Exporter Query responses required to secure disbursal of export incentives; exporters must reply to departmental queries promptly.
Shipping bills under the Drawback Scheme remain in the Exporter Query queue in the EDI system due to departmental queries; exporters/IEC holders must reply to those queries or export incentives for the shipping bills will not be disbursed. Stakeholders should consult Annexure-A and submit proper replies, and report any implementation difficulties to the Commissioner of Customs.

Mandatory additional qualifiers in import declarations require CAS/IUPAC details or a confidentiality self declaration for specified chemical products.
Importers or customs brokers must declare a Chemical Category (Bulk and Basic Chemicals; Formulations and Mixtures; or Proprietary component/R&D/Others) and provide CAS numbers and IUPAC names for applicable constituents at the item level in the Electronic Bill of Entry for goods under Chapters 28, 29, 32, heading 3808 and 39. If supplier confidentiality prevents disclosure, the importer must submit a prescribed self undertaking (Statement Code PC002). These qualifiers are enabled in the EDI Single Window tables and viewable during assessment; officers may add qualifiers if they change the classification.

Self-sealing permission extension: revalidation extended for registered exporters with submission requirements and mandatory electronic manifest filing.
Registrations of Self-Sealing Permission in the EDI system at JNCH valid to 31.12.2023 may be extended-manufacturers for five years and merchants for three years subject to any shorter jurisdictional cut-off-upon submission by 31.12.2023 of a request letter, FSP and jurisdictional permission copies, authorization if applicable, IEC/PAN/GSTN proof, attested specimen signatures with photographs, and a declaration of prior cases. Applications may be filed in person or by the dedicated e-mail; exporters must also file the Customs Inland Manifest for e-Seal Cargo (CIM-ES) electronically and obtain prior approval for any amendments to the original permission.

Ex-bond shipping bill requires warehouse code and into-bond BE details; no export incentives available.
An Ex-Bond Shipping Bill in ICES 1.5 requires declaration of a single warehouse code and item-wise into-bond BE details; one warehouse per SB and one into-bond BE per item are mandatory. Filing debits exported quantities from the ledger, cancellations re-credit and amendments adjust the ledger. Ex-Bond SBs apply only to warehoused goods (including exports under Section 65 permission) and are treated as free SBs, ineligible for export incentives such as drawback, RODTEP, ROSCTL, advance authorization, or EPCG.

Customs Broker Licensing Examination online CBT established, with Form-A application, documentary verification and published eligibility lists.
The Customs Brokers Licensing Examination will be conducted as an online Computer Based Examination by NACIN. Applicants must submit completed Form A in person or by registered/speed post to the appropriate Commissionerate with identity, educational, financial and other supporting documents, two passport photographs and the prescribed fee within the specified submission period; incomplete or late applications will be rejected and eligible candidate lists will be published on the Commissionerate website/notice board.

Appointment of Approved Valuer for jewellery valuation establishes duties, fee limits, reporting and empanelment conditions.
Appointment of an Approved Valuer for valuation of gold, silver, jewellery, precious and synthetic stones, and valuable articles for import/export and for seized/confiscated goods within the Mangaluru Customs Commissionerate, subject to strict adherence to prescribed procedures; annual performance reporting to customs authorities; a capped, slab-based service fee schedule with a minimum charge and applicable GST; fees borne by the stakeholder except where the Department disposes seized goods; five-year empanelment with interim review and possible extension.

Customs Brokers Examination: online CBT in March 2024; apply with Form A, documents and Rs.500 by 17.11.2023.
The online written Computer Based Test for Customs Broker licensing under Regulation 6 (150 bilingual MCQs; 2.5 hours; +3/-1 marking; pass 60%) will be held in March 2024; applications in Form A with prescribed documents and Rs.500 fee must be submitted between 18.10.2023 and 17.11.2023 to the designated Customs office; eligible candidates will be listed by 08.12.2023, admit cards issued online and by email, successful candidates will face a separate oral exam (60% pass) in Q2 2024, and applicants are limited to six attempts with disability accommodations available upon request.

Seizure of gold: claimants must assert ownership now or disposal will proceed under customs disposal procedures per Disposal Manual.
Claimants asserting legal ownership of gold and valuables transferred to New Customs House, Panambur, Mangaluru must notify the office immediately; absent timely objections, disposal will be initiated under the procedures of the Disposal Manual, 2019. This publication serves as a notice under Section 150 of the Customs Act, 1962 and follows the custodial transfer and inventory of seized items.

Manual out of charge procedure for liquid bulk cargo permits staged clearing when duty is paid to reduce port congestion.
Importers or customs brokers may request a manual out of charge on the physical assessed Bill of Entry for liquid bulk cargo once the entire duty is paid; a surveyor prepares a gate pass and the gate customs officer records vehicle numbers and loaded quantities in the physical Bill of Entry. Manual out of charge must not be given for the last ten percent of the consignment until the boarding officer records out of charge in the ICES system, and the boarding officer must ensure system entry is completed or updated by the next working day if manual clearance was exceptionally granted for the full consignment.

Pet import documentation requires advance quarantine clearance, with airlines barred from carrying animals lacking prescribed documents.
Pet and live-animal imports require pre-arrival veterinary documentation and an advance No Objection Certificate from Animal Quarantine and Certification Services. Eligible transfer-of-residence passengers may bring up to two dogs or cats after establishing baggage-rule eligibility. Re-imported pets also require the earlier AQCS export health certificate. Short-stay pets and specified commercial-dog imports additionally require an import licence from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Airlines must not carry pets without the required documents, and Passenger Clearance Groups must maintain prescribed registers.

