Customs bottle seal issuance: advance allocation allowed with requisition, payment and certified gate verification for containers.
Customs bottle seals may be issued in advance upon payment and presentation of a requisition with container details: for direct delivery the Boarding Office will allot seals and certify the requisition with seal and dated signature, and gate personnel will verify seal numbers against that certified requisition; for CFS forwarding the respective CFS Export Superintendent will perform allotment and certification with similar gate verification. Separate registers at the Boarding Office and CFSs must record seal issue and balances with specified columns.

Import regulation for dual-use drugs: compliance with drug-control registration and case-by-case waiver procedures required, affecting clearance timelines.
Import regulation for drugs with dual usage and drug raw materials mandates compliance with registration and Chapter III provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act; blanket exemptions under Schedule D are not available. Waivers of Form 10 registration may be granted only on application to the central drug authority and are examined case-by-case. Customs will strictly enforce the drug-control procedures following a transitional period to address clearance delays and supply disruptions.

Cotton yarn export allocations announced; 50 million kg allocated to 363 firms, export deadline 31 March.
Allocation of 50 million kilograms of cotton yarn is announced with an annexure listing 363 allottees by name, IEC and allocated kilograms; fractional quantities will be rounded when export licences are issued. All allottees must submit the documents specified under the governing policy's procedural requirements to the concerned Regional Authority by the stated submission cutoff to obtain licences, and all prior policy conditions continue to apply except for specified calendar dates; exported shipments under these licences must be completed before the final export deadline.

Export restriction on Sona Masuri rice: consumer-packed exports allowed subject to packing, declaration, sampling and monitoring procedures.
Exports of Sona Masuri rice from Chennai Seaport are permitted only in consumer packs up to 10 kg, subject to a per-IEC quantity ceiling on self-declaration and within the prescribed export period. Customs procedure requires filing the shipping bill, presenting goods at an attached CFS, and drawing samples for laboratory quality testing before granting "Let Export". Earlier-presented goods are cleared first. The Deputy Commissioner (Docks) will monitor daily clearances, intensify oversight as aggregate exports approach the ceiling, issue a closure notice when the limit is exhausted, and publish daily updates on the Custom House website.

Electronic payment requirement for corporate filing fees speeds processing; phased mandate extends compulsory electronic payments to higher-value filings.
To reduce delays from banks' reporting lag for physical challans ('T'+3) versus online payments ('T'+1), the Ministry requires electronic payment of fees for MCA21 services for payments up to the specified threshold effective 27 March 2011. Payments above that threshold may be made electronically or by paper challan until a later date, after which electronic mode becomes mandatory for higher-value payments effective 1 October 2011.

No entry load: mandates segregated load accounts and limits annual use of legacy load balances for marketing expenses.
Prohibition of entry load is mandated and upfront distributor commission must be paid directly by the investor. Exit loads and prior load balances are maintained outside NAV and may fund distributor commissions and marketing. Load balances must be segregated into balances as of July 31, 2009 and accretions thereafter; use of the pre August 1, 2009 balance is capped at one third of that balance per financial year (carry forward permitted), while post July 31, 2009 accretions are unrestricted for these purposes.

Certificate of Origin fee revision: higher issuance fee for FTA and GSP exports effective from April 1, 2011.
Revision of para 2.21.1 replaces the previous clause permitting authorised agencies to charge a DoC-approved fee with a specific enhanced fee for issuance of Certificate of Origin (Preferential) for exports under India's FTAs, PTAs, GSP and GSTP schemes, and states that the enhanced fee applies to applications received with effect from the prescribed implementation date.

SION notified for woollen blended worsted yarn establishing input-output norms under Foreign Trade Policy to regulate export inputs.
Notification of SION J-374 establishes export input-output requirements for Woollen blended Worsted Yarn under the Foreign Trade Policy. For 1 kg of the export product made from Wool Tops and Acrylic Tops, allowed inputs are Wool Tops (below 32 micron) 1.10 kg per kg content in export and Acrylic Tops (up to 3.00 denier) 1.10 kg per kg content in export. This is the first SION for the item and is to be recorded in the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. II).

Bank guarantee periodicity: BG must be filed for a minimum period and kept alive for the full export-obligation term.
The Appendix 25A note is replaced to require the Bond/BG to be filed for a minimum period of three years with an undertaking to keep the BG alive for the entire export-obligation term, thereby harmonising BG validity with customs practice. The BG format is updated to include E-mail ID and phone/fax contact details of the exporter/importer and the bank guarantor.

Bank AD Code accuracy required for guarantee data to auto-populate; procedure established for EDI helpdesk AD Code updates.
Importers and CHAs must provide the correct AD Code of the bank branch issuing a Bank Guarantee so bank particulars auto-populate from the ICES system. Where a registered AD Code does not appear in Import or Export menus, the CHA/Importer must approach the EDI helpdesk with a copy of the AD Code from ICEGATE, a requisition letter from the importer, and a bank letter; the EDI helpdesk TA will then enter the AD Code into both menus.

