Mandatory upload of import documents in e SANCHIT requires IRN references for invoices and bills of lading.
Mandatory uploading of specified import documents in e-SANCHIT requires that for every Bill of Entry the supporting documents required by law-specifically Invoice (Invoice or Invoice cum Packing List) and Transport Contract (various Bills of Lading and airway/waybills)-be uploaded and the generated IRN reference with the corresponding document code declared in the Bill of Entry.

Inclusion of cesses in Brand Rate of duty drawback clarified: certain cesses included, stowage excise excluded.
Clarification directs inclusion of Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge, and Clean Environment cess in the calculation of the Brand Rate of duty drawback because these levies are treated as duties of Customs/Excise and subject to applicable refund/drawback provisions; Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act is excluded since those statutes do not make drawback/refund provisions applicable to it.

Steel Import Monitoring System registration required; SIMS details must be declared in Bill of Entry Single Window with prescribed INFO fields.
Compulsory registration under the Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) is required for imports of certain goods under Chapters 72, 73 and 86; importers or CHAs must declare the SIMS registration number and expiry in the Bill of Entry Single Window. DGFT excludes air shipments and returnable racks from SIMS. Required Single Window fields are: Info_type = PNM; INFO_QFR = SIU; INFO_CODE = SIUNAPL; INFO_Text to reference the relevant circular or notice.

Manufacture in bonded warehouses under section 65 requires integrated licence, prescribed records, bond and GST/duty treatment.
Applicants seeking manufacture or other operations in bonded warehouses must hold or obtain a private bonded warehouse licence under section 58 and permission under section 65 via an integrated application; they must maintain prescribed digital accounts and records, execute the bond satisfying section 59 requirements, comply with security and insurance conditions, and follow MOOWR, 2019. Resultant products exported require shipping bills and GST invoices with no duty on contained imported goods under section 69; domestic clearances are treated as supply under the CGST framework with payment of GST and import duty on contained inputs at ex-bond clearance.

Steel Import Monitoring System registration now mandatory in bill of entry filings; e Sanchit invoice and bill of lading IRNs required.
Declaration of Steel Import Monitoring System registration must be entered in the Single Window Bill of Entry for specified goods using prescribed INFO_CODE/INFO_Text formats, with alternative codes for air shipments and returnable racks. Additionally, Invoice and Bill of Lading must be uploaded to e-Sanchit and the generated IRN and specified document codes recorded in the Bill of Entry for each declared document.

DIN requirement for CBIC communications: electronic DIN must be generated, quoted, and verifiable; missing DIN renders communication invalid.
The Board mandates electronic generation and quoting of a Document Identification Number (DIN) on search authorisations, summons, arrest memos, inspection notices and enquiry letters; communications without an electronically generated DIN, absent narrow exceptions for technical or urgent exigencies (with reasons recorded and an express statement), are invalid. Exigent communications must be regularised within 15 working days by post-facto superior approval, subsequent electronic DIN generation and filing. Authorised officers must be mapped and use the DDM portal with OTP verification to generate a non-editable DIN for each submission; recipients can verify DIN validity on the CBIC website. DIN format is CBIC-YYYY MM ZCDR NNNNNN.

Amendment to Sea Cargo Manifest Regulations revises commencement and requires trade and officers to comply under Customs Act authority.
Amendment to the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 substitutes a revised commencement date for Regulation 15(2), is issued under powers conferred by section 157 read with specified provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette; actions mandated by this Public Notice are to be treated as standing orders for officers and staff and must be complied with by trade stakeholders.

Import manifest amendment process simplified for short landing shipments; shipping lines must submit certificate, reports and email application promptly.
The notice requires shipping lines to notify the Boarding Office at off loading and obtain a Short Landing Certificate backed by reports from the Master and the Terminal Operator; the Shipping Line must then email an amendment application to the Deputy Commissioner (Import Noting Section) attaching those reports, the Short Landing Certificate or endorsement and proof of payment of amendment fees, with the Import Noting Section disposing of requests the same working day and shipping lines registering contact details for official communications.

DPD Scheme: importers must file Annexure A with default stacking choice and undertake operational DPD conditions before clearance.
Importers must submit Annexure A including a one time Default Stacking code and preferred CFS where applicable, plus IEC/GST/registration details, import history, commodities requiring tests/NOCs, contact and address information, and required enclosures; applicants must undertake operational conditions for DPD such as engaging own trailers, clearing containers within 24 hours, filing advance bill of entry and paying duty before vessel arrival, providing container details to authorities, producing containers for scanning, notifying AEO/IEC status changes, and making a self declaration regarding past mis declarations or prosecutions.

Special Notified Zone for rough diamonds enables air-only import, on-site viewing and sale with customs-controlled sealing and re-export procedures.
A Special Notified Zone at Gujarat Hira Bourse, Surat is authorised for air-only import, viewing, auction/sale and re-export of rough diamonds under customs supervision. Facility plans and security arrangements must be approved by the jurisdictional customs authority; consignors must be those permitted under the RBI circular. Imported parcels must carry invoice, packing list, insurance and Kimberley Process Certificate, be transhipped from Sahar Mumbai, examined, sealed and placed in the SNZ strong room. Sales occur only by lot, with repacking and resealing within sixty days; sold lots use the mining company sale invoice as the declaration of value under Section 14, and unsold lots must be exported under a shipping bill within seventy-five days.

Brand Rate duty drawback: specified cesses included in calculation while stowage excise is excluded from rebate.
Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge, and Clean Energy/Environment cess (where collected as additional Customs duty) are required to be included in the Brand Rate calculation for duty drawback under the Drawback Rules, 2017; Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act, 1974 is excluded because refund/drawback provisions of Customs/Central Excise do not apply to it. Field formations must apply this clarification in fixing Brand Rates and circulate it to trade bodies, treating the directions as a standing order.

Duty drawback: foreign bank charges not to reduce FOB where documented, subject to overall allowed commission limit.
Duty drawback may be allowed on FOB value without deducting documented foreign bank charges; such foreign bank charges are permissible within the overall allowance for agency commission and, together with agency commission, must not exceed that overall limit, otherwise the excess must be deducted from FOB. Field formations should regularise short realisation claims based on documentary evidence such as export invoices and bank confirmations.

Faceless assessment extended to specified import goods, enabling virtual FIFO assessment with no direct stakeholder interface.
Faceless assessment is extended under the Turant Customs scheme to Bills of Entry for goods in Chapters 50 to 71; such bills will be system-marked to a Virtual Group and allocated to nominated officers on a first-cum-first-served basis for assessment without direct interface with stakeholders. The Virtual Group will scrutinise for assessment and import permissibility, forward consignments to Docks/CFS for examination and sample drawing, and handle queries/orders via Dock/CFS officers. Existing filing procedures remain unchanged and ancillary functions in local Group 3 continue except direct assessment. Importers must upload documents via e-Sanchit to facilitate quick assessment.

Faceless assessment introduced for plastics imports, with virtual officers conducting remote first cum first served scrutiny and mandated document upload.
A pilot faceless assessment scheme for Group 2G (Chapter 39 plastics) will auto queue Bills of Entry to a system designated Virtual Group; nominated officers will assess remotely on a first cum first served basis without stakeholder interface. Filing procedures at the four locations remain unchanged; local Group 2G units retain non assessment functions while the Virtual Group forwards consignments to Docks/CFS for RMS directed examination. Importers and brokers must upload all assessment documents via e sanchit to facilitate expedited clearance. The procedure takes effect on the stated date and implementation issues are to be reported to the Additional Commissioner.

Self-assessment appeals: refunds permitted only after assessment is modified by appeal and amount is quantified.
Self-assessment orders are appealable assessment orders and any review or modification requires formal alteration by way of appeal. Refunds based on self-assessment cannot be processed unless the refundable amount is quantified through a final assessment or reassessment; reassessment is permissible only after the original self-assessment order has been modified via appeal.

Inclusion of cesses in Brand Rate of duty drawback clarified; specified cesses included, stowage excise excluded.
Clarifies inclusion and exclusion of specific levies in the Brand Rate of duty drawback: Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge and Clean Environment cess are to be factored into Brand Rate calculations because they operate as duties of Customs/Excise and are subject to Customs/Central Excise provisions and Drawback Committee treatment; Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act is not covered by Customs/Central Excise refund or drawback provisions and must not be included.

First time exporter verification accepted from any Mumbai port clearance as proof of first time export status.
Public Notice permits submission of clearance verification (LEO/OOC) from any port within the Mumbai Customs Zones as acceptable proof of first time exporter status for exports via the Air Cargo Complex (Export) Commissionerate and applies earlier related public notices mutatis mutandis; implementation issues should be reported to the Additional/Joint Commissioner of Customs (Export), ACC Sahar, Mumbai.

Direct Port Delivery eligibility allows AEOs and compliant importers meeting TEU or MSME-relief criteria, with specified exclusions.
Eligibility for DPD permits importers with AEO Tier I-III status or a clear compliance record and about 25 FCL TEUs in the prior year to apply via Annexure-A; the TEU requirement may be relaxed for deserving cases including MSMEs. Exclusions cover importers with mis-declaration/duty evasion issues in the last five years, those under prosecution, consignments subject to mandatory examination, and mainly LCL importers. DPD applies only to fully facilitated or unexamined consignments, requires opening PD accounts, arranging own transport for container pickup, and adherence to procedural formalities and undertakings in Annexure-A.

Double payment customs duty claims: updated verification procedures require PAO, ICEGATE, ICES and bank confirmations.
Refund claims for double or multiple payment of Customs Duty must be verified by the proper officer through (1) PAO/e-PAO and bank scroll checks for transfers to the government account, (2) ICEGATE Challan enquiry to confirm payments and ICES acceptance/rejection status, (3) System Manager verification of ICES payment-integration records, and (4) direct bank confirmation of transfer of excess payments; specified paragraphs of a prior public notice are withdrawn and implementation issues are to be raised with the Centralized Refund Section.

Inclusion of cesses in brand-rate duty drawback affirmed; some levies included while stowage excise excluded.
Calculation of the Brand Rate of duty drawback must include Education cess, Secondary and Higher Education cess, Social Welfare Surcharge, and Clean Environment cess where those levies are treated as duties of Customs or Excise and made subject to refund/drawback provisions; these elements are reflected in AIRs. Stowage Excise duty under the Coal Mines Act is not made subject to Customs or Central Excise refund/drawback provisions and therefore must not be included in duty drawback calculations.