Import manifest filing required prior to vessel arrival under amended Customs Act; complete IGM must be submitted via EDI.
Amendment to the Customs Act requires the person in charge of a vessel or a notified person to deliver the Import Manifest to the proper officer prior to vessel arrival in the prescribed form. Existing public notices on IGM filing are modified to require complete IGM submission in advance, and stakeholders including steamer agents and customs house agents must ensure compliance via the EDI system; Public Notices 64/2002 and 82/2002 are amended with immediate effect.

Import restrictions on used printing machines require deterrent fines preventing profit from prohibited imports and deliberate breaches.
Field formations are directed to act on the prior Board Alert concerning importation of second hand printing machinery over ten years old and to adjudicate such contraventions seriously. Fines and penalties must be set so that importers cannot make a profit from use or resale of prohibited machines and must be commensurate with deliberate breaches of the EXIM Policy, providing an effective deterrent.

Designated land customs stations required for export container movement to Bangladesh and Nepal, restricting routing through specified LCSs.
The public notice substitutes the earlier provision to require that export container cargo from ICDs/CFSs to Bangladesh and Nepal be moved only via designated Land Customs Stations: Petrapole and Gede for Bangladesh, and Raxaul and Naktanwa (Sonauli) for Nepal. Trade associations and related bodies are requested to communicate this routing requirement to their members.

Temporary vehicle importation under Carnet-de-passage: customs must expedite clearance, avoid routine demand confirmations, and consult FIAA.
Customs formations must treat carnet holders with respect, expedite clearance, and avoid routine confirmation of demand notices for vehicles not recorded as exported; where demand notices are issued, a copy must be served on the Federation of Indian Automobile Associations and their response sought before confirming the demand, and field formations should improve communication on vehicle movements and report persistent problems to the Board.

Customs exemption for foreign gift goods authorises central excise assistant commissioners to issue distribution certificates under bilateral agreements.
Goods gifted free of cost under specified bilateral agreements are exempted from payment of customs duty under Sl. No. 8 of Notification No. 148/94 Cus but must meet bilateral agreement conditions. Where agreements require a certificate confirming distribution to the poor and needy, the Board authorises jurisdictional Assistant Commissioners/Deputy Commissioners of Central Excise to issue the required distribution certificates for imports under those agreements.

Anti-dumping duty withdrawal on Fused Magnesia confirmed and applied retrospectively following Designated Authority review.
The Designated Authority reviewed the final findings and recommended discontinuance and retrospective withdrawal of the anti-dumping duty on Fused Magnesia originating in or exported from China PR; the Government accepted the recommendations and issued a rescission notification, with the duty clarified as withdrawn retrospectively from 1-10-1999.

Bank guarantee concession extended to manufacturer exporters, reducing guarantee burdens and requiring verification to prevent bogus licences.
Revises bond and bank guarantee norms under Advance License and EPCG schemes by defining importer categories and guarantee requirements: specified trading houses, status holders and qualifying manufacturer exporters are exempt from bank guarantees; other manufacturer exporters qualify for a 25% bank guarantee concession; remaining applicants must furnish full security. Bond wording is amended to allow backing by bank guarantee, cash security or surety, with solvency certification for sureties and no surety required for public sector undertakings. DGFT and Central Excise must coordinate verification of licensees and issue export performance certificates for units outside Central Excise control.

Rules of Origin circumvention prompts suspension of preferential copper exports and potential withdrawal of concessions under agreement.
Surge in copper imports from Sri Lanka is attributed to circumvention of the Rules of Origin 35% value addition requirement via under invoicing and manipulation; Sri Lanka lacks upstream copper processing capacity to meet 35% value addition. Indian authorities have requested immediate cessation of exports of copper strips and profiles and suspension of other copper exports within six weeks, will honour existing origin certificates until further notice, and consider the situation a critical circumstance warranting possible withdrawal of preferential concessions under the Agreement.

DEPB Scheme TRA procedure: central excise officers may act as customs officers to permit bonded warehouse clearances with reporting.
Where a bonded warehouse falls under central excise jurisdiction, the custom house at the DEPB scrip's port of registration will issue the TRA to that central excise commissionerate, and central excise officers shall function as customs officers to permit clearance of goods against TRA while the officer in-charge determines importability under the Customs Act; clearance details must be forwarded to the issuing custom house to enable monitoring of TRA/DEPB Licence utilization.

Personal carriage of goods: specified Customs procedure enables EOUs to export and import non commercial items via passenger carriage.
Procedure sets a stepwise Customs regime for 100% EOUs to export/import goods by personal carriage at Bangalore Airport: exporters submit authorization, passport and air ticket, obtain in principle clearance, file a four copy Shipping Bill with supporting documents, undergo Customs assessment and examination (with Jewellery Appraiser where applicable), receive a JAC and sealed goods for carriage with endorsed duplicate Shipping Bill as proof of shipment; imports follow the reverse process with Bill of Entry, Procurement Certificate, examination and release.

