Bond discharge procedures require nominated banks to submit export proof electronically and Customs to acknowledge and confirm export swiftly.
Nominated agencies and banks must electronically submit prescribed export proof - EP copy of shipping bill, Customs attested invoice, and bank certificate of realization/eBRC - to the designated Customs e mail; Customs will acknowledge receipt promptly, issue deficiency memos for incomplete submissions, require prior approval for requisitions beyond prescribed documents, confirm export by document review or ICES verification, and discharge the bond following confirmation within the procedural timeframes.

Coastal cargo exemption requires arrival and departure manifests on EXIM berths; other coastal filings and MOT charges waived.
Vessels carrying exclusively coastal goods are exempt from filing Bills of Coastal Goods, port clearance, and shipping bills for ship stores, but when operating from berths used by import/export vessels they must file arrival and departure cargo manifests; MOT charges are waived and authorized preventive officers may conduct random checks to verify no import or export goods are loaded.

Mandatory upload of supporting documents via e SANCHIT required; hardcopy not to be insisted upon and assessment documents to follow e SANCHIT procedure.
Importers and customs brokers must upload the essential supporting documents (Invoice, Packing List and Bill of Lading) for all Bills of Entry through e SANCHIT; officers shall not insist on hardcopies when documents exist on e SANCHIT, and additional assessment documents must follow the e SANCHIT procedure with operational issues reported to the Joint Commissioner (Systems).

Authorization of Cost Accountants permits certification for IGST refunds where GSTN records were not transmitted, enabling interim processing.
Exporters whose GSTN records were not transmitted due to GSTR 1/GSTR 3B mismatches were allowed provisional IGST refund sanction on undertakings and certificates from Chartered Accountants plus post refund audit; the Board now authorises Cost Accountants to provide the requisite certificates under that interim mechanism and directs field formations to notify exporters and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

RMS-selected container examination moved to terminal inspection area, customs preventive staff to inspect and apply one time bottle seals.
Examination of RMS selected packages of DPD/DPE factory stuffed and e sealed containers will be conducted within a dedicated area at the VCTPL terminal by Customs Preventive Staff, and containers will be resealed by the preventive officer with one time bottle seals; this trade facilitation measure modifies Public Notice No. 27/2018 to reduce time and cost by avoiding diversion to CFSs.

Customs export procedure expansion: ICDs/CFSs allowed to trans ship sealed container and closed truck consignments via designated land border points.
Customs procedure expanded to allow export of cargo in containers and closed bodied trucks from all ICDs and specified CFSs to transit through designated LCSs under the ECTS framework, including enumerated road border crossings and two rail border points for container export to Bangladesh; Circular No. 52/2017 is modified and CFS designation rests with the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata.

Customs Broker examination applications invited for written exam 18 Jan 2019; eligibility and documentation requirements stated.
Applications for the Customs Broker Examination under CBLR, 2018 for Ahmedabad must be submitted in Form A between 15 Oct and 16 Nov 2018; written exam on 18 Jan 2019. Applicants must meet Regulation 5 eligibility (citizenship, sound mind, solvency, no insolvency or criminal conviction, specified qualifications or retired Group A service) and submit Annexure-III documents including bank solvency certificate of Rs.5,00,000; incomplete applications will be rejected and successful written-exam candidates must pass a subsequent oral exam within two years.

Supervised stuffing of reefer containers permitted with Customs supervision and RFID sealing to protect temperature sensitive exports.
Permits supervised factory stuffing and sealing of reefer containers with perishable or temperature sensitive exports where sterile temperature controlled examination is unavailable: exporters apply to the jurisdictional Commissioner, who may grant continuing permission and notify RMCC; requests must be made at least 24 hours prior, officers will supervise stuffing and sealing with RFID e seals and exporters must upload seal data; RMCC will be furnished monthly exporter wise container details for verification and discrepancies may trigger review of permission.

Authorized Economic Operator AEO-T1 application simplification: mandatory new annexures and zonal processing; prior applications optional.
All new AEO-T1 applications must be filed using Annexure 1, Annexure 2 and the prescribed Declaration, replacing earlier annexures; these forms are mandatory immediately. Accreditation processing is decentralized: Zonal AEO Cells will file and process applications and the Zonal AEO Programme Manager will make the final acceptance or rejection, with accepted applicants' details forwarded to the Directorate for certificate generation. For applications already submitted, the Zonal AEO Programme Manager may allow processing under the earlier annexures or require the new forms; applicants may submit revised annexures or address issued deficiency memos.

Self sealing permission under GST requires standardized documentation and customs verification prior to approval by jurisdictional authorities.
Grant of self sealing permission under the GST regime requires exporters/traders to submit a prescribed application and supporting documents-including GST registration, export modality (IGST or Bond/LUT), copy of LUT or acceptance, recent GST return, PAN and Aadhaar of principals, IEC, memorandum, commodity HS code and IGST rate, and premises address for stuffing and sealing-to the jurisdictional Customs Circle, which must conduct on site inspection and verification of premises viability before considering permission.

