Border checkpoint access modified - Attari ICP now permits Pakistani nationals to exit and Indian nationals to enter.
An earlier order closed the Integrated Check Post, Attari to all passenger movements and goods. That order has been partially modified to permit a Pakistani national with Pakistani travel documents to exit India into Pakistan and an Indian national with Indian travel documents to enter India from Pakistan through the ICP at Attari, until further orders; other restrictions and suspension of goods movement remain unless otherwise amended.

Prohibition on import from Pakistan: immediate ban on direct or indirect import or transit, exceptions require prior government approval.
Prohibition on import or transit of goods originating in or exported from Pakistan is effected by insertion of Para 2.20A into the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, imposing an immediate ban on direct and indirect importation or transit of all such goods until further orders; exceptions require prior Government of India approval and customs authorities are directed to sensitize officers and report difficulties to the Board.

Electronic processing for personal carriage standardises customs clearance of gems, jewellery, samples and prototypes through designated airports.
Electronic processing standardises personal-carriage imports and exports of gems, jewellery, and eligible samples or prototypes. Importers and exporters must file electronic Bills of Entry or Shipping Bills marked "Personal carriage" with prescribed passenger and transaction details. Imported or exported parcels are declared, temporarily detained, sealed and stored under Customs control against a detention receipt. Import clearance follows verification, examination where required and duty payment; export parcels are examined, granted Let Export Order, sealed, detained at the airport and released to the passenger before departure under Customs escort.

Courier shipments: SOP requires electronic ECM filing, EICI verification, FIFO-linked destuffing permission, and escalation for violations.
SOP prescribes that couriers file the Express Cargo Manifest electronically and share it with investigative agencies five hours before arrival; EICI must maintain time-logs, update Form-F1 filings in its internal application, and cross-verify ECM details against Form-01 before issuing a Destuffing Report. Issuance follows FIFO, requires courier requests within two hours of flight arrival and Form-I within one hour, and mandates immediate logging, retrieval, de-stuffing, verification of bag counts, and recording of discrepancies, with escalation to Shift Customs Officers for irregularities.

E-Sanchit document submission for faceless customs assessment requires legible, correctly tagged supporting uploads and mandatory certificates before filing.
Importers and customs brokers must upload legible, correctly IRN-tagged supporting documents in E-Sanchit-technical product materials, photographs, and value-supporting documents-to enable verification of self-assessment. Duty exemption claims require meeting and documenting notification conditions and uploading requisite certificates; statutory registrations (e.g., BIS, LMPC) must be completed and uploaded prior to filing. For provisional assessment under section 18 a reason and declaration must be uploaded. Use appropriate document codes, complete first-time KYC in advance, and follow the illustrative Annexure-A list while responding specifically to any assessing officer queries.

Border checkpoint closure at Attari suspends all passenger and goods movement, with limited return allowed under valid endorsements.
The Government directed the closure of the Integrated Check Post Attari with immediate effect, suspending all incoming and outgoing passenger traffic and movement of goods through the checkpoint, while allowing those who have already crossed with valid endorsements to return via that route within a limited, specified window.

Electronic customs bond system simplifies multi-port compliance through a single unified bond and linked bank guarantees.
The Customs administration has introduced the "Ekal Anubandh" project to enable a single all-India multipurpose electronic bond for importers and exporters, with end-to-end digital execution through ICEGATE. The scheme is intended to replace separate transaction-wise bonds presently filed at different ports for multiple customs purposes, including provisional assessment, export promotion schemes, warehousing, and MOOWR-related procedures, thereby reducing administrative burden, physical record maintenance, time, and cost. The electronic bond may be executed with digital payment of stamp duty and electronic signature through integration with NeSL, without any requirement of notarisation, and may be linked online with electronic bank guarantees and bank guarantee verification.

CITES personal effects exemption for agarwood: small quantities of wood chips, oil, and beads may be carried without export permits.
The Ministry clarifies that under the CITES personal effects exemption in Resolution Conf.13.7 (Rev.CoP17), specified small quantities of agarwood dead specimens, parts or derivatives carried as personal or household effects do not require CITES Export permits or CITES Re-export certificates; Customs officers are to be sensitized and implementation difficulties reported to the Board.

Transshipment permit fee removal streamlines air cargo movement and harmonises ULD temporary import procedures with continuity bond and tracking rules.
Transshipment permit fee is abolished to expedite air cargo movement. ULDs may be temporarily imported outside the customs area on execution of a Continuity Bond by air carriers/console agents. Tracking devices accompanying ULDs must bear Unique Identity Numbers recorded at import and comply with BCAS security guidelines; carriers are responsible for proof of export. Exemption under Notification No.104/94-Cus excludes tracking devices not affixed to containers. Temporary imports by non-carriers remain governed by existing Board circulars. Use of the All-India National Transhipment Bond and ICEGATE transhipment facility is encouraged.

Trade facilitation: ICEGATE adds a Single Use Multipurpose Electronic Bond and automates refund processing for customs filings.
Tariff increases by the United States are expected to depress frozen shrimp exports while rice exports remain stable due to West African markets and a modal shift to bulk. Operational reforms include a Single Use Multipurpose Electronic Bond and automated refund processing in ICEGATE, digitalized warehouse procedures, faster Customs laboratory testing, and a PQ requirement that Phytosanitary Certificates be issued after physical inspection with QR-based verification.

