Paperless duty credit scrips for EDI-registered exports enable electronic transmission and ICES-based debiting, restricting use at non-EDI ports.
MEIS/SEIS scrips for ports with EDI registration will be issued and transmitted electronically; owners must present scrip identifiers to Customs who will verify ownership from the DGFT website and effect all debits in ICES. Electronically issued scrips will not receive TRA and cannot be used at non-EDI ports, while physical scrips will continue for non-EDI ports and follow existing TRA and excise endorsement procedures.

Electronic Cargo Tracking System: Nepal-bound transit containers move by rail to Bathnaha then by road for seal unlocking.
Containers under the Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) may move by rail from Kolkata/Haldia to Bathnaha and then by road to ICP Jogbani for ECTS seal unlocking and trip report generation, after which they enter Nepal via ICP Biratnagar; CONCOR may perform road movement via LCS Jogbani as an alternative.

Round-the-clock customs clearance for Nepal and Bhutan transit cargo extended, enabling continuous port operations under transit treaties.
Extension of Round-the-Clock Customs Clearance for Nepal and Bhutan transit cargo removed from N.S. Docks, Kolkata and Haldia Docks is authorised for onward transit under the Treaty of Transit with Nepal, the Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit with Bhutan, and the ECTS procedure for Nepal transit; the facility also covers Nepal and Bhutan transit exports through the named docks, with operational queries directed to the Nepal/Bhutan Unit at Custom House, Kolkata.

Shipping bill deemed filed on electronic declaration completion; electronic clearance and five year document retention required, breaches penalised.
A shipping bill is deemed filed and self-assessment completed when a shipping bill number is generated on ICEGATE after entry of the electronic integrated declaration; post-assessment, payment and any required examination, an electronic clearance order may be recorded on ICEGATE and conveyed to the authorised person and others. The authorised person must retain the assessed shipping bill and original supporting documents for five years and may obtain an authenticated copy for compliance; breaches of the Regulations attract a monetary penalty as specified.

Direct Port Delivery facility extended to major manufacturer importers at Adani Hazira Port with registration, 48 hour evacuation and reporting requirements.
Extension of the Direct Port Delivery (DPD) facility at Adani Hazira Port makes AEO holders and listed major manufacturer importers eligible, allows other manufacturer importers to apply to the Deputy Commissioner (DPD), and limits DPD to FCL containers under RMS facilitated Bills of Entry except where PGA sampling/NOC applies. The notice prescribes registration documents, 72 hour advance intimation and Bill of Lading requirements, 48 hour container evacuation from landing, stacking codes and terminal duties, OOC procedures at the DPD Facilitation Centre, handling of PGA/NOC and examination cases, and monthly reporting obligations.

Facilitation cell for Turant Customs expedites clearance of facilitated Bills of Entry across designated ports under FIFO.
Creation of a new Facilitation Cell at Custom House, Visakhapatnam to clear facilitated Bills of Entry for Visakhapatnam Port, Gangavaram Port and Visakhapatnam Air Cargo Complex; officers will grant Out of Charge when facilitated Bills of Entry reach the FIFO queue after registration by the importer/Custodian, and the Certificate of Origin will be verified by AC (Docks); implementation difficulties to be reported to AC/DC (EDI).

Electronic sealing for export containers: additional exporters granted self-sealing and factory-stuffing permissions under notified procedures.
The addendum authorises additional exporters, including AEOs and holders of self-sealing/factory-stuffing permission, to conduct self-sealing and factory stuffing of export containers at their registered stuffing premises in accordance with the Board circulars referenced; it attaches detailed lists of authorised exporters and confirms that all other terms of Public Notice No. 31/2017 and prior addenda remain unchanged.

IGST refunds: exporters must submit Concordance table for SB003/SB005 and rectify EGM for SB002/SB006 to enable sanction.
Exporters whose shipping bills (filed up to 15.11.2018) show SB003 and SB005 errors must submit all relevant documents including the Concordance table (Annexure A of Circular 05/2018-Cus) for sanction of IGST refunds; exporters with SB002 and SB006 errors must rectify their EGM errors to enable processing of their refunds through the Officer Interface.

Submission of original documents: submit originals to the customs officer before replying to queries to avoid processing delays.
Where an Out of Charge officer raises a query on a Bill of Entry requiring production or debiting of original certificates or documents, the importer or Customs broker must first submit the original document to the concerned officer for verification/debiting and only thereafter submit the electronic reply to the query, to enable timely processing of the Bill of Entry and avoid repeat queries.

Refund of accumulated input tax credit: claim process requires officer calculation and electronic credit ledger debit before payment.
Clarifies procedures for refunding accumulated input tax credit where ITC reversals or specified supplier notifications apply: affected taxpayers may, as a one time measure for the same period of reversal, claim refunds under "any other" in FORM GST RFD 01A with required documentation; the proper officer will calculate admissible refund under CGST Rules, require debit from the electronic credit ledger via FORM GST DRC 03, and upon receipt of proof issue the refund order and payment advice. Late reversals attract interest and refunds follow only after reversal and interest payment. Merchant exporter claims involving supplier notifications follow analogous steps.

