Duty drawback eligibility expanded to include additional customs duty paid through DEPB debit, aligning with CENVAT adjustment.
Additional customs duty paid by debit under the DEPB scheme shall be allowed as part of the brand rate of duty drawback, aligning with the Foreign Trade Policy provision permitting adjustment of additional customs duty/excise duty paid in cash or through DEPB as CENVAT credit or Duty Drawback, and thereby modifying the earlier circular that limited allowance to cash-paid duty.

Cargo registration time limits require presentation and inspection within prescribed windows, with exceptions only by prior permission.
Regulation sets registration and examination windows at the Air Cargo Complex: export promotion scheme and job-work shipping bills must be registered and examined within a daytime window, while other shipping bills follow existing extended registration hours. Early registration with late physical presentation is irregular and may be sanctioned. Extensions beyond prescribed windows require prior permission from the Additional Commissioner (Exports) or Commissioner (Exports); implementation difficulties should be reported to the Commissioner.

Movement and storage of raw cashew containers to concor yard under custodian responsibility, subject to statutory holding and conditions.
Permission allows movement and storage of imported containers manifested as Raw Cashew to CONCOR yard after the statutory holding period; CONCOR, as custodian, must ensure security, perform auction and disposal with Customs permission, maintain segregated storage, and submit auction and monthly stock statements. IGTPL and CONCOR must jointly apply with shipment particulars, have containers sealed by Container Cell, move them under preventive escort, pay applicable Customs service fees, and maintain reconciled day wise accounts; delivery requires statutory clearances and Customs out of charge, and non compliance may lead to withdrawal of permission.

Service of appeal copies required on respondent adjudicating authority, with proof of service due before the appeal hearing.
Appellants must serve a copy of Central Excise and Customs appeals on the respondent adjudicating authority in addition to filing duplicates with the Commissioner (Appeals), and must submit proof of such service to the Commissioner (Appeals) before the appeal is heard; the Commissioner (Appeals) office will also send hearing intimation memos to the respondent authority contemporaneously, and stakeholders may report implementation difficulties to the Commissioner of Customs.

Export General Manifest filing compliance: airlines must file EGMs electronically promptly or face penalties under customs law.
Airlines must deliver the prescribed EGM to the proper officer and file the Export General Manifest (EGM) electronically via service centre or ICE-GATE, in addition to manual filing before aircraft departure; accurate electronic filing within the specified post-departure timeframe is the Airlines' responsibility and failures, including package-count mismatches between Air Waybills and shipping bills, will attract penal action under Customs law.

Verification authority for iCERT Digital Signature expanded to Customs Hqrs (Preventive) for Bangalore applicants under supervisory control.
Verification for issuance of iCERT Digital Signature Certificates for ICEGATE transactions is partially modified so that officers of the Customs Headquarters (Preventive) of the Bangalore Customs Commissionerate hold concurrent powers of verification for Bangalore-based importers, exporters and Customs House Agents, to be exercised under the overall supervision of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Office of the Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore.

E auction disposal of confiscated and unclaimed goods mandated, requiring adoption of Chennai software and regular monthly auctions.
The Board directs all Customs disposal units to adopt the Chennai Custom House e auction software immediately and hold regular monthly e auctions to dispose of confiscated goods, time expired warehoused goods and uncleared/unclaimed cargo subject to Section 48; Commissioners may depute officers to Chennai for on site study and training, must issue public notice, coordinate with designated Chennai officials for assistance, and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Import restriction on metal scrap: only shredded consignments allowed from specified ports; noncompliance triggers full examination and penalties.
Imported metal scrap from ports listed in Annexure-II to Appendix-V is permitted only in shredded form; import in unshredded, compressed or loose form from those ports is prohibited and treated as a violation of the Foreign Trade Policy. Such consignments must undergo 100% examination and stringent penal action should be initiated for noncompliance.

Use of Rule 2(a) limited: cannot be used to deny notification benefits unless exemption depends on classification.
The Department clarifies that goods must be classified in the form presented and that Rule 2(a) of the General Rules of Interpretation may be used for tariff classification but not for the sole purpose of denying or allowing benefit of an exemption notification unless the notification is explicitly based on classification under a particular heading; pending assessments should be finalized accordingly.

Import restriction on metal scrap: only shredded consignments from specified ports permitted; vigilance urged against diversion.
Imports of metal scrap are permitted only in shredded form from ports listed in Annexure II to Appendix V of the DGFT Handbook; Bandar Abbas is the lone listed port and is treated as a sensitive port due to past detections of explosives and arms in scrap consignments. Customs formations are instructed to watch consignments from nearby ports for diversion, enforce the shredded scrap requirement, undertake security screening and send feedback to the Board.

Waiver of interest: interest is accessory to the principal, so re-exported warehoused goods are no longer eligible for waiver.
The Board adopts the principle that interest is accessory to the principal and has no independent existence, removing warehoused goods subsequently re-exported from the list of cases eligible for interest waiver; paragraph 2(xii) of the 1993 guidelines is deleted and waiver-consideration timings for the remaining eligible categories are revised, with two later-added categories renumbered and all other guidelines left unaltered.

Duty-free purchase permission in Indian currency allows limited purchases by departing nationals subject to ID verification and record checks.
Indian nationals departing on foreign visits may purchase goods from international airport duty free shops in Indian currency up to a specified per-passenger limit only on production of passport or travel documents; duty free shops must maintain records of such sales in Indian currency subject to random checks to prevent misuse, and wide publicity of the permission is required with implementation difficulties to be reported to the Board.

PAN as Unique Identifier: centralized CHA directory requires PAN-based registration for agents to operate across ICES locations.
A centralized PAN-based CHA directory will replace non-unique local registration numbers: verified CHA particulars (including self-attested PAN and license copies and ICES registration particulars) must be submitted at the designated Service Centre, checked by the Service Centre and the CHA Section, and then loaded onto a central server for replication to all ICES locations; PAN will be the compulsory unique CHA identifier and failure to update will prevent use of prior registration numbers.

Digital Signature Requirement: ICEGATE filings must use Class Three certificates issued by iCERT to enable secure electronic transactions.
All shipping bills and bills of entry filed through ICEGATE must be digitally signed and authenticated with Class Three Digital Signature Certificates issued by iCERT; subscribers must register electronically on the iCERT website, undergo jurisdictional verification and receive certificates by e-mail, with a one-time subscription for two-year validity and temporary waiver of fees during the current financial year.

Non-acceptance of pre-shipment inspection certificates; named agencies' certificates must be refused for scrap imports.
Directive instructing non-acceptance of Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificates for imports of metallic waste and scrap issued by M/s. Alex Stewart International Corporation, BV, Rotterdam, M/s. BSI Inspectorate Ltd. Essex and M/s. Intertek Group Plc, London, which were found false and blacklisted by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade; field formations must refuse such certificates and take necessary action to enforce the instruction.

Concessional customs duty and excise exemption for renewable power project equipment subject to Ministry certification.
Concessional customs duty and full excise exemption apply to machinery, apparatus, appliances and components required for initial setting up of power projects using specified non-conventional materials, subject to certification by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources. Imports of such goods are also eligible for exemption from additional customs duty where the excise exemption applies, provided the importer produces the requisite Ministry certificate.

Courier clearance procedures require segregated filing, mandatory X ray screening and formal detention for discrepant consignments.
Courier operations require segregation of consignments into documents, samples/gifts and dutiable goods and submission of CSB I/II for exports and CBE I-V for imports. All courier bags are subject to 100% X ray screening and percentage based physical examination; discrepancies lead to formal detention memos, examination, and possible reassessment. Filing, serialisation, airline and CBC endorsements, reconciliation of manifests and Bills of Entry, prior filing on documentary proof, and custodian custody with 'out of charge' release are mandatory procedural steps.

Bank Realisation Certificate entry requirement suspended, affecting drawback shipping bill processing pending Board review.
Amendment to ICES introduced a BRC verification module requiring entry of Bank Realisation Certificates for drawback shipping bills to monitor bank realisation of export proceeds; following trade representations about hardship caused by blocking drawback where earlier BRCs were not submitted, the Board is examining the issue and operation of the BRC module has been suspended until further notice.

Import permit requirement for boric acid now mandated for non insecticidal uses, enforced via CIB&RC recommendation.
Importation of boric acid for identified non insecticidal uses is permitted only on the basis of an import permit issued by the Central Insecticide Board & Registration Committee (CIB&RC) of the Ministry of Agriculture, issued on the recommendation of the nodal Administrative Ministry; customs field formations must follow the Ministry of Agriculture's instructions and finalize pending assessments accordingly.

Disposal of seized vehicles: directive to inventory, maintain, and promptly dispose assets under customs disposal rules.
Field formations must immediately inventory seized/confiscated vehicles and effect prompt disposal per Board instructions: ensure proper garaging and periodic engine running, limit departmental use of confiscated vehicles to exigencies with prior approval, delegate limited maintenance expenditure to Heads of Department, finalise adjudication within one month and enforce short redemption/re-export periods with a final notice before disposal, remove secret compartments before sale, and where not retained for official use dispose by widely publicised auction to secure best price; report difficulties to the Board.