Factory stuffing permission procedures require verification of premises and NOC with willingness to depute officers for supervision.
Procedures require LoFSP applicants to submit verification reports confirming genuineness, existence and functioning of premises and availability of infrastructure for container stuffing, together with NOC/willingness from jurisdictional Central Excise authorities to depute officers to supervise stuffing; Annexures A-C provide prescribed formats for manufacturers, merchant exporters and supporting manufacturers and exporters/authorities are instructed to follow these formats to avoid delays.

Timely filing of Special Leave Petitions required to ensure prompt appellate processing and compliance with prescribed timelines.
A zero-delay regime mandates fixed timelines and institutional mechanisms for filing appeals and Special Leave Petitions: CCITs must create High Court Cells to collect and transmit orders, CITs must promptly assess judgments for substantial questions of law, prepare Proforma B with required documents, and forward proposals to the Directorate (L&R) for timely processing, vetting by the Ministry of Law and final filing; delays must be justified and quarterly monitoring reports submitted.

Allocation limits for FIIs adjusted: bidding and FCFS procedures set with entity caps and minimum bid requirements.
Allocation of unutilized FII limits in Government debt long term and Corporate Debt - old is effected via a bidding process on the NSE with per-entity caps and specified minimum bid and tick sizes, and via a first come first serve (FCFS) allocation for remaining amounts opened through a dedicated email channel; FCFS requests have a maximum per-request limit and unutilised portions are subject to a non-utilisation charge equal to the average successful bid premium.

Minimum Export Price imposed on Sona Masuri and Ponni Samba rice for export, Matta rice exempted.
The DGFT, under Para 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy, inserted sub para 3(v) in Public Notice No. 36 to require a Minimum Export Price for specified non Basmati rice varieties. The Notice prescribes that Sona Masuri and Ponni Samba exports must meet the MEP while Matta rice is not subject to an MEP, with all other conditions of Public Notice No. 36 remaining unchanged.

Extension of time for using re-credited DEPB/Reward scrips for CVD (SAD) permits additional period to utilize re-credited credits.
Extension of the period for utilization of re-credited DEPB and Reward Scheme scrips to permit use of re-credited 4% CVD (SAD) refund amounts for payment of duty; the manual filing facility for Bills of Entry to utilize such re-credited amounts remains available and all other provisions of the earlier Public Notice continue unchanged. Trade is to report implementation difficulties to the concerned Deputy/Assistant Commissioners of Customs.

Company incorporation procedures streamlined: priority approval for specified incorporation forms enabling one-day registration processing via online system.
Form-1 will require Registrar of Companies' manual approval while routine filings such as Forms 18 and 32 will be processed online, with minor changes taken on record through STP mode. A new high-priority category of Incorporation Forms (Form 1A, 37, 39, 44 and 68) will receive expedited handling to reduce average incorporation processing time to one day.

T bill futures: new cash settled interest rate contract with defined valuation and strict margin and position limit regimes.
SEBI permits cash settled futures on the 91 day Government of India Treasury Bill with defined contract design, quotation as 100 minus futures discount yield, maximum maturity of twelve months, specified contract months and expiry mechanics, and contract valuation formulas for contract, daily settlement and final settlement values using weighted average discount yields. A risk management framework mandates margins based on a 99% one day VaR (3.5 sigma scan), minimum initial margin thresholds, an extreme loss margin, calendar spread margins with reduced extreme loss treatment, volatility estimation by exponential moving average ( =0.94) converted to price volatility via modified duration, and prescribed position limits for clients, trading members and FIIs.

Cenvat credit availability affirmed for readymade garments and textile made ups; vaccine exemption clarified for national immunisation program.
Cenvat credit is available to manufacturers of readymade garments and textile made ups, including merchant manufacturers who get goods made on job work basis, effected by amendment to the definition of manufacturer or producer in clause (naa) of rule 2 of the Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004. Corrections to several notifications dated 1 3 2011 have been posted; and full exemption for vaccines under the National Immunization Program has been inserted at S. No. 62AA of Notification No. 4/2006 C.E. by Notification No. 19/2011 C.E.

Submission of export documents required: failure to send shipping bills and bill of lading attracts penalties under FT(D&R) Act.
Submission of proof of export under registration certificates for raw cotton is mandatory within ten days of the last shipment; non-compliance attracts penal action under Section 11(2) of the FT(D&R) Act. All allottees must send copies of shipping bills and the Bill of Lading to the RC-issuing authority and send an e-mail confirmation (in the specified sample format) identifying IEC, quantities and shipping details. Non-receipt of the e-mail will be presumed as non-performance under the registration certificate.

Director Identification Number process simplified: online eForm with digital verification enables immediate allocation when professionally certified.
The procedure for allotment of Director Identification Number is converted to an entirely electronic process with scanned document attachments and online fee payment; applicants may file using their digital signature and professionals may digitally sign DIN 1 after verifying applicant particulars. Professionally certified applications receive immediate system approval; other applications are reviewed by a DIN cell and disposed of within one to two days. The Companies (Directors Identification Number) Rules, 2006 will be amended accordingly, the procedure applies to DIN 4, and penal action for false information remains available.