Bond and bank guarantee cancellation expedited on submission of EODC/Redemption Letters, with QR-coded EODCs eligible for same-day closure.
A special administrative drive mandates cancellation of Bonds/Bank Guarantees for EPCG and DEEC licences upon submission of DGFT-issued EODC/Redemption Letters, prioritising licences with QR-coded EODCs for same-day closure after verification and issuance of an acknowledgement; submission must be made to nominated officers or designated email addresses, and nominated nodal officers are available to resolve difficulties.

Electronic submission of vessel manifests allowed; IGM/EGM to be emailed with attested PDFs and required subject details.
Temporary procedure permits electronic submission of IGM and EGM by email to designated addresses with PDF scans duly attested by the Authorized Signatory; emails must state Rotation Number, Vessel Name and ASA name in the subject. Cargo Declarations continue via ICEGATE and certain declarations remain submitted at Imports/Exports as mandated. Physical originals required for closure (e.g., bonds, draft survey reports) are to be presented at the Sevottam Counter against acknowledgement; Port Clearance will be issued electronically.

Change of CFS operator to CC Logix Parks India: appointed custodian with bond, insurance, liability and compliance obligations.
CC LOGIX PARKS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED is appointed custodian of the Haldia CFS under Section 45 of the Customs Act, 1962 and HCCAR, 2009 until 03.11.2024, subject to review; it must execute a Rs. 8.64 crore bond, maintain insurance (Rs. 30 crore submitted), assume liabilities of the prior operator, comply with applicable customs provisions and indemnify the Commissioner against loss or damage to cargo.

Customs penalties clarified: specified caps for valuation and duty evasion, reduced 25% relief if promptly paid, and strict adjudicator reasoning.
Guidance prescribes specific penalty maxima under the Customs Act for Sections 112, 114A and 114AA: varied caps under Section 112 tied to value, duty evaded or valuation differentials; Section 114A mandates penalty equal to determined duty or interest with a 25% reduced rate if paid within thirty days subject to appellate adjustments; Section 114AA allows up to five times the value of goods for knowingly false material. It directs that 114A penalties preclude penalties under 112 or 114, that 114AA be used sparingly, and that adjudicators give clear reasons for choice and quantum of penalty.

Compliance Management transfer: NS IV commissionerate to assume zonewide compliance functions and designated sections reassigned.
All Compliance Management functions for Mumbai Customs Zone-II are reallocated to Nhava Sheva IV (NS IV) Commissionerate, which will be redesignated NS IV (Compliance Management). Sections transferred include SIIB (Import), Local Risk Management, IPR Cell and Environment Protection Unit, and all officers up to Additional Commissioner handling these functions will be posted to NS IV with effect from 01.03.2024; the amendment is declared a Standing Order.

Personal Hearing final opportunity in export-drawback non-realization cases; appearance and written submissions required, virtual option available.
A final opportunity for Personal Hearing is offered in cases listed in Annexure B concerning non-realization of export proceeds and alleged ineligible drawback availed. Noticees must submit written replies to the CRU or by email and may appear physically, through a representative, or virtually; virtual attendees must provide ID and contact details in advance. Failure to represent will lead to an ex-parte decision based on available records.

Weighment of self sealed export containers required at CPP before Customs registration for non AEO exporters with high drawback or IGST refund claims.
Mandatory weighment of self sealed export containers at the Central Parking Plaza (CPP) is required prior to Customs registration for shipping bills of non AEO exporters where claimed drawback or IGST refund amounts exceed the notice's thresholds; containers must carry a CPP custodian's weighment slip to be presented during EDI shipping bill registration, and the custodian is responsible for arranging weighment to avoid delay.

Customs cargo service provider appointment: port authority named custodian for liquid cargo, subject to compliance review.
The Commissioner of Customs (General) appoints M/s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority as Custodian of imported liquid cargo unloaded at Liquid Berth LB03/04 and designates it as Customs Cargo Service Provider for that berth under the Customs Act and the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, subject to compliance with those statutory and regulatory provisions and to review and possible revocation by the Commissioner for failure to comply or as per Government directions.

Procedure for filing and processing Bill of Entry amendment requests: online filing, e Sanchit uploads, and approval rules.
Procedure permits importers or customs brokers to file Bill of Entry amendment requests online via the Common Portal or Service Centre and to upload supporting documents in e Sanchit. Supplementation of Bill of Lading details and additions to supporting documents are auto approved by the Customs automated system pursuant to Section 149; all other amendments require proper officer approval and are routed by the system according to whether they are filed before assessment, after assessment but before Out of Charge, or after Out of Charge, with specified requirements for document uploads and approvals.

Empanelment of Chartered Engineers for valuation of second hand machinery at JNCH; applications and documents required by 29 March 2024.
Invitation for empanelment of Chartered Engineers for appraisal, inspection and valuation of second hand, old and used machinery and capital goods at JNCH Mumbai Zone II. Applicants authorised by the Institution of Engineers (India) must apply using the prescribed proforma with supporting certificates, GST registration if applicable, experience records and an undertaking. Applications will be scrutinised, vetted for adverse records, verified by certificate issuing authorities and shortlisted candidates interviewed by a panel before empanelment and publication. Empanelled engineers must submit half yearly self appraisals; fees are payable by importers/CHAs; false information attracts penalties.