Mis-declaration of import classification prompts scrutiny under concessional import duty rules and valuation compliance obligations.
Mis-declaration of complete CD-deck mechanisms as individual parts to secure concessional customs duty is reported; the notification grants concessional rates only for specified parts when importers follow the prescribed concessional import rules. Examiners and valuers are directed to exercise due caution in classification, examination and valuation, using manufacturers' catalogues, product literature and domestic agent verification, and to be alert to under-invoicing of these mechanisms.

BOPP film classification: eligibility for concessional customs duty is prospective and confined to the amended tariff entry.
An explanation added to a tariff notification that defines plain plastic film to include Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) film has prospective effect and applies only to the specific tariff entry where it was inserted; the amendment under one entry does not extend to another entry absent an express insertion, and BOPP eligibility under the other entry arises only from the date that entry was separately amended.

Eligibility of blank intraocular lenses for customs exemption affirmed due to retained optical properties and limited post-import work.
The Board clarifies that a Blank Intra-Ocular Lens, produced from medical-grade PMMA and presenting the finished lens's optical and functional properties at import, is to be treated as an "Intra-Ocular lens" for tariff purposes because post-import activities (right-sizing haptics, sterilisation and packing) do not change lens properties, and therefore it is eligible for the customs exemption under the cited notification.

SEZs treated as foreign territory: supplies to and from SEZs are governed by customs law, altering export import treatment.
Chapter XA and the SEZ Rules/Regulations treat Special Economic Zones as foreign territory for customs purposes so that supplies from DTA to SEZ are exports and supplies from SEZ to DTA are imports, governed by the Customs Act and Customs Tariff Act rather than the Central Excise Act; goods admitted to SEZs are exempt from customs duties by statute, units and developers must execute bonds and maintain accounts, goods must be utilised/reexported/cleared within five years or duty and interest apply, and specific procedural, monitoring, transfer, temporary removal and closure rules govern SEZ operations.

Telegraphic Release Advice issuance: TRA may be granted on declared import value while port of import verifies eligibility.
TRA under Advance License/DEPB/DFRC schemes may be issued by the Customs House at the port of registration without requesting invoice, packing list or bill of lading, based on the import value declared by the licence holder. The port of registration shall notify the Customs House at the port of import, which bears responsibility to decide on validity, eligibility and importability of the goods using import documents and the relevant licence.

Disposal of hazardous waste: maintain status quo; adjudication and confiscation proceedings stayed pending final judicial determination.
A pending writ petition on import and disposal of hazardous waste requires maintaining the status quo: disposal of hazardous consignments at ports/ICDs/CFSs must not proceed until final judicial determination. Adjudication and confiscation under the Customs Act are to be held in abeyance because key issues on disposal and sale remain undecided and confiscation would transfer ownership and responsibilities to the Central Government.

Self-declaration of non availment of Cenvat accepted for duty drawback; random Central Excise verification and penalties follow.
Self declaration of non availment of Cenvat is acceptable in place of a Central Excise certificate for duty drawback claims by non registered manufacturer exporters and merchant exporters supported by non registered manufacturers, and the same approach applies to pending cases; selected declarations will be sent for random verification by Central Excise and mis declarations will attract exemplary penalties.

Mis-handled baggage clearance requires staged storage, mandatory re-scanning, dual custody and Customs disposal for unclaimed items.
Procedure establishes two sequential MHB storage areas-MHB-WH-I for short-term holding and MHB-WH-II for extended holding-with AOC responsible for infrastructure, AOC cards and register entries. Re-scanning is mandatory; suspected contraband or trade-quantity goods require examination, inventory and sealing in presence of witnesses and AOC before storage. Dual custody with separate locks for Customs and AOC governs access. Release requires re-screening and register formalities; authorised agents may clear baggage for passengers. Unclaimed baggage remaining in extended storage beyond the retention period will be inventoried, transferred and disposed of by Customs without further reference to carriers.

Limit on agency commission for exports maintained; commissions above the prescribed RBI limit excluded from FOB for export benefits.
Customs confirms that agency commission up to 12.5% of the f.o.b. value shall be included in f.o.b. valuation for granting export benefits under Duty Drawback, DEPB and related schemes; any agency commission exceeding that limit must be deducted from the f.o.b. value for entitlement calculations under Drawback, DEPB, Advance Licence and DFRC schemes.

Prospective amendment to tariff notification excludes gambier, prior imports eligible for benefit under earlier notification.
Amendment to Notification No. 76/86 by Notification No. 16/2003 excludes gambier prospectively. Because tribunal authority treated katha and gambier as synonymous, past imports and pending provisional assessments are to be finalized extