Independent examination of ICD/CFS proposals required; commissioners must apply Board norms before forwarding to the commerce ministry.
Proposals to set up ICDs or CFS must be examined by Commissioners independently of Port Trust reviews, applying Board norms and guidelines; Commissioners' reports are to be sent to the Board for onward transmission to the Ministry of Commerce, with provision to send an advance copy to the Ministry in urgent cases.

Export certificates for executives' carried equipment can be issued in advance, valid one year, with specified item details.
Authorises advance issuance of Export Certificates at Customs Houses, International Airports, Sea Ports, ICDs, FPOs and cargo complexes for frequently travelling executives; certificates must be serially numbered, sealed, include product name, manufacturer, marks/numbers/mode and year of manufacture, and remain valid for one year; Commissioners must publish notices naming officers authorised to issue them.

Acknowledgement of trade representations: mandatory acknowledgement and reply required for all customs correspondence under Board instruction.
The Central Board directs that every letter or representation received from trade or associations must be acknowledged and replied to, and provides a prescribed proforma of acknowledgement for adoption to ensure customs correspondence is tracked and responded to.

Baggage allowance: non-commercial portion remains eligible for free allowance even if other items are commercial.
Where some baggage articles are in commercial quantity and liable to adjudication and confiscation, those articles must be segregated and processed accordingly; the remainder of the baggage that is not in commercial quantity remains eligible for the free baggage allowance and is not rendered non-bonafide by the presence of commercial-quantity goods.

Disposal of waste from imported jobbing: destruction allowed under Central Excise supervision for non-commercial waste with safeguards.
Destruction of waste from jobbing on imported materials is permitted only for waste that has no commercial value and must be carried out under Central Excise supervision. Authorities must ensure the quantum of wastage destroyed is genuine and that finished goods are not diverted to the local market. Commissionerates are to issue public notices or standing orders to inform trade and departmental officers of the procedure and safeguards.

Duty recovery for ineligible use of import concessions when units used imports for data management before notification.
Enlargement of eligibility for duty free import concessions is prospective; units that used imported capital goods, raw materials or consumables for data management or other non permitted activities before the amendment breached concession conditions and become liable to duty recovery. Commissioners must survey units, compile names, year wise assessable values and duties for affected imports so that an exemption notification may be issued, and submit reports or a nil report urgently.

Jobbing under Duty Exemption Scheme now subject to prescribed customs procedure and bond requirements for cottage industry work.
Amendment requires that jobbing operations under the Duty Exemption Scheme follow the prescribed customs procedure for concessional import of capital goods used in manufacture of excisable goods rather than being carried out in a warehouse under Section 65. Where jobbing is undertaken by or through cottage or household industry at unspecified locations, the importer must execute a bond with surety or security to ensure compliance; customs will permit clearance subject to sampling, testing, and verification of imported material in resultant exported products, supported by declarations and consumption accounts.

Standing Committee for trade and industry reviews to meet quarterly and forward recommendations to the Board.
A Standing Committee is established to review problems and representations of trade and industry on customs and central excise matters, functioning as a preparatory consultative body to assist the Customs and Central Excise Advisory Council. It will include senior departmental officers and two rotating trade association nominees, deliberate on refund procedures, clearance and movement of goods, inter Custom House anomalies, Modvat admissibility, and warehousing/bonding, while excluding classification, valuation, duty rate issues and matters under adjudication or appeal. Meetings will be held at the DGI's office quarterly, with a Deputy Director serving as Secretary, and recommendations forwarded to the Board and Council.

Minimum land requirement for ICDs/CFS set to ensure capacity and future expansion for effective operations.
Minimum land requirement norms are prescribed for ICDs/CFS to ensure present needs and future expansion and effective functioning. Facilities proposed outside major city limits should be allocated several acres of land, while facilities inside city limits or in port areas may be provided on substantially smaller plots, with port areas like Jawaharlal Nehru Port cited as examples of reduced land footprints. Site selection must anticipate future expansion to enable optimal use of departmental resources.

Duty-free airconditioners permitted where necessary for manufacture under EOU, EPZ, EHTP and STP schemes - clarified.
Airconditioners required and necessary for the manufacture or production of goods under the EOU, EPZ, EHTP and STP schemes are to be treated as capital goods and allowed duty-free clearance; field formations must be informed and the trade suitably notified.

