E-sanchit upload requirement: mandatory digital filing of supporting documents and attested engineer certificates for customs assessment.
Stakeholders are directed to upload all supporting documents and attested Chartered Engineer certificate on E-sanchit with an image reference number (IRN) before the examination officer records the examination report and forwards the bill of entry for assessment, as a standing order to enhance transparency, reduce physical interface and shorten dwell time.

ICES 1.5 at ICD Varnama enables mandatory electronic filing of import/export declarations and integrated licence, bond and tax workflows.
ICES 1.5 is launched at ICD Varnama to enable fully electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills. e SANCHIT uploads on ICEGATE (IRN linkage) are mandatory for supporting documents; DGFT IE Codes, customs broker and shipping line registration are required; designated banks handle duty/drawback payments. The system integrates licence/Bond registration and automatic debits, supports digital signatures for remote filing, enforces code standards (currency, unit, country, port), and prescribes procedures for assessment, query/amendment, inspection, RMS facilitation, and GST/IGST credit reconciliation.

Composite sampling for edible oils extended, permitting testing at FSSAI approved Kakinada laboratory pending review.
Facility permitting the drawal of one composite sample for one vessel of imported edible oils, with testing at the FSSAI approved local laboratory in Kakinada, is extended temporarily for six months from 01.04.2023 to 30.09.2023; all conditions of the original public notice remain in force and further renewal will be reviewed.

Determination of export incentive instrument: customs enforcement suspended pending administrative decision process on MEIS validity.
The Board directs the adjudicating authority to keep the show cause notice under section 28 of the Customs Act pending until the administrative decision on the MEIS instrument is rendered, because the licensing authority's determination on alleged wrongful availment and cancellation of the MEIS scrip is the primary basis for any customs recovery action.

Telecom equipment classification requires alphanumeric identifiers in import declarations to specify the applicable product category under customs tariffs.
Importers must declare an additional alphanumeric code/identifier in the Bill of Entry for goods classified under tariff headings 85176290 and 85176990 to indicate the applicable telecom product category; Annexure 1 illustrates covered product categories (optical transport/OTN, packet optical OLT/ONT, IP radios, VoIP/softswitch, carrier Ethernet/PTN/MPLS, LTE/MIMO/5G) and Annexure 2 provides the mapping of specified identifiers and 'Others' codes for unmapped items.

Electronic Certificates of Origin valid for preferential claims under ECTA when issued in prescribed format.
Electronic Certificates of Origin issued by Australian issuing bodies that conform to the prescribed format, bear authorized seals and signatures, and comply with Notification No. 112/2022-Customs (N.T.) are valid for claiming preferential treatment under the India-Australia ECTA; specimen seals and signatures are used for authenticity checks, verification requests must be channelled through the FTA Cell when necessary, importers must upload the e-COO to e-Sanchit and record unique reference particulars in the bill of entry, and a printed copy may be used in lieu of defacement of an original certificate.

Recovery of govt. dues from 1,434 exporters under Section 142; contact TRC to clear dues or submit proof by deadline.
A public list of 1,434 exporters with unpaid customs dues at Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai has been published and recovery proceedings under Section 142 of the Customs Act, 1962 have been initiated. Exporters listed must contact the Tax Recovery Cell by 18.03.2023 to clear dues with interest and penalty or submit proof of payment or pending appeals; otherwise recovery measures including attachment of movable and immovable assets under Section 142(1)(c)(ii) will follow.

Faceless Assessment: upload complete, legible documents and link them to the Bill of Entry to expedite customs clearance.
Complete, legible and properly linked supporting documents must be uploaded to eSanchit and tagged to the corresponding Bill of Entry to enable expedited Faceless Assessment; registrations, certifications, and statutory compliance (including BIS, LMPC, PESO, CPCB, EPRA, CDSCO, AERB and sectoral portal filings) must be completed before filing, and Annexure A lists additional group-wise documents that may be required, with assessing officers retaining discretion to seek further information.

Mandatory customs broker association enrollment requires single-jurisdiction membership; Board may grant extensions for compliance.
Each customs broker must enroll as a member of the customs broker's association in every jurisdiction where they operate if a registered and recognised association exists; brokers may not enroll in more than one association in the same jurisdiction. The Board may, on written representation showing reasons beyond the applicant's control, grant a further time period to comply with time-bound duties or obligations, with reasons recorded in writing. Brokers under the Mangaluru Commissionerate are advised to enroll with the Mangaluru Custom House Agents Association.

Customs broker profiles must use Add OPS Employee to record existing other policy section employees, not Form C.
Clarifies that after Parent Policy Section validation of a CB Profile on CBLMS, customs brokers already operating under prior Form C intimations must add employees of their Other Policy Sections via the Add OPS Employee function in Existing_CB_Profile, rather than filing a new Intimation under Form C, which is reserved for fresh intent to operate in a different policy section; details SOP access, required data and uploads for Add OPS Employee and Intimation under Form C, and notes Parent Policy Section validation is a pre requisite for adding OPS details.

