Warehouse licence applications must use the prescribed form; decisions issued within 30 days with centralized verification.
Board-prescribed application Form for licences under the Public/Private/Special Warehousing Licensing Regulations, 2016 standardises required information and declarations for new bonded warehouse applicants, functions as a premises and security checklist, and must be published on Commissionerate websites. The Bond Officer must examine and report within 15 days and the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner must decide within the next 15 days (target 30 days). Centralized post-verification via DRI (HQ) and DGCEI (HQ) is to be used without delaying grant; licences remain valid until surrender or cancellation, with annual insurance and solvency submissions required.

Electronic records for warehoused goods required; monthly returns and acknowledgements ensure customs compliance and auditability.
Licensees must maintain detailed records of receipt, handling, storage and removal of warehoused goods in the prescribed Form A and store the prescribed data electronically with immediate entry upon deposit or removal; software must provide an audit trail and records must be available for verification by the Bond Officer. Licensees shall file a monthly return in Form A within ten days after month end and, where warehousing is expiring, furnish required information in Form B before the preceding 10th; returns are submitted as paper copies. Acknowledgements on receipt and appointment of authorised signatories and basic facilities are required.

Duty-free import procedure for nominated agencies requires bonds and bank guarantees; exporters must furnish proof of export.
Nominated agencies supplying duty free gold, silver and platinum must clear exempted imports on a bill of entry for home consumption and not under warehousing; transitional storage in existing licensed vaults is allowed. Agencies must execute bonds to maintain accounts and to cover duty liability if exporters fail to meet export obligations, and must furnish a bank guarantee with limited exemptions for designated banks and certain public sector undertakings. Exporters/EOUs must register or self declare, supply proof of export within the Foreign Trade Policy period, and nominated agencies must file monthly exporter wise accounts and deposit duty where export proof is not produced.

Warehouse licensing: prescribed application and centralized antecedent verification enable fixed processing timelines and license validity until surrender.
Prescribes a mandatory application form for new bonded warehouse licences under the 2016 Warehouse Licensing Regulations capturing applicant identity, site particulars, security and fire protection, IT inventory controls, intended goods, solvency certificate and statutory declarations. Bond officers must inspect and report within an initial period and the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner must decide within a further period so that overall processing meets the prescribed timeline. Centralized post verification through DRI (HQ) and DGCEI (HQ) is directed to avoid cross jurisdictional delays. Licences remain valid until surrender or cancellation, with annual submission of insurance and solvency documents required.

Customs Broker enrolment required under Regulation 24; failure to join the recognised association may prompt de-registration.
Customs brokers at Tuticorin must enrol as members of the recognised Customs Brokers' Association pursuant to Regulation 24 of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2013, and forward the association-issued enrolment certificate to the Commissioner's office; failure to enrol and submit proof by the specified deadline may lead to de-registration.

Standard Gate Pass adoption under CODEX for authenticated, tracked movement of export containers to the port.
Declaration of a uniform CODEX Gate Pass as the standard Customs permission for movement of export containerised cargo from CFSs/ICDs to VOC Port, replacing varied local gate pass formats; the CODEX platform provides real-time data upload, barcode authentication and tracking. The CODEX Gate Pass must be stamped, signed and have gate-out time authenticated by Inspectors at CFSs/ICDs, with Port Green Gate Inspectors maintaining existing procedures except for accepting the new format. CONCOR CFS remains exempt until it joins CODEX.

Warehousing reforms under the Customs Act: new licensing, lock-based movement, computerized records and revised bond requirements.
The amendments establish separate licensing regimes for Public, Private and Special Warehouses and require Special Warehouses storing notified classes of goods to operate under customs lock and obtain licenses under the Special Warehouse Licensing Regulations. Existing licensees have a transitional period to migrate to record-based controls. Escort requirements for intra-town and export movements are replaced by affixation of serially numbered one-time locks. Bonds and security formats have been re-prescribed, regulatory sampling in warehouses is permitted with recordkeeping obligations, and warehouse records must be computerized to access liberalized procedures.

Warehouse recordkeeping must be maintained electronically and monthly returns filed within ten days of each month.
Licensees must maintain immediately updated, accurate electronic records of receipt, handling, storage and removal of warehoused goods in Form A with an audit trail; file monthly paper returns in Form A within ten days after month end and Form B where warehousing periods expire, send acknowledgements upon receipt to originating customs or warehouse Bond officers, appoint authorised signatories with specimen signatures filed with the Bond Officer, provide necessary in warehouse facilities, and apply these electronic recordkeeping requirements to goods received on or after 14 May 2016.

Bond requirement under Customs Act: amendment mandates bond filing for warehoused goods and related compliance.
Amendment requires filing of a bond under Section 59 for warehoused goods, pursuant to newly issued warehousing, custody and licensing regulations. The Department of Revenue has published notifications and circulars specifying goods eligible for special warehouses, removal and custody rules, licensing regimes, security requirements under the bond framework, procedures for ex-bond bills of entry, interest payment on warehoused goods, and solvency certification; these materials are provided to importers, CHAs and the trading public for guidance and compliance.

Hazardous and Other Wastes rules and e Waste rules notified; stakeholders must review and comply accordingly.
Stakeholders are informed that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 and the e Waste (Management) Rules, 2016; affected exporters, importers, customs brokers and agents must take cognisance and comply with these rules, and copies of the Gazette notifications are available on the electronic Gazette website.

Indirect tax dispute resolution suspends pending appeals and permits settlement through declaration, prescribed forms, and deposit compliance.
The Scheme permits a party in appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) at the cut off to file a declaration with the Designated Authority. Prescribed Forms govern the process: Form 1 for declaration, Form 2 for acknowledgement which suspends the appeal for an interim period, Form 3 to report deposits under the Scheme within prescribed timeframes, and Form 4 for the Designated Authority's discharge order. The Commissioner will verify Form 4 against the Authority's copy and remove the appeal from pendency; such disposal has no binding precedent value.

Interest on warehoused goods payable at ex bonding; bank guarantee now secures extensions, removing upfront interest requirement.
The prior requirement to collect interest before allowing extensions of warehousing, and to issue demand notices for such interest, is removed. Interest, if payable, shall be paid at the time of ex bonding. In lieu of upfront interest collection, importers must furnish a bank guarantee (a percentage of duty and interest) before an extension is granted, with specified industry exemptions.

Ex-bond bill of entry filing on ICES required; customs station of import to assess and warehouses to verify via ICEGATE.
Importers must file ex-bond bills of entry on ICES for clearance of warehoused goods; the customs station of import will assess those bills. The assessed bill copy must be presented to the warehouse bond officer, who will verify particulars on ICEGATE and, if matched, permit removal by affixing a dated signature. On mismatch, the bond officer shall withhold removal and report to the appropriate Deputy/Assistant Commissioner for resolution with the customs station of import. Bonds and security are to be executed at the customs station of import, and EDI-based warehouse coding and monitoring will support administration.

Security under Customs Act: waivers for specified imports and staged bank guarantee requirements for warehoused goods.
Section 59(3) requires importers to furnish security in addition to a bond for warehoused goods; specific categories (government imports, power-project machinery, project imports, petroleum, shipbuilding inputs, manufacture-in-bond units, supplies to diplomats/duty-free shops/ship and airline stores) are exempt. Transit requires comprehensive transit risk insurance in favour of the President of India covering duty for movements between customs stations and warehouses, with limited waivers. Storage follows staged bank guarantee requirements after the initial one-year free period, higher rates for sensitive goods, special rules for private bonded warehouses, and port-level extension authority vested in the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs.

Coastal carriage exemptions streamline customs formalities while mandating coastal manifests and marking for domestic coastal shipments.
Coastal vessels carrying exclusively domestic coastal goods are exempted from specified Customs Act formalities, with a new requirement that coastal arrival and departure manifests be prepared in duplicate and submitted to the proper officer before arrival and departure when operating at EXIM berths. Containers and non containerised consignments must be marked "For Coastal Carriage Only," containers sealed with tamper proof one time seals, and no routine examination of coastal goods is required. The relaxations apply to Indian vessels and eligible foreign vessels under the Ministry of Shipping policy, subject to safeguards including random preventive checks and separate berthing where both coastal and foreign traffic exist.

Custodianship of premises granted for perishable handling, subject to notified conditions and commissioner concurrence.
Custodianship is granted to M/s Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited for the Perishable Handling Centre ''AISATS Cool Port'' as an additional premises under the existing Air Cargo Complex custodian arrangement, subject to the conditions of Notification No. 23/2008 and the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009, with alterations to buildings or plans requiring the Commissioner of Customs' concurrence and the custodianship being co-terminus with the existing notified custodianship.

Licensing of special warehouses governs storage for duty free, ship, airline and diplomatic stores with transitional licensing requirements.
Insertion of Section 58A creates a licensing regime for special warehouses storing dutiable goods for duty free shops, ship stores, airline stores and diplomatic stores; Board notifications and regulations specify eligible end uses. Existing licensees may operate under customs lock during a limited transitional period but must apply under the Special Warehouse Licensing Regulation within the prescribed window to continue storage beyond that period. Duty free shops in customs areas are treated as points of sale, not warehouses; city and airport warehouses that can be customs locked qualify for licensing. Recovery of costs may be by merchant over time or cost recovery as determined locally.

One-time-lock requirement mandates serialised bottle seals endorsed on entry and transport documents to permit warehouse deposit.
Containers or closed conveyances removed from a customs station for deposit into a warehouse must be affixed by the proper officer with a serially numbered one-time-lock bottle seal; the OTL number and date/time of affixation must be endorsed on the bill of entry and transport document. Warehouse keepers inspect seals and permit unloading only if seals are intact. Customs stations must record the OTL number, bill of entry, truck/container number, date/time and the affixing officer's details. The Commissioner may exempt movements where the nature or transport of goods makes sealing impracticable.

Triple duty bond requirement now mandates bond for warehoused imports, covering movement and accounting obligations.
An importer must execute a triple duty bond at the customs station of import for goods cleared into a warehouse, the bond remaining valid until goods are cleared for home consumption or exported. The bond covers movement from the import station to the warehouse, transfers between warehouses, and the due accounting of goods while stored. The prescribed bond formats have been finalized and supersede earlier bond forms.

Solvency certificate requirement: importers must furnish bank solvency equal to stated maximum duty when applying for private bonded warehouse license.
Applicants for private bonded warehouse licences must furnish a solvency certificate from a scheduled bank equivalent to the maximum customs duty they declare will be involved on goods stored at any one time. Central, State and Union Territory administrations and their undertakings are exempt. EoUs, EHTP and STPI units are exempt because their security arrangements are governed by the Foreign Trade Policy. Solvency requirements for AEOs and ACPs are governed by their respective circulars.