Paperless duty credit scrips: electronic transmission to Customs replaces physical MEIS/SEIS copies for EDI-registered ports.
Paperless Duty Credit Scrips issued by DGFT for EDI-registered ports will be transmitted electronically to Customs and visible in ICES; exporters shall present scrip details (IEC, scrip number) to the proper officer instead of physical security-paper copies, with ownership verified via the DGFT website. All debits will be recorded in ICES, proper officers will verify correctness of electronic debits, no TRA will be issued for paperless scrips (restricting use to EDI ports), and physical scrips with TRA will continue for non-EDI ports.

Paperless duty credit scrips: electronic transmission to Customs and ICES-only debiting for EDI-registered scrips.
DGFT has phased out physical MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips for EDI-registered ports, transmitting such scrips electronically to Customs and making them visible in ICES; owners or authorised representatives must provide scrip identifiers for registration, assessment and debiting, with ownership verified via the DGFT website. Debits will be made only in ICES, no TRA will be issued for paperless scrips (thus they cannot be used at non-EDI ports), and DGFT will continue issuing physical scrips for non-EDI ports with TRA facility intact. Central Excise procedures were amended accordingly.

Automated Out of Charge queuing requires online Bill of Entry registration; upload documents and follow SUP activation procedures.
Automated queuing in ICES 1.5 places Bills of Entry before the SUP-role superintendent for Out of Charge on a FIFO basis once importers or customs brokers register online; physical presentation for registration at RMS is generally dispensed with. Exceptions: first-check BsE must be mapped to CFS/custodian by shed officers, certain query-reply workflows were fixed so importers can respond via Service Centre, AEO BsE receive prioritization, and facilitated BsE misrouting after suspicious scans has been corrected by ensuring CFS codes are entered at INS submission or SUP activation. Trade must upload supporting documents to e-sanchit, monitor container scan status, and approach RMS or CFS officers only where specified.

Paperless duty credit scrips: electronic MEIS/SEIS scrips transmitted to Customs and usable only at EDI ports.
Physical MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips issued for EDI ports are being phased out and replaced by electronic transmission from DGFT to ICES. Scrip details and ownership information will be accessible online for verification; debits will be made and verified in ICES without physical presentation. Paperless scrips issued for EDI ports will not have TRA issuance and cannot be used at non EDI ports, while physical scrips will continue to be issued for non EDI ports with TRA facility.

Denotification of Customs Area removes designated CFS sheds and open areas from customs handling and jurisdiction.
Denotification removes specified covered and open areas from customs jurisdiction at the CWC Virugambakkam Container Freight Station on the warehouse operator's request; the Commissioner exercised statutory denotification powers to exclude particular sheds and open areas from handling customs cargo, quantified the de-notified and remaining customs areas, and set an effective date by Public Notice.

Weight variation rules: minor deviations ignored, moderate excess duties recovered manually, larger deviations trigger adjudication.
Deviation bands govern weighment-based assessment: up to 1% variance ignored; 1%-5% variance requires inclusion of the excess goods' value in assessable value and manual recovery of differential duty at the Customs House cashier with departmental comments and register entry, without initiating adjudication; variance exceeding 5% will trigger adjudication under applicable law. Marble blocks, slabs and restricted goods are excluded and continue to be dealt with according to law.

Exporters must submit self sealing permission applications and email shipment intimations in excel for export containers under self sealing procedure.
Exporters must apply for one time Self Sealing Permission using Annexure A with specified supporting documents and must intimate each instance of self sealing using Annexure B. The intimation must include permission reference, export date, approved premises address, goods description and quantity, ICD/port, destination, container and seal numbers if available, and whether an export incentive is claimed; intimations are to be sent in Excel format to the designated email address.

Paperless MEIS/SEIS scrips now transmitted electronically; usable only at EDI ports and verified via DGFT portal.
Physical MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips for EDI-registered exports are replaced by electronic transmission from DGFT to ICES; Customs will register, assess and debit scrips in ICES on presentation of scrip identifiers, with ownership verified via the DGFT website, and proper officers verifying electronic debits instead of inspecting security-paper copies. Paperless scrips will not receive TRA and thus cannot be used at non-EDI ports; physical scrips and TRA remain for non-EDI ports.

Turant Customs reform for Ease of Doing Business to streamline cross border trade; stakeholders to follow phased implementation.
Turant Customs is a next generation, phased reform package instituted to improve India's ranking in the Trading Across Borders category of the Ease of Doing Business index; it is set out in Board's Circular No.09/2019 Customs (copy enclosed) and will be implemented over the coming months to streamline customs processes. Customs Brokers, Exporters, Importers and other stakeholders are directed to note the circular and to report any implementation difficulties to the issuing Commissioner.

Paperless duty credit scrips: electronic issuance and ICES debiting replace physical production for EDI-registered export scrips.
MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips issued with an EDI port as port of registration will be issued electronically and transmitted to the Customs ICES system; owners or authorized representatives must present scrip identifiers to the proper officer, ownership will be verified via the online scrip record, and all debits will be made and verified in ICES only. Paperless scrips for EDI ports will not receive a transferable document authorising removal and cannot be used at non-EDI ports, while physical scrips will continue to be issued for non-EDI ports.