Export transhipment controls: ETP filing with registered TP bond enables electronic routing and Allowed for Shipment entry.
An Export Transhipment (ETP) Module in ICES requires filing an ETP application at JNCH after stuffing report or LEO, supported by a registered Transhipment (TP) Bond and bank guarantee by the carrier/custodian. The Preventive Superintendent at the originating CFS approves the ETP, an approved permit accompanies the container to the gateway port, where preventive checks enable an Allowed for Shipment entry in ICES. After Allowed for Shipment the steamer agent files EGM at gateway port and the bond debit is re-credited; the ETP approval also routes the shipping bill for drawback processing.

Customs duty on remnant aviation fuel: provisional clearance via advance deposit and post arrival final assessment.
Procedure enables provisional clearance of remnant ATF by filing a Prior Bill of Entry with estimated quantities, provisional assessment secured by a Provisional Duty Bond and debiting duty from an Advance Duty Deposit. Post landing quantity is verified by designated oil officers against pilot/flight engineer declarations; final assessment follows on submission of manifested details, with any additional duty debited from the deposit and audits and manifest closure completed to record duty payment and permit domestic departure.

Abolition of Group 7 reallocates scheme filings to regular assessment groups and mandates PFMS validation for drawback payments.
Abolition of Assessment Group 7 in ICES requires scheme/licence Bills of Entry to be allocated to existing assessment groups by highest assessable item classification and processed under the First-in First-out rule; pending BEs filed on or before 07.05.2018 remain in the former group. Exports measures: e-payment via ICEGATE is enabled for export duty/cess and PFMS bank account validation is mandatory for drawback payments, with payments withheld if PFMS validation fails, moving drawback disbursements toward full electronic processing.

Abolition of Group VII in ICES reallocates license bills and mandates e payment plus PFMS validation for drawback.
Group VII in ICES has been discontinued effective 08.05.2018; pre-existing bills pending assessment remain in the old group, while new License/Scheme bills will be allocated to Groups 1-6 by highest assessable value and processed FIFO. Export measures: e-payment via ICEGATE enabled for export duty/cess, and PFMS bank account validation is now mandatory for Drawback-shipping bills not PFMS-accepted will be excluded from the final Drawback scroll-to move Drawback payments toward full electronic disbursement.

Abolition of customs Grouping reallocates Bills of Entry and requires electronic export payments plus PFMS validation for Drawback.
Abolition of Group VII in ICES reallocates new License/Scheme Bills of Entry to Groups 1-6 based on the classification with the highest assessable value, with pre existing pending Bills remaining in the former group and all Bills following the First in First out rule. Export measures enable e payment of export duty/cess via ICEGATE and mandate PFMS bank account validation for Drawback; Shipping Bills not PFMS accepted will be excluded from the final Drawback scroll, promoting electronic Drawback disbursement.

Abolition of Group-7: export bills reallocated across groups; e-payment enabled and PFMS validation required for drawback.
Group-7 in ICES is discontinued; pending Bills of Entry filed before discontinuation remain in that group, while new licence/scheme export bills are allocated to Groups 1-6 by item classification and follow the First-in-First-out rule. E-payment for export duty/cess via ICEGATE is operationalized. PFMS bank-account validation is mandatory for Drawback and shipping bills will not be included in the final drawback scroll unless the exporter's account is PFMS-accepted, as part of moving Drawback payments to a fully electronic PFMS process.

Electronic sealing for export containers: exporters granted self-sealing and factory stuffing subject to verification and GST addition.
Exporters authorised for self-sealing and factory stuffing may stuff and electronically seal containers at approved stuffing premises in Pune, subject to conditions including addition of stuffing premises in GST registration, presence of Customs Officer for specified consignments, and verification of residential addresses, bank accounts and antecedents; a list of exporters granted such permissions Jan-Apr 2018 is published and the public notice remains effective.

Tramadol added to psychotropic substances schedule, triggering NDPS Act controls on manufacture, possession, import and export.
Tramadol has been inserted into the Schedule to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 as a psychotropic substance (new serial entry 110Y), bringing it within the Act's prohibition on unauthorised production, manufacture, possession, sale, transport, import, export and transhipment except for medical or scientific purposes under licence or permit. Customs has notified exporters, importers and brokers and directed officers to treat implementation as a standing order and to address operational difficulties to the designated customs appraising main (export) office.

Import compliance for hazardous chemicals - notification, safety data sheets and transport and storage obligations required.
Importers of hazardous chemicals must notify the designated State authority at import or within thirty days, providing recipient details, port of entry, transport mode, quantity and a Safety Data Sheet in Schedule 9 format; maintain Schedule 10 records available for inspection; ensure transport complies with motor vehicle regulations; store consignments in customs bonded warehouses or approved terminals with proper equipment and trained personnel; and comply with State directions, including possible stoppage of imports and coordination with port authorities for safe handling.

Customs compliance: restrict first check assessments and ensure original authenticated documents for duty exemption claims.
Importers and customs brokers must restrict first check assessment requests to necessary cases, ensure Bills of Entry contain accurate generic descriptions, correct CTH and matching UQC, and use advance filing to expedite clearance. Duty exemptions require original, authenticated supporting documents including Country of Origin Certificates uploaded to e-Sanchit; technical literature, analysis reports and MSDS must accompany relevant imports. Packages must be serially numbered and marked to facilitate examination. Non-compliance may lead to action under Custom Brokers Licensing Regulations.

