Appointment of approved valuers for precious metals and stones establishes panel, duties, availability and capped service fees.
Appointment of a Panel of Approved Valuers/Assayers for valuation of gold, silver, jewellery, precious and synthetic stones and other valuable articles at Chennai I (Airport) Commissionerate from 01.06.2024 for two years with interim review at one year. Appointees must be available when required, submit an Annual Performance Report by 30 April each year detailing assignments, and issue advisory valuation certificates. A capped service fee schedule with graduated rates and minimum charge applies, with GST chargeable; fees for departmental valuations of seized goods are borne by the Department.

Voyage Call Number standardization ensures uniform rotation number generation across NLP and non NLP ports via ICEGATE utility.
A new ICEGATE utility standardises the Voyage Call Number (VCN) format for uniform rotation number generation under SCMTR: VCN must be 14 characters comprising last four of port code, four digit year, two digit month, and last four of the running serial number; non NLP ports must supply only the last four digits of long serials or prefix zeroes if shorter. NLP transmission remains primary but the utility may be used when NLP data is not received; the system issues a single rotation number and displays it if already generated.

Drawback payment migration to PFMS: electronic credit into exporters' linked bank accounts replacing cheque-based disbursal.
Disbursal of Duty Drawback will shift from cheque-based bank payments to electronic credit via the Public Finance Management System (PFMS). Customs officers will process Drawback scrolls in the Customs Automated System (CAS), which will automatically forward scrolls to a central nodal eDDO; the eDDO will consolidate and send All-India scrolls to the nodal ePAO for approval, after which amounts will be credited to exporters' PFMS-linked bank accounts. Transitional actions include processing prior scrolls, issuing outstanding cheques, notifying PAO and bank of the last cheque number, and handling cheque books as specified.

Bonded air cargo transshipment permits road movement under ECTS seal, with bond accountability and liability for transit shortages.
Permission is renewed for bonded road trucking of air export and import cargo from Air Cargo Complex, Kolkata to Customs-notified airports, Air Cargo Complexes, Container Freight Stations and Inland Container Depots. Cargo must move in closed-body trucks under ECTS seal. The operator's transshipment bonds are debited on taking custody and recredited on delivery to Customs at destination. The operator is responsible for shortages or pilferage and associated statutory payments. Permission remains subject to applicable transit, transshipment, cargo-handling and foreign trade requirements and may be renewed or withdrawn based on compliance.

Mid-year Special Drive targets customs clearance delays, with daily monitoring, PGA coordination and ICES/ADVAIT tool use.
A three-week Mid-year Special Drive at JNCH will target assessment, examination and release delays to improve port logistics. Export monitoring will focus on Let Export Order issuance via daily reports and PGA liaison; import monitoring requires Appraising Group coordination, flags for Bills of Entry unattended for 24 hours (11 AM cutoff), RMS FC oversight of facilitated entries and AEO/non-AEO status updates, dock monitoring of examinations and Out Of Charge grants, and CRCL oversight of sample testing and ICES uploads. The MSD will institutionalize faceless assessment monitoring and request MIS enhancements for ICES/ADVAIT. The notice is a Standing Order for officers.

Customs Broker Licensing digital features expand: continuation after proprietor death, offence processing and profile modifications enabled online.
CBLMS has been enhanced to allow a two part Application for Continuation of License after Death of Proprietor under Reg.12 (Part I for eligibility verification and account access; Part II to submit remaining continuation details), a comprehensive Offence Module to manage offence reports, hearings, submissions, notifications and online penalty payment, and applications to modify CB profile data, addresses and add OPS and employee details; ancillary features include Issue Document, public Search CB, QR code status updates, in portal notifications, account lockout protection and user manuals.

Nodal officer change communication for drone disposal must be sent to Customs, with updated Annexure contacts maintained.
The circular requires the MoD and MHA to notify the Commissioner (Investigation Customs) immediately of any change of Nodal Officers or authorised representatives at the specified CBIC email; the Nodal Officer should preferably be at Director/Deputy Secretary level. It substitutes Annexure C with an updated list of organisational nodal contacts, specifying names, ranks/designations and contact details for agencies involved in UAS/UAV/RPAS disposal, thereby formalising interagency contact points for Customs coordination.

Extended producer responsibility compliance allowed for imported EEE consignments pending portal restoration, conditioned on undertaking and EPR submission.
Customs Instruction No.14 (17-05-2024) relays CPCB approval to permit release of imported consignments of producers of 106 specified EEE items pending restoration of the CPCB EPR portal, until 30 06 2024, provided the importer/producer gives an undertaking and submits proof of that undertaking to [email protected] and undertakes to furnish the online EPR registration certificate to Customs on or before 30 06 2024, failing which actions under the E Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 may follow.

Extended Producer Responsibility for used oil requires producers and importers to register, undertake compliance and submit EPR certification.
Producers (including importers) of base oil, lubrication oil and other oils used as lubricants must register on the CPCB EPR portal and fulfil phased used-oil recycling obligations; until the portal is launched, Customs may clear specified HS-coded consignments on receipt of a producer/importer undertaking to comply and to submit EPR registration when available. The rules mandate registration of producers, collection agents, recyclers and used oil importers, set certificate-based compliance, prescribe portal-based reporting, provide for audits and environmental compensation for violations.

e BRC receipt for exports: exporters must ensure bank EDPMS updates or submit e BRC/negative statements to Customs.
The notice directs exporters to ensure e BRCs for Shipping Bills with LEO on or after 01.04.2014 are updated via Authorized Dealer banks' EDPMS so data flows to ICES; where bank updates fail, exporters may submit realized e BRC certificates, prescribed half yearly negative statements, or bank certificates for outstanding shipments to the Assistant Commissioner, BRC Section for reconciliation. IEC holders listed with BRC alerts must approach the Tuticorin BRC Section to remove alerts; Customs may still conduct checks or take action for misrepresentation, and clearance may require ARC/DC approval or settlement of arrears.

