Safe harbour rules for rough diamond sales clarify eligibility, tax rate, deductions, withholding tax, and invalidation conditions.
Clarifications are issued on the safe harbour regime for a foreign company engaged in the sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones. The circular states that only diamonds meeting every element of the definition of raw diamonds are covered, that sorted diamonds are excluded, and that a Kimberley Process Certificate alone is insufficient. It also clarifies the tax rate, denial of deductions, the application of DTAA credit, withholding tax, separate taxation of an Indian trader, invalidation for incorrect facts or concealment, and the position where no safe harbour option is exercised.

Departure manifest compliance and EGM error rectification to preserve post-export benefits and incentives
Customs authorities directed exporters, customs brokers, shipping lines, custodians and other concerned persons to take note of EGM errors reflected in the EDI system after filing of shipping bills and delivery of the departure manifest. The notice reiterates the requirement that the person in charge of a conveyance carrying export goods must deliver a departure manifest to the proper officer before departure from a customs station. Concerned parties were requested to rectify the errors or file the departure manifests, as the case may be, for availing post-export benefits and incentives.

Preferential Certificates of Origin expanded for India-UK CETA through a wider list of authorised issuing agencies.
Amendment of Appendix 2B of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 expands the list of agencies authorised to issue Preferential Certificates of Origin for the India-United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (India-UK CETA). The notified agencies include the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and its regional offices for all products; the Export Inspection Council and Export Inspection Agencies for all products; APEDA for agricultural products; the Marine Products Export Development Authority and its regional offices for marine products; and other designated boards and Special Economic Zones for specified product categories.

Certificate of Origin framework expanded for India-UK CETA and India-EFTA TEPA through exporter self-declaration.
Amendments to the Handbook of Procedures 2023 recognise the India-United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement in the list of free trade agreements and revise the Certificate of Origin process. For India-EFTA TEPA and India-UK CETA, Certificates of Origin may be obtained on the basis of self-declaration by the exporter, in addition to issuance by an authorised agency. The amendments update the procedural framework under the Foreign Trade Policy 2023.

Case grading and file readiness for Supreme Court matters strengthen briefing, monitoring, and compliance across customs groups.
Instructions require customs groups and officers to improve the handling of matters pending before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India by grading cases, preparing detailed and updated briefs, and keeping files immediately retrievable. Proper indexing and record management are required so that synopses and files can be used for briefing or responding to the Learned ASG at short notice. Senior officers, including the Assistant Commissioner and the concerned JC/ADC, must acquaint themselves with case details, and the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner must monitor compliance.

Price data sharing norms for investor education are revised to a thirty-day lag, with special one-day access for NISM simulation labs.
Price data may be shared and used for investor education and awareness activities with a thirty-day lag, replacing the earlier one-day sharing norm and the three-month usage norm for entities solely engaged in education. The revised framework prohibits any monetary incentive to participants and requires MIIs and registered market intermediaries to exercise due diligence when sharing such data. Market price data may be shared with NISM with a one-day lag for use in its simulation lab, supported by legal agreements containing safeguards against misuse and maintenance of an audit trail.

Pre-shipment inspection agency enlistment and instrument updation set conditions for certificate issuance through the DGFT portal.
Pre-Shipment Inspection Agencies are enlisted and updated in Appendix-2G under para 2.52(c) of the Handbook of Procedure, 2023, with DGFT recognising fourteen agencies as PSIAs for issuance of Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificates through the DGFT portal. Two existing PSIAs are also permitted to add additional approved instruments to their existing lists. The approvals are stated to have been granted on the basis of applications considered by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and the comments and recommendations of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

Investor Risk Reduction Access platform discontinued as contingency trading and business continuity measures now cover broker disruptions.
Discontinuation of the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform follows SEBI's view that the platform has become structurally redundant because stock brokers now operate under stronger business continuity, cyber resilience and contingency trading arrangements. The circular records that the IRRA platform, originally introduced as an alternative trading access point during disruptions, was not accessed by brokers after operationalisation. SEBI has therefore discontinued the IRRA platform with immediate effect and advised Stock Exchanges to disseminate the circular to stock brokers.

GST appellate filing procedure sets committee review, monetary thresholds, and time-bound appeal drafting before the tribunal.
Standard operating procedure prescribed for filing departmental applications and appeals before the GST Appellate Tribunal in Uttarakhand under the State GST law. The instructions apply to adverse first appellate or revisional orders, taxpayer-filed appeals requiring cross-objections or replies, and cases proposed to be dropped, subject to a disputed amount threshold exceeding Rs. 20 lakh and the procedure laid down by the headquarters guidelines. The process involves committee scrutiny, fixed time limits for comments and review, preparation of appeal memoranda in English with translated annexures, filing through the Tribunal portal, and case-wise authorization of officers to represent the Department before the Tribunal.

Safeguard duty exemptions for steel flat products are system-enabled through Bill of Entry declarations and prescribed info codes.
Implementation of safeguard duty exemptions for non-alloy and alloy steel flat products is operationalised through system-based qualifiers in the Single Window Table of the Bill of Entry. Importers claiming exemption must declare the prescribed details under the relevant exemption code, reflecting CIF price thresholds, country-of-origin conditions and excluded product categories. The Annexure maps specific info codes to exempted product categories and scope exclusions, while field formations are instructed to ensure uniform electronic implementation and sensitisation of officers and trade.