Recovery of duty from custodians on pilfered imported goods - custodians liable; demand notices required before remission or refund.
Amendment to section 45 makes custodians liable for customs duty on goods pilfered or lost after unloading but before clearance; recovery requires issuance of demand notices to custodians across three identification scenarios (after Bill of Entry, at IGM closure without Bill of Entry, or when custodians report shortages). Demand notices must be issued before remission or refund is allowed, with AC(MCD) and AC(Group) responsible for verification, issuance, and ensuring recovery of duty.

Attachment and sale for recovery of government dues under Section 142(1) enables Customs to attach and sell defaulter property.
Amended Section 142(1) and the 1995 Rules permit Customs to attach, distrain and sell a defaulter's movable and immovable property to recover government dues; the authorised procedure requires issuance of a certificate stating the amount due, service of a notice demanding payment within seven days, and, if unpaid, attachment and sale following prescribed annexures, while avoiding simultaneous action with District Collectors and allowing Commissioners to designate proper officers and create special cells to implement the rules.

Exemption from foreign trade rules: Customs notifications added to the exemption order, altering application of trade regulation rules.
The Central Government amended the Foreign Trade (Exemption from Application of Rules in certain Cases) Order, 1993 to include specified Customs notifications, thereby making imports covered by those Customs notifications exempt from the application of the Foreign Trade (Regulation) Rules, 1993; the amendment was circulated to Customs for implementation and aligns Customs directives with the Foreign Trade exemption framework.

Telegraphic Release Advice requires port issuance with warehouse commissioner concurrence and specified clearance checks prior to release.
Telegraphic Release Advice for Advance Licence clearance must be issued by the port of registration only with concurrence of the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the warehouse, except if the warehouse is a specified port; where experienced staff is lacking the Commissioner may grant concurrence and require the issuing port to specify all aspects to be checked, and the T.R.A. must explicitly list checks including sample drawl for testing if necessary.

Diplomatic vehicle endorsement requires expedited, courteous customs processing and immediate corrective measures for transfer delays.
Customs officers must ensure endorsement in the Bill of Entry for transfer or sale of vehicles belonging to privileged persons and diplomatic missions is processed promptly, providing expeditious and courteous services. Port officers must investigate inordinate delays at entry points and take immediate corrective measures when diplomatic personnel seek changes in bills of entry to facilitate timely transfer of ownership.

Scope of cable classification clarified: includes polarisation holding, plastic and large core fibres and associated cables.
The circular clarifies that the term Cable under the referenced customs notification covers polarisation holding fibres, plastic fibres and large core fibres, and cables made from these fibres, and directs that pending assessments be finalised accordingly.

Conversion of DEEC shipping bills: permitted where exporter holds a Pass Book at time of conversion application, enabling credit.
Conversion of DEEC shipping bills filed on or after 30 May 1995 is allowable provided the exporter possesses a Pass Book on the date of seeking conversion; this accords with the DEEC requirement of prior Advance Licence application and Notification No. 104/95-Customs does not bar credit where a Pass Book was held on the date of application, and Circular No. 44/96-Cus. is modified accordingly.

Simplified brand rate fixation extended to registered partnership manufacturer-exporters, subject to certificates, bond and post-verification requirements.
Extension of the Simplified Brand Rate Fixation Scheme to registered partnership manufacturer-exporters who furnish a registration certificate, an Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise certificate confirming at least two years' manufacture of the export product, and a bankers' certificate confirming premises, an account of at least one year, and financial soundness; subject to all existing Scheme conditions including bond execution and departmental post-verification, with failure to arrange post-verification within three months exposing the applicant to withdrawal of the facility and reversion to pre-verification.

Duty drawback rates updated to simplify classification and extend payment rules, including lower-threshold payments and wider claimant eligibility.
The Ministry revised the All Industry rates of Drawback, redesigning Drawback Table entries to seven-digit descriptions, consolidating footnotes into entries, expanding General Notes, and specifying product descriptions to facilitate electronic processing. Changes include broad banding and caps for ready-made garments and fabrics, recognition of Central Excise duty incidence on made-up textile articles, continuation of drawback for DEEC-imported inputs, amendment to permit payment where drawback is below the prior one percent FOB threshold, and extension of simplified Brand Rates payment to additional types of claimants.

Pass Book Scheme credit allowed where input quantities are quantity based; exclusions apply when quantity depends on FOB value.
Credit under the Pass Book Scheme is admissible where Standard Input Output norms specify input quantities or permit determination of quantity by reference to inputs used in the export product, including by net-to-net basis or by applying a formula; such quantity based norms qualify for credit. Credit is not admissible where input quantity is worked out as a percentage of FOB value. Verifying officers must ensure exporters declare input quantities and must verify such quantities at examination when processing the Shipping Bill.