Ex-bond shipping bill records warehoused exports in ICES, updates ledger balances, and disallows export incentive claims.
Implementation of an ex-bond shipping bill in ICES requires declaring the warehouse code to identify re-exported warehoused goods and entering item-wise into-bond bill details; only one warehouse code per shipping bill is permitted, and items under different into-bond bills may be declared separately. Filing and verification will debit exported quantities from the ICES warehouse ledger, with automatic re-crediting on cancellation or purge and ledger updates on amendments. The ex-bond shipping bill applies only to exports of warehoused goods exported as such and excludes entitlement to export incentives.

Additional Liquid Cargo Jetty at Jawaharlal Nehru Port notified as authorised place for unloading liquid cargo; commencement certificate required.
Notification designates the Additional Liquid Cargo Jetty at Jawaharlal Nehru Port as a place for unloading liquid cargo (108m x 50m platform, four mooring dolphins, pump house 49m x 20m) subject to the Customs Act, related rules and CBIC/Commissioner directions; Schedule I specifies the Boarding Station and the Customs Area limits with precise coordinates and operations are conditional on a Commencement Certificate.

Restriction on export of specified goods requires export under LUT; IGST-paid shipping bills with restricted items will be blocked.
Restriction under Section 16(4) of the IGST Act prohibits export of the goods listed in Notification No. 01/2023 on payment of IGST; such goods must be exported under LUT. Automated system controls at the shipping-bill level block filing or amendment and prevent IGST-refund claims where any invoice in a shipping bill includes a notified restricted item, including exports by post or courier.

Restriction on export of specified goods requires export under LUT and blocks IGST refund at the shipping bill level.
CBIC has implemented backend functionality to block the IGST refund route at shipping bill level for goods excluded by Notification No. 01/2023, such that goods listed (notably specified tobacco products, pan masala and certain essential oils) may be exported only under a Letter of Undertaking and any shipping bill containing an invoice with a restricted item will not be permitted for filing for IGST refund.

Mandatory additional qualifiers require CAS and IUPAC details or a supplier-confidentiality declaration for chemical shipment declarations.
Import declarations for specified chemical chapters must state the Chemical Category and provide constituent identifiers: Bulk and Basic Chemicals require CAS number and IUPAC name; Formulations and Mixtures and Proprietary/R&D/Others require at least one Main/Active ingredient's CAS number and IUPAC name (or either identifier where allowed). If supplier confidentiality prevents provision of CAS/IUPAC details, the importer must submit a self-undertaking in the bill of entry. Declared constituents will be printed as masked fields and these qualifiers supplement existing declaration requirements.

Ex-bond Shipping Bill in ICES 1.5 links warehouse BE details to ledger and permits single-warehouse warehoused exports.
ICES 1.5 adds an ex-bond Shipping Bill to permit export of warehoused goods by linking the Shipping Bill to the original warehousing Bill of Entry; filing requires warehouse code and BE particulars, the system debits exported quantities from the imported ledger and re-credits on cancellation or purging, and only one warehouse may be cited per Shipping Bill.

Ex-bond shipping bill: ICES links exports to into-bond warehousing, mandates item-wise BE linkage, updates warehouse ledger.
A new ex-bond shipping bill format in ICES 1.5 links the shipping bill to into-bond warehousing BE details via a required warehouse code and mandates item-wise entry of originating into-bond BE (site, number, date, invoice serial and item number). One warehouse code per shipping bill is permitted; identical goods warehoused under multiple into-bond BEs must be declared as separate line items. Upon verification the system debits exported quantities from the warehouse ledger and re-credits on cancellation or purging; amendments update the ledger. The format applies only to export of warehoused goods exported as such and excludes goods from section 65 operations; export incentives are not available.

Ex-bond shipping bill format in ICES enables export processing of warehoused goods but excludes incentive benefits.
ICES now provides an ex-bond shipping bill format linked to the original into-bond warehousing entry to process export clearance of goods stored in bonded warehouses, completing the warehousing ledger by recording removals for export. The ex-bond shipping bill is confined to direct export of imported warehoused goods, excluding exports of goods manufactured under section 65 (unless exported as imported), and is not eligible for export incentives, being processed as a free shipping bill; details and filing workflow are available in the referenced CBIC circular and advisory.

IECs with rejected PFMS accounts must re-submit details via ICEGATE and contact EDI/PFMS to enable export incentive payment.
PFMS account rejections for about 20,000 IECs are delaying disbursal of export incentives. Annexure A lists PFMS error codes with rectification steps (e.g. resubmit account details, correct IFSC/account/mobile/location codes, or escalate system issues). Annexure B lists affected IECs with error codes and RJCT status. IEC holders must re submit account details via ICEGATE, verify PFMS acceptance through ICEGATE, and coordinate with JNCH EDI Section ([email protected]) and PFMS Helpdesk ([email protected]) to enable incentive payments.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers solicits applications for valuation of second hand machinery at Customs Ahmedabad; selection includes performance reviews.
Calls for applications for empanelment of Chartered Engineers to appraise and value second-hand, old and used machinery and other machinery items imported at the Ahmedabad Customs Commissionerate pursuant to CBIC Circular No.07/2020-Customs. The panel is valid for one year and may be reviewed; preference is given to applicants with specialization and experience. Existing empaneled Chartered Engineers need not reapply. Selected engineers must submit half-yearly self-appraisal performance reports to determine continuation on the panel.