Label rectification at port permitted; authorised officer must verify compliance before sampling and testing proceeds.
Imported food consignments with non compliant labels may be rectified at customs bonded warehouses by affixing a single non detachable sticker or equivalent without altering the original label; the Authorised Officer or representative must verify compliance during visual inspection and consignments will be sampled and tested only if labels are found compliant. Labels found non compliant by laboratory analysis may be rectified and an NOC issued after AO verification. Clove Stem imports are to be tested against horizontal safety parameters and specified volatile oil content until standards are notified.

Body worn camera recording mandated for boarding officers during vessel inspections to enhance transparency and preserve evidence.
Boarding officers performing sea customs duties must wear a designated boarding jacket fitted with a Body Worn Camera (BWC), activate it on approach to the gangway, record continuously until de boarding, and notify stakeholders that recording is mandatory. The BWC is a stand alone, non wireless device; safety exceptions may be made by a vessel Safety Officer with supervisory verification. Recorded data must be transferred each shift to a password protected internal drive, backed up daily for custody by designated officers, retained for a minimum period, handed over and logged at shift changes, and subject to periodic supervisory review and reporting.

Add OPS Employee requirement: brokers must register other policy section employees in CBLMS rather than filing Form C.
Brokers whose CB Profile is validated by the Parent Policy Section must use the Add OPS Employee function in CBLMS to enter employees of Other Policy Sections where they already operate; they should not file Intimation under Form C for this purpose. Intimation under Form C is intended only for giving new intimation to operate in a different policy section. Adding and validating OPS employee details is a prerequisite for other CBLMS applications, and SOPs and helpdesk support are available on the portal.

Health Certificate requirement deferred, postponing its implementation for imported food consignments pending further orders while stakeholders await guidance.
The implementation of the FSSAI order requiring imported food consignments to be accompanied by a Health Certificate is deferred until further order, in light of representations from various countries and stakeholders. Customs officers are to be sensitized to this extension and any implementation difficulties must be reported to the Board, maintaining existing import processing procedures until further notice.

Warehouse recordkeeping amended to require ex-bond Bill of Entry/Shipping Bill details and date for removals for home consumption or export.
A new column, Column No. 25A, has been inserted into Form A to record the "Ex-Bond Bill of Entry No and date/Shipping Bill No. and Date". Warehouse licensees must use the amended form to capture these document numbers and dates when goods are removed from the warehouse for home consumption, export or similar purposes, linking removal records to the corresponding ex-bond Bill of Entry or Shipping Bill for customs recordkeeping and compliance.

Electronic export declaration: booking post offices authorised to e file Postal Bill of Export under new regulations for postal exports.
Designation of specified Booking Post Offices and their mapped Foreign Post Offices as authorised points for electronic filing of the Postal Bill of Export under the Postal Export (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2022; other high volume offices may be proposed for authorisation in consultation with Customs.

E-sanchit upload requirement: All supporting documents and attested Chartered Engineer certificates must be uploaded before assessment.
Importers, customs brokers, and examination officers must upload all supporting documents, including attested Chartered Engineer certificates, to the CBIC e sanchit system with an image reference number before preparing the examination report and forwarding the bill of entry to the FAG for assessment; this requirement is issued as a standing order to improve transparency, reduce dwell time, and avoid delays from missing attested CE certificates, with trade associations instructed to publicize the notice and implementation issues to be reported to the Additional Commissioner.

Launch of Indian Customs EDI system expands electronic processing of import and export documentation at ICD Morbi, with support channels provided.
Computerized processing under the Indian Customs EDI (ICES) system will commence at ICD Morbi from 01.03.2023. The ICD at M/s Navkar Corporation Ltd., Village Vadharva, Taluka Malya, District Morbi has been notified as an Inland Container Depot, declared a customs area and appointed custodian for containerized import and export cargo; a location code has been allocated and pre-production EDI trials completed. State Bank of India is authorized for duty collection and drawback payment under EDI, and specified helpdesk contacts and customs officers are provided for operational support.

Offence case reporting: centralised DIGIT entry requires staged, timely recording of customs detection, seizure, adjudication and prosecution.
These instructions mandate entry of qualifying customs offence cases into the national repository DIGIT, limited to categories such as smuggling, import/export violations and NDPS offences, and defined by investigative actions like recording of information, seizure, arrest, search, summons or related detections. Entries must be made at prescribed stages-detection, arrest, seizure, investigation conclusion (including upload of SCNs or complaint/closure records), adjudication (upload of Orders-in-Original), and prosecution (including sanction and complaint details)-and within specified timelines. Commissionerates and DRI Zonal Units must appoint DIGIT Nodal Officers to manage user access, ensure accuracy and reconcile DIGIT data with Monthly Performance Reports; modifications require sanctioned requests to the national nodal officer.

Add OPS Employee requirement: Customs brokers must record Other Policy Section staff in CBLMS rather than submit Form C.
After Parent Policy Section validation of the CB Profile on CBLMS, customs brokers already operating under Form C must add employee details for other policy sections via the Add OPS Employee tab in their existing CB Profile and refrain from filing an Intimation under Form-C application, which is reserved for new notifications to operate in a different policy section; SOPs are available on the portal and adding OPS employee details is required before making other CBLMS applications.