Duty drawback rates revised to clarify cotton yarn counts and adjust tariff items and caps, aiding targeted export sectors.
Amendments to All Industry Rates of Duty Drawback clarify that "counts" in Chapter 52 means counts in New English (Ne) and confirm historical use of Ne; raise AIRs and caps for selected marine products, bags, linens, radio/navigational apparatus and unmanned aircraft; rationalize caps and change descriptions and unit to "piece" for golf gloves; create new tariff items for breaded seafood and sports gloves; and add AIRs for specified defence-sector products, with implementation queries to be directed to the customs office.

Electronic Test Memo submission mandatory for forwarding samples to revenue labs; paper memos accepted only with senior approval during outages.
Mandatory electronic submission of Test Memos via the CRCL Module in ICES is required for forwarding samples to CRCL and other revenue laboratories; laboratories will not accept paper Test Memos except where unforeseen system issues prevent use of the module and acceptance is authorised by the Additional/Joint Commissioner.

Customs broker licensing enhancements streamline licensing, offence processing, profile updates, digital document issuance, notifications and security.
CBLMS enhancements expand digital processing for Customs Brokers by introducing a two-part Continuation of License after Death of Proprietor workflow, a comprehensive Offence Module for managing offence reports, hearings, submissions and online penalty payments, and profile-modification applications to update CB/person details, addresses and employee/OPS data. The portal also adds My Profile access, NOC requests, an Issue Document feature for policy-uploaded notices, public broker search, QR code real-time status on licences and passes, in-portal notifications, account lock-out security, and Knowledge Centre user manuals.

Duty drawback amendments clarify yarn unit as counts in New English and recalibrate rates and tariff items for exports.
Amendments revise the All Industry Rates of duty drawback by clarifying that counts for Chapter 52 yarn mean counts in New English (Ne), increasing AIRs and caps for specified product groups, rationalizing caps for certain golf gloves, creating new tariff items to distinguish export products (including breaded seafood and sports gloves), changing units for golf glove entries to piece, and adding tariff items to provide drawback benefits to specified defense-sector products.

Centralized bank guarantee custody required to standardize processing, ensure auto renewal and restrict direct encashment.
A Centralized Bank Guarantee Cell is established under the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner (Bond) to receive and custody all customs-related BGs; accepting units must ensure an auto renewal clause and IEC code in BGs, enter BGs in the EDI system, hand them to the BG Cell with receipt numbers, and obtain BG returns only by written demand. The cell will not directly release or encash BGs, and units must inventory and forward existing BGs within thirty days and maintain records of receipt, dispatch and disposal.

IGST refund processing requires reconciliation of SB005 invoice mismatches via concordance table and officer verification.
IGST refund claims unprocessed due to the SB005 error (invoice mismatch) may be manually verified and sanctioned where GST invoice data in GSTR 1/Table 6A matches actual exports. Exporters must submit a concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping bill invoices in Annexure A, provide GSTR 1/Table 6A evidence, pay the prescribed fee per shipping bill for correlation and verification, and certify filing and export of invoiced items to the Assistant Commissioner (IGST Refunds) for processing.

Exporter bank account validation failures prevent drawback disbursal; register/modify AD code bank accounts on ICEGATE and upload proof.
Drawback amounts for 369 shipping bills remain undisbursed because exporter bank account details tied to AD codes were not validated by PFMS; exporters must register/modify AD code bank accounts on ICEGATE and upload passbook or bank authorisation via e Sanchit so that, upon status showing Customs Approved, ICES will process those shipping bills for drawback disbursal.

Export inspection requirement for silk waste: clearance only with Central Silk Board inspection or test report and certification.
Export clearance for silk waste under ITC (HS) code 5003 requires inspection or test certification from designated Central Silk Board officers or Textile Testing Laboratories; exporters bear testing charges. All consignments will undergo full consignment examination in the presence of the CSB authorized officer, who will certify items at the CFS and transmit the report to Customs. LEO will be issued only on receipt of the CSB inspection/test report directly to the Docks Administration until CSB is integrated for electronic report sharing.

Transshipment bond requirement relaxed for domestic sea movements; ICES changes ease SAM and SDM filing processes.
The SCMTR module now permits PDF upload of crew effects and ship stores via e sanchit, accepts MCIN-based SAM filings without Transport_Msr duplicates, allows passport numbers for foreign consignees, makes consignee code and vessel expected departure optional for SDM/SAM, fixes port repetition rejections, updates the Message Implementation Guide, and modifies bond logic so the SEZ unit's bond can substitute for carrier bond and domestic sea transshipment no longer requires a bond.

G-Card annual review and exam scheduling to ensure trained customs broker personnel availability for swift clearance operations.
Regulation 13 requires employed persons of customs brokers to pass the G Card examination to obtain a Form G or Form H identity card. Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners must carry out an annual review of G Card holder requirements at each customs station in CCFC meetings with stakeholders and discuss outcomes in CCG meetings to plan and schedule G Card examinations and ensure availability of trained personnel for swift EXIM clearance; implementation issues should be reported to the Board.