Accounting codes for Road and Infrastructure Cess and Social Welfare Surcharge updated; use specified reduced remittance codes.
New accounting classifications require use of prescribed reduced accounting codes for remittance and accounting of Road and Infrastructure Cess and Social Welfare Surcharge. Two new minor heads and corresponding sub heads for Cess Collection and Deduct Refunds were inserted and specific reduced accounting codes allotted by the Controller General of Accounts; affected stakeholders must use these codes for remittance and treat the instruction as a standing order, reporting implementation difficulties to the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive).

Shut out cargo procedures require manual shipping bill endorsements and ICES cancellations to enable vessel amendment or re-export.
Public Notice prescribes procedures for shut out cargo and back to town export movements: for complete shut out the port Superintendent must endorse the shipping bill to record vessel change and exporters/CHAs must obtain amendments at the CFS/port before the first vessel sailing date is fed into ICES; for partial shut out DC/AC (Export) cancels LEO to permit quantity amendment and remaining cargo must be refiled on a fresh shipping bill for the next vessel. For back to town, DC/AC (Export) may permit returns on paper, mark shipping bills for examination, cancel LEO where required, use ICES options for shut out and cancellation, and ensure quantity amendments for partial returns without cancelling the shipping bill.

Customs warehouse licensing requires prescribed applications, audit trail electronic records, OTL-secured movements, and monthly Form-A/Form-B returns.
Applicants for new public, private and special bonded warehouse licences must use the Board's prescribed unaltered application, submit attested supporting documents, prove site ownership or lease with approved ground plans and security/fire clearance, provide personnel and authorization details, and furnish solvency certificates, insurance and undertakings. All licensees must maintain electronic Form A records with an audit trail, secure movements under a one-time-lock with OTL details endorsed on bills, and file monthly Form-A/Form-B returns within ten days after month end, complying with custody, handling and removal procedures in the 2016 Warehouse Regulations and Board circulars.

Classification of solar panels with bypass or blocking diodes: bypass diodes treated as photovoltaic modules; blocking diodes as electrical machines.
The Notice clarifies tariff classification of solar panels/modules with elements: modules whose elements supply power to external loads are classifiable as electrical machines, while those whose elements do not supply external loads (and modules without elements) are classifiable as photovoltaic modules. Bypass diodes, which divert current around shaded cell strings, do not control current direction and therefore support classification under the photovoltaic module heading. Blocking diodes, which prevent reverse flow and control current direction, support classification under the electrical machines heading; modules with both diodes are classifiable as electrical machines.

Direct Port Delivery expansion to listed importers - obtain unique DPD code and comply with existing DPD conditions.
DPD facility is extended to the importers listed in the Annexure and they must obtain a unique DPD code from JNPCT, comply with conditions of earlier public notices (as modified), submit the prescribed one time intimation, and note that part delivery is available only to manufacturer importers; this Public Notice serves as the permission letter and instructions take effect as standing orders, with DPD Cell contact for difficulties.

Customs impersonation fraud warning: do not pay alleged customs charges into personal accounts; verify via official channels.
Fraudulent actors impersonate Customs officers to extort money by claiming customs dues for alleged gifts or consignments and directing payments into personal bank accounts; bona fide Customs never request payments into personal accounts and all duties must be paid through nominated nationalized banks or government channels. The public should verify authenticity by demanding Airway Bill or Bill of Entry from couriers and contact designated Customs officials at the airport Customs office to confirm suspicious calls or emails before making any payment.

Out-of-scope classification: specified HS-coded non-food items excluded from FSSAI referral; rely on revised annexure lists.
Specific non-food goods listed by HS code in Annexure-A1 and Annexure-A2 are declared out of scope of FSSAI certification and should not be referred to FSSAI for import clearance; the notice supplements earlier public notices, leaves other provisions of Public Notice No. 09/2018 unchanged, directs officers to treat the notice as a standing order, and notes that the annexured HS codes are indicative as provided by FSSAI and do not affect Customs assessment.

Transitional import-export policy: pre-change shipments unaffected; post-change shipments require pre-existing irrevocable commercial LC and registration.
Item-specific import/export permissions follow the policy in force on the date of import/export, determined principally by Bill of Lading and Shipping Bill. Policy changes from free to restricted/prohibited do not affect shipments completed before the restriction, but exclude high sea sales. Post-restriction shipments are permitted only if the importer/exporter had an Irrevocable Commercial Letter of Credit (ICLC) in place before the restriction, limited to remaining quantity, value and period, and the ICLC is registered with the jurisdictional authority within fifteen days of restriction. Changes apply prospectively unless stated otherwise.

Duty free import procedure clarified: prior district approval not required; import station information suffices subject to jurisdictional scrutiny.
Submission of information by an EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP to the DC/AC at the Customs Station of importation under Rule 5(1)(a) is sufficient to obtain duty free import under the exemption notification; prior approval by the Jurisdictional DC/AC is not a precondition. The Jurisdictional DC/AC must scrutinize the intimations to confirm eligibility under the exemption and any Letter of Permission, forward one copy to the import station, and the import station shall reconcile Bills of Entry and report discrepancies for revenue protection.

Importer identification and KYC compliance required; brokers must verify documents and accurate declarations to ensure smooth clearance.
Customs mandates strict KYC norms for Bill of Entry filing: custom brokers must verify client antecedents, IEC correctness, identity, and declared address using reliable authentic documents and, as necessary, confirm financial capacity by reviewing recent income tax returns, purchase orders, and bank attested invoices; brokers must submit accurate declarations including generic product descriptions, correct tariff classification, and matching unit quantity codes to ensure smooth clearance.