Declaration of additional customs area for M/s Triway Container Freight Station increases CFS to 31.415 acres.
The Commissioner of Customs, exercising powers under Section 8(b) of the Customs Act, 1962, declared an additional 1.57 acres of denotified area and 7.415 acres of new adjoining land as Customs Area for M/s Triway Container Freight Station Pvt. Ltd., increasing the total CFS area to 31.415 acres for handling import and export cargo; survey numbers and boundary bearings are specified and the notice is effective from 22-02-2024.

Value declaration requirements for Linear Alkyl Benzene require specific documentary submissions and compliance checks during customs assessment.
Linear Alkyl Benzene (HS 38170011) is designated as identified goods requiring use of the Kilogram unique quantity code in the bill of entry; importers must produce a test certificate, manufacturer's invoice, purchase order or contract, and manufacturing process documentation, and customs officers shall verify compliance with the Linear Alkyl Benzene (Quality Control) Order, 2022 during assessment.

KYC requirement for customs bonds: importers must provide PAN, GSTIN, contact, bank account and Aadhaar details.
Importers executing bonds under the Customs Act must furnish KYC details at bond execution, including PAN, GSTIN, company bank account details, authorised person contact numbers, and Aadhaar details of the proprietor/managing partner/director, using the annexure format prescribed in the public notice to facilitate contact when time bound bonds expire.

Imported boric acid consignments must comply with BIS standard; customs to ensure specification, packaging and testing.
Imported consignments of Boric Acid (Technical Grade) must conform to the Indian Standard for boric acid and bear the Standard Mark under a BIS licence; customs officers are instructed to check imported consignments for strict compliance with the specification, including compositional limits for polishing compounds (chloride and sulphate) and packing requirements (jute bags with liners). BIS is the certifying and enforcing authority and the Standard prescribes grades, analytical methods, sampling, testing procedures and lot-conformity criteria.

IGST refund drive enables exporters to rectify shipping bill errors and submit required documents to clear pending refunds.
A time-bound IGST refund drive at Chennai Customs prioritises processing of shipping bills with validation error codes (SB001-SB006) by enabling exporters to verify ICEGATE error responses and submit prescribed rectification documents. Dedicated refund cells and a nodal Additional Commissioner are appointed to handle EGM errors, GSTIN mismatches and invalid invoice corrections; remedies require specified documentary proof, EDI job numbers or TR6 challans as applicable, and submission options include in-person during the drive or at the Sevottam Desk for offline filings.

Arrest and incident reporting: mandatory revised formats and immediate email submission to central compliance for risk-based targeting.
Revised Annexure-I and Annexure-II templates mandate uniform email reporting to a specified recipient list to support national risk-based targeting. Intimation of arrest must be sent by the Chief Commissioner/Director General through email within the prescribed short timeframe, while Commissioners/ADGs must immediately email incident reports where arrests are not made. The formats and filling guide require standardized capture of offence category, mode and direction, documentary references, commodity and seizure details, identity particulars, and a concise modus operandi to enable integration into a centralized database for early detection of smuggling syndicates.

Custodianship renewal: terminal must meet customs area regulations, maintain bonds, insurance, security and liability obligations.
Extension of custodianship to M/s JSW Mangalore Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd. is granted for five years under Section 45(1) of the Customs Act and Regulations 10(2)-10(3) of HCCAR, 2009, subject to conditions including maintenance and renewal of prescribed bonds, bank guarantees and insurance; compliance with infrastructure, security, recordkeeping and reporting requirements; payment of duties for pilfered or lost goods; indemnity to the Commissioner; prohibition on transfer or outsourcing of custodial functions without written permission; and adherence to all applicable laws, rules, notifications and circulars.

Import source cancellation due to undisclosed change of manufacturing site leads to new registration requirements.
Non-compliance by M/s Chongqing Chemical Pesticide (Group) Co. Ltd. in failing to disclose a manufacturing-site change for Dimethoate technical prevented submission of required 5-Batch samples from old and new sites for CIL impurity-profile testing; because samples from the dismantled old plant are unavailable, the Registration Committee cancelled the company's import-source listing and directed that any future application be treated as a new registration requiring full data submission.

Prohibition on trade with North Korea: customs clearance allowed only after correcting country data to prevent prohibited imports or exports.
Customs officers must strictly enforce prohibitions on trade with North Korea by amending any Bill of Entry or Shipping Bill that incorrectly names DPRK/KP as Country of Origin or Destination; OOC/LEO or Customs clearance is to be granted only after deleting the incorrect DPRK reference and recording the correct country, with penal action possible for wrong declarations and prompt amendment required for bona fide data errors to prevent misleading publication of trade statistics.

Drawback claim queries: exporters must reply in EDI by the prescribed deadline to avoid processing on record basis.
Exporters and other trade stakeholders must monitor Drawback claim status in the EDI system and reply to queries in the "Query Raised" or "EXPORTER" queues; replies in EDI trigger immediate processing and disbursement. Claims with shipping bills prior to 01.10.2023 must be answered or explained in person to the Assistant Commissioner (Drawback) by 28.02.2024, failing which claims will be processed based on available records or applicable rates. Annexure I lists pending claims and contact details are provided for assistance.