Laboratory recognition: Foreign laboratory analyses accepted for specified imported food products while ISO accreditation remains valid.
The National Food & Feed Reference Laboratory (NFFRL), Kathmandu, Nepal, is recognised for analysis of specified imported food products and its analysis certificates (covering juice, jam, jelly, pickles, candies, ginger, fresh fruits and vegetables, and instant noodles) shall be accepted by Indian import authorities, subject to the laboratory maintaining ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation from NABL.

Proof of Origin replaces certificate of origin, enabling self-declaration and centralised verification with specimen seal uploads.
Amendment replaces Certificate of Origin with Proof of Origin, defined to include certificates issued by designated authorities and self-declarations as provided under trade agreements; verification requests must be directed to the designated international customs verification unit, which will upload specimen signatures and seals to the customs electronic system, circulate copies to non-electronic locations, forward copies to investigative authorities, implement an SOP to track uploads, and submit periodical reports to ensure consistent verification procedures.

Personal carriage facilitation for gems and prototypes enables electronic pre filing and temporary detention to streamline airport customs clearance.
Harmonised procedure mandates advance electronic filing of Bills of Entry/Shipping Bills indicating "Personal carriage" for import/export of gems and jewellery and samples/prototypes, requires passenger and flight identifiers, provides for registration, examination, sealing and temporary detention of parcels at designated airport/air cargo premises with issuance of a Detention Receipt, and permits eligible examination at factory premises; Customs will verify filings via RMS/PAG, conduct examinations at airport or Air Cargo Complex, and confirm export by matching passenger manifests.

Site reconfiguration separating clustered customs sites and remapping officer roles, causing temporary system outage and operational interruption.
The DG Systems will separate INTUT1 and INTUT6 from the consolidated INKAR6 and establish INTUT1 as master and INTUT6 as child, requiring a complete Tuticorin Port systems shutdown that will cause a temporary outage affecting trade. Roles assigned to officers at INTUT1 and INTUT6 will be removed during reconfiguration and officers will be remapped to the master INTUT1 and child INTUT6; during the interregnum none of the officers' roles will be active.

Rescission of transhipment circular ends prior framework; in country cargo may still exit under former procedures.
The Circular No. 29/2020-Customs has been rescinded and JNCH Public Notice No. 101/2024 is withdrawn with immediate effect, ending the prior framework for transhipment of export cargo from Bangladesh to third countries via Nhava Sheva by rail or road; cargo already entered into India may nevertheless exit under the procedures set out in the rescinded circular and the withdrawn public notice.

Direct Port Entry: procedures for self-sealed export containers-EIR, seal verification, examination/scanning, re-sealing and Let Export Order issuance.
Procedures for Direct Port Entry at VOC Port require Terminal Operators to issue an Equipment Interchange Receipt, Customs in gate officers to verify the EIR and seal integrity, and permit container entry only if seals are intact. Containers selected for examination are moved to a CFS without breaking RFID self-seals, examined, re sealed by customs with both seal numbers reported; scanned containers follow prescribed scanning procedures. On completion, the Superintendent of Customs, DPE shall grant the Let Export Order or take action under the Customs Act. Port Trust must provide verification and inspection facilities and no extra conditions may be imposed on exporters to use DPE.

Transshipment permission rescinded; shipments via land customs now barred, existing in-country cargo may exit under prior procedure.
The Central Board rescinds the Circular permitting transshipment of export cargo from Bangladesh via Land Customs Stations to ports and airports with immediate effect; consignments already entered into India may nevertheless exit Indian territory under the procedures specified in the rescinded Circular. Implementation difficulties are to be reported to the Board.

Registration under SCMTR mandatory for all sea cargo stakeholders; use published guidance to comply and report implementation issues.
All sea cargo stakeholders must obtain registration under the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment Regulations (SCMTR); current registrations and e manifest filings are insufficient, particularly for freight forwarders, terminal operators and custodians. Published guidelines for registration and filing are available on the official portal for stakeholder reference. Parties facing implementation difficulties should report them to the issuing office. This Public Notice is to be treated as a standing order for officers and staff.

Air transshipment bonds enable nationwide cargo movement, while ICEGATE adds electronic filing for Air-to-Air and Air-to-ICD transshipment messages.
Air transshipment of imported goods may be covered by the TA (Transshipment Air Global) bond for Air-to-Air and Air-to-ICD movements. Registered at any Air Customs port, the TA bond may be used at other Air Customs EDI ports. The local TP transshipment bond remains available for carriers and airlines that prefer local bonds. Registered users may file Air Transshipment EDI messages through email or web upload on ICEGATE, while Service Centre filing continues unchanged.

Air transhipment: new All India TA bond and ICEGATE ATP message filing enabled for air-to-air and air-to-ICD.
A new nationwide TA (Transhipment Air Global) bond is implemented in ICES for air-to-air and air-to-ICD transhipments, registerable at any Air Customs port and usable across Air Customs EDI ports; the bond/BG is debited on TP approval at the gateway and recredited on Gate In at destination. The pre-existing local TP/IP bond remains optional. ICEGATE now accepts Air Transhipment (ATP) messages (CTM and TP, fresh and cancellations) via SMTP or web upload, with specified message formats and a new Bond Port field for TP requests.