Export cargo damage procedure guides cancellation, amendment, and back to town processing after a fire incident at a customs facility.
Procedure prescribed for customs action in respect of export cargo damaged in a fire incident at JWR CFS, including identification of affected shipping bills, verification of damage through surveyor reports and supporting documents, and filing of applications by exporters or customs brokers for cancellation or amendment of shipping bills. Where the cargo is registered but LEO has not been given, cancellation, amendment, or Back to Town processing may be allowed after verification; where LEO has been given but stuffing report has not been submitted, the LEO is to be cancelled first and then the shipping bill cancellation, amendment, or Back to Town action taken as applicable.

Zonal committee for adverse GST appellate and revisional orders set up to assess further departmental action and tribunal responses.
A Zonal Committee is constituted for the Garhwal and Kumaon Zones to examine cases disposed of at the first appellate or revisional stage where orders adverse to the Department have been passed. The Committee may recommend filing an application, propose that a matter be dropped, and scrutinize the Memorandum of Cross Objections or reply to be filed before the GST Appellate Tribunal. Detailed records are to be supplied for zone-wise scrutiny, and the Committee will function temporarily until a statutory body is constituted at headquarters level.

Delegation of powers under state GST law limited to jurisdiction-specific action by designated tax .
Delegation of the power under Section 113(3) of the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 by the Commissioner of State Tax to the Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner and State Tax Officer, subject to strict exercise within each officer's respective jurisdiction unless otherwise specified. The earlier order dated 30.06.2017 is modified to the extent of this revised delegation arrangement.

Goods and services tax appellate procedure authorizes departmental officers to file replies, rejoinders, and cross-objections before the tribunal.
Authorization is issued for proceedings before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal under Section 112 of the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, where an appeal is filed against an order under Section 107 or Section 108. In such appeals, the respondent party may file a memorandum of cross-objections before the Tribunal. Where the Commissioner, State Tax, is the respondent, the appropriate adjudicating officer and Deputy Commissioners (Internal Audit) are authorized to file the reply, rejoinder, and cross-objections.

Monetary limits for GST appeals bar unnecessary departmental litigation, with exceptions for constitutional and interpretive issues.
Monetary limits are prescribed for departmental appeals and applications under the Uttarakhand Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, pursuant to the National Litigation Policy. Appeals are not to be filed below the notified thresholds for the GST Appellate Tribunal, High Court, and Supreme Court, subject to specified exceptions such as constitutional issues, valuation, classification, refund, place of supply, recurring interpretive issues, and other matters where the Commissioner considers intervention necessary. The instructions also specify the method for computing the relevant disputed amount and state that non-filing on monetary grounds does not amount to acceptance of the issue.

Authorised persons framework under foreign exchange law is rationalised to improve service delivery and ease compliance requirements.
The Reserve Bank has issued the Foreign Exchange Management (Authorised Persons) Regulations, 2026 to rationalise the framework for authorisation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, improve delivery of foreign exchange services, and ease compliance requirements. All authorised persons must comply with the regulations as applicable to them. The Master Directions on money changing activities and other remittance facilities are being amended, and earlier A.P. (DIR Series) circulars listed in the annex are superseded.

RTI officer designation updated for customs commissionerate, with revised CPIO jurisdictions and unchanged appellate authorities.
Partial modification is made to the appointment of Central Public Information Officers under the Right to Information Act, 2005 for the Commissionerate of Customs (Port), Kolkata. The officers listed in Annexure-A are designated as CPIOs for the specified jurisdictions, while the previously notified First Appellate Authorities remain unchanged and the earlier public notices continue in force to the extent not modified. Appeals against CPIO decisions may be filed before the corresponding FAA under Section 19 of the RTI Act, 2005.

Customs relief facilities for Strait of Hormuz maritime disruptions continue temporarily, with existing terms and conditions remaining unchanged.
Customs facilities under specified circulars issued pursuant to Section 143AA of the Customs Act, 1962, for maritime-route disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, remain valid until 15 May 2026. The extension covers the identified Customs circulars, while all existing facilities, terms and conditions remain unchanged. Implementation difficulties may be reported to the Assistant or Deputy Commissioner (Docks) through the designated official email address.

Central Public Information Officer appointment notice under the Right to Information Act, with jurisdiction and link officers specified.
Appointment of a Central Public Information Officer under the Right to Information Act, 2005 is notified for the Office of the Commissioner of Customs (General), Zone-1, Mumbai. Shri Mahesh S. Bhalerao, Assistant Commissioner of Customs, is appointed as CPIO with effect from 01.05.2026. The notice also identifies the jurisdiction of the CPIO, and names the first and second link officers for the concerned office.

Sea Cargo Manifest compliance extended as stakeholders must continue filing complete electronic declarations during transition.
Implementation of the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 is being advanced for importers, exporters, shipping lines, custodians, Customs Brokers, Terminal Operators, SEZ units and ICD/CFS stakeholders. SCMTR messages for cargo movement between gateway ports and foreign ports have been implemented, and Stuffing messages are operational, though uniformity in filing remains incomplete. Certain messages remain under development and require testing across ICDs, CFSs, SEZs and gateway ports. During the extended transitional period, stakeholders must file complete and correct declarations electronically in the prescribed format.