Safeguard duty on solar cells: provisional assessment withdrawn and duties to be assessed and collected under notification.
The Instruction permitting provisional assessment and non insistence on payment of safeguard duty on solar cells (Instruction No. 12/2018) is withdrawn; all provisional assessments must be finalised and the safeguard duty assessed and collected in accordance with Notification No. 1/2018 Customs (SG), and any difficulties reported to the Board.

Notice of Pending Litigation: importers must be informed that customs clearance remains subject to pending petition and accounting.
Customs must ensure goods given clearance are properly accounted and importers are explicitly informed that litigation concerning those goods is pending; any clearance granted without protective measures will be viewed in light of the contentions raised in the petition and remains subject to the petition's result.

Discharge of bonds: nominated banks must submit electronic export proof for expedited bond release under SOP.
Nominated agencies/banks must electronically submit prescribed proof of export-EP copy of shipping bill, Customs attested invoice and bank certificate of realisation/eBRC-to designated Assistant/Deputy Commissioners via dedicated email. The officer must acknowledge within 24 hours, issue a deficiency memo within five days if documents are incomplete (additional requisitions require Additional Commissioner approval), and expect submission of missing documents within seven days. The officer will confirm export within seven days of receiving required documents and discharge the bond within seven days of confirmation; formations must clear pendency and report progress.

KYC verification for first time importers/exporters: streamlined documents and procedural steps for customs verification and upload.
KYC verification for first time importers/exporters requires submission of IEC plus Category I identity/registration documents appropriate to the business form and one Category II proof (recent tax return or bank certificate). Assessing officers must open a file per first time importer/exporter, record the file number on the bill, forward soft copies to Systems Branch for upload and to Preventive Branch for verification. Customs brokers must verify IEC/GSTIN and client identity and report contact changes; Preventive Branch shall complete physical address checks in a defined sample and telephone verify the bank account.

Computerized export filing under ICES 1.5 to commence, enabling electronic submission and processing of shipping bills.
The notice announces commencement of computerized filing and processing of shipping bills through the Indian Customs EDI system (ICES 1.5) at the specified Land Customs Station under the Commissionerate of Customs (Preventive) Patna, and directs exporters, importers, CHAs, custodians, banks and trade stakeholders to follow the procedural framework set out in Public Notice No. 05/2018 and related Public Notice No. 07/2018 for operational guidance.

Drawback claim processing centralized in EDI: no separate BRC filing and sanction through ICES-1.5 after EDPMS verification.
The amendment dispenses with pre-audit, separate drawback claim filing, submission of BRC copies, and creation of shipping bill-wise drawback files; drawback claims will be processed by the Drawback Branch in the EDI system and sanctioned through ICES-1.5 after verification of EDI documents and reflection of BRC on the EDPMS module. Queries raised in EDI must be printed and replied to via the service centre or ICEGATE; claims re-enter the processing queue only after replies are entered in ICES-1.5.

Refund entitlement after payment: importers may claim customs duty refunds directly when no dispute exists, subject to procedural timelines.
Post-amendment, an importer may claim a refund of customs duty or interest paid even absent a lis, because refunds are no longer conditional on an order of assessment. Refund applications received by the Refund Section should be forwarded to the Assessment Group to record any assessment changes in ICES; the Assessment Group must respond within fifteen days either executing re-assessment or giving reasons for rejection. The Refund Section will then decide the claim independently and the AC-Refund must pass the refund order within the prescribed statutory timeframe.

Self sealing export containers allowed with prescribed permissions, ISO compliant RFID seals and risk based Customs verification.
Revised procedure establishes a trust based self sealing regime allowing exporters, upon permission from the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner, to seal containers at approved premises after notifying the jurisdictional customs division and submitting GST/IEC, premises and authorized signatory documents; exporters must declare e seal serial numbers with shipping bills, procure ISO compliant RFID one time bolt seals from certified vendors who must integrate seal data with customs systems, and remain subject to risk based verification and examination with penalties or withdrawal of privilege for noncompliance.

Bond discharge procedures require electronic submission of prescribed export proof documents and time-bound customs confirmation.
Standardised, time-bound procedure for bond discharge by nominated agencies and banks importing gold for export: agencies must electronically submit prescribed export proof documents (EP copy of Shipping Bill, Customs-attested invoice, bank certificate/eBRC) to the designated Customs officer, who must acknowledge receipt within 24 hours and confirm export within seven days; incomplete submissions trigger a deficiency memo with specified response times and additional document requisitions beyond the prescribed set require Additional Commissioner approval.

Reward to informers: scheme permits payment when information on assets leads to recovery of revenue arrears.
A reward scheme applies to informers and government servants who supply information about the whereabouts, assets or immovable property that results in recovery of revenue arrears under the Customs Act, Central Excise Act and the Finance Act's service tax provisions, and trade and departmental officers are directed to disseminate the scheme to encourage reporting.