties to the relevant Additional/Deputy Commissioner until further orders.

Late filing waiver for import Bills of Entry extended to cover consignments delayed by coronavirus outbreak.
Bills of Entry that relate to Import General Manifests filed on or after 21.03.2020 and on or before 17.04.2020 will not attract late fee charges, as an amendment to Public Notice No. 18/2020 to facilitate clearance of import consignments delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak; other contents of the earlier notice remain unchanged.

Waiver of late fee for delayed bill of entry filings due to COVID-19 precautions, applicable to relevant import manifests.
A waiver of the late fee is granted for Bills of Entry filed belatedly due to precautionary measures related to nCOVID-19; the waiver covers Bills of Entry pertaining to Import General Manifests filed on or after 20th March, 2020 and remains effective until further orders, and the decision is to be treated as a standing order for officers and staff.

Late fee waiver for delayed import bill filings due to coronavirus enables temporary clearance without late charge penalties.
Temporary suspension of late fee charges for bills of entry related to Import General Manifests filed on or after the specified IGM date where late filing is due to coronavirus-related difficulty in obtaining or submitting documents; the waiver is issued despite the existing late fee provisions and shall remain until further orders, and this Public Notice functions as a standing order for officers with a procedure to report specific difficulties to Appraising Main (Import) NS-I officials.

Late fee waiver for delayed bills of entry enables clearance of import consignments affected by virus-related disruptions.
Bills of entry pertaining to inward general manifests delayed because of difficulty in obtaining documents or accessing ICEGATE/service centres due to the coronavirus outbreak will not attract late fee charges if filed late within the specified relief window, as a trade-facilitation measure under the Bill of Entry Amendment Regulations, 2018 and the proviso to Section 46(3) of the Customs Act.

Waiver of late fee for delayed bill of entry filings caused by health precautionary measures; relief applies until further notice.
Waiver of the late fee for belated Bills of Entry is authorised where such Bills correspond to Import General Manifests filed on or after the outbreak-related date; the waiver remains until further orders, is issued in the public interest, and is to be treated as a standing order for customs officers, with stakeholders asked to report specific difficulties to jurisdictional senior officers.

Essential customs operations to continue with skeletal staff under supervisory delegation to ensure cargo clearance and stakeholder availability.
Directs selected customs sections to operate with a skeletal staff under AC/DC supervision, assisted by designated officers, to maintain essential cargo clearance functions; requires other staff to remain locally available by telephone/electronic means and to attend on exigency, allows revision of arrangements per government instructions, and directs reporting of difficulties to the Commissioner of Customs.

Acceptance of scanned Bills of Entry enables provisional air cargo clearance to SEZs during lockdown under specified reconciliation conditions.
Scanned duplicate and quadruplicate copies of Bills of Entry, sent by the SEZ assessing officer's official e-mail to the specified Superintendent of Customs e-mail, will be accepted to grant provisional Out of Charge clearance from Delhi Air Cargo to SEZs during lockdown; assessing officers must include Custom Broker details and their mobile number. Hard copies must be submitted within fifteen days of lockdown lifting, and the Deputy Commissioner will record OOCs granted on scanned copies and reconcile with hard copies within twenty-one days thereafter.

Preventive workplace measures for infection control: entry screening, visitor restrictions, sanitization, remote meetings and staff rotation.
Immediate preventive steps across Pune Customs include entry screening with thermal scanners, mandatory hand sanitizer at entrances, strict limitation of visitor access with suspension of routine temporary passes, promotion of video conferencing and avoidance of non essential travel, minimization of physical file movement with use of official email, delivery/receipt of dak at building entry, frequent cleaning and sanitization of high touch surfaces, ensuring supply of soap and running water, self monitoring for respiratory symptoms and adherence to home quarantine guidance; high risk employees are advised to take extra precautions and essential services must continue.

De-notification of inland container depot shifts customs clearance to the new ICD and mandates relocation of EDI and containers.
Relocation of customs operations requires discontinuation of Babarpur ICD code, shutdown and transfer of the EDI system and customs assets to ICD Barhi, and closure of Babarpur for customs functions; all fresh imports and exports and customs clearance activities will be carried out at ICD Barhi, while CONCOR will shift pending, in progress and seized containers to the new ICD at its own cost.

Indian Customs EDI system ICES 1.5 implemented at ICD Barhi to enable electronic processing of import and export clearances.
Launch of Indian Customs EDI System (ICES 1.5) at Inland Container Depot Barhi from 25 March 2020 for computerized processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills. The application, developed by NIC and integrated by M/s TCS, is hosted at the National Data Centre with CBEC VPN connectivity and BSNL internet. Pre production testing and HCCAR, 2009 formalities are complete. Punjab National Bank, Barhi is the designated bank for drawback disbursal and duty/cess collection. Standard procedures of other Customs Divisions apply and helpdesk, toll free support and designated officials are available for grievance redressal.

Imported toys require random NABL testing; provisional clearance allowed only with a No Use Undertaking until test results confirm compliance.
Imported toys are to be provisionally cleared only after representative random samples are drawn and sent to nominated NABL accredited laboratories; importers seeking early release must furnish a No Use Undertaking not to market goods until successful testing, upload the accepted undertaking to the electronic file, and submit test reports within the stipulated timeframe; conforming reports lead to cancellation of the undertaking, while failing samples require return, re export, or destruction at the importer's cost.

Rebate of state and central taxes and levies: RoSCTL in ICES requires electronic DGFT scrip transmission and portal verification.
Operationalisation of the RoSCTL scheme in ICES implements electronically issued DGFT scrips transmitted to ICEGATE with registration enabled in the Licence Management APR role. RoSCTL scrips must be registered in ICES only when transmitted electronically; manual registration is prohibited. Scrips are paperless and transferable, ownership is verified via the DGFT portal when used for import duty payment, and the same checks and balances as MEIS apply.

Sample testing requirement for imported toys: clearance allowed only with a No Use Undertaking pending test results.
Imported toys must undergo sample testing by nominated NABL accredited laboratories; provisional clearance before test completion is permitted only upon submission and acceptance of a No Use Undertaking preventing sale until successful testing. Shed officers will draw samples for each toy type, records of testing and cancellation of undertakings will be maintained, and failed samples will result in re-export or destruction at the importer's cost.

Electronic sealing: RFID one-time-locks required for bonded-warehouse movements with mandatory data capture and tamper protocols.
Electronic sealing for bonded-warehouse movements mandates RFID One-Time-Locks (RFID OTL) sourced from CBIC-listed vendors, conforming to specified ISO and UHF standards with unique vendor-branded serials. Licencees must procure readers and seals, capture prescribed data elements (IEC, entry/shipping bill, RFID number, sealing date/time, container/vehicle registration, warehouse and customs codes) in a web application, and match warehouse codes at out-of-charge. Tamper detection requires examination and refusal to unload; RFID trip reports constitute arrival acknowledgement. Exceptions and Commissioner-authorised dispensations are permitted.

Electronic sealing: RFID one-time-locks required for bonded warehouse movements, with specified data capture and scanning procedures.
Use of RFID One-Time-Lock (RFID OTL) is mandated for goods moved to or from Customs bonded warehouses where regulations require a one-time-lock. Importers, owners and warehouse licencees must use RFID seals from CBIC-listed vendors conforming to specified ISO standards; vendors must self-certify conformity and link seal TID numbers to warehouse codes. Licencees must procure readers and provide or procure seals; a web application will capture defined data elements and destination scanning will generate a trip report to satisfy statutory acknowledgement and trigger tamper protocols.

Electronic sealing implementation deferred; new commencement date set and vendors directed to report operational difficulties.
The implementation date for mandatory electronic sealing for deposit and removal of goods from customs bonded warehouses has been deferred in response to representations from e-seal vendors; a new commencement date for the relevant circular has been fixed and stakeholders are asked to report any operational difficulties to the Board.

Customs pass issuance for H, G and Self categories: required documents, transfer rules, verification, and processing timelines.
Issuance of H, G and Self category customs identity cards under regulation 13 CBLR 2018 requires category specific documentary files for Fresh, Transfer, Renewal and Duplicate applications, including attestation form, Form H, educational proof, Aadhaar/PAN, ICEGATE registration, appointment letter, business volume, GST, residential proof, undertakings, and police/CID verification; G requires G exam result and Self requires IEC documentation. Transfers need cancellation from prior employer and affidavit plus police verification if gap exceeds six months. Deficiency memos issued within 15 working days; cards issued within 45 working days. Cards valid five years and must be surrendered on termination.

Duty scrip payment option enabled for Project Imports, allowing scrip use and revision of duty challans upon officer authorisation.
System now permits debiting customs duty through duty scrips for Project Import Bills of Entry via a DEPB License Management option in the APR role. Filers must lodge Bills of Entry quoting the Project Import license; before duty payment the importer or broker presents scrip details and amount to the customs officer, who enables scrip payment in the system and causes the duty challan to be revised for any remaining duty.

Duty scrips option for project imports permits duties to be paid through scrips upon customs officer approval.
System permits use of Duty Scrips for payment of customs duties on Project Import Bills of Entry via the DEPB License Management option in the APR role. Importers/CBs file BEs quoting the Project Imports license; before duty payment they present scrip details and amount to be debited to the customs officer, who may authorise scrip debit and cause the system to revise the duty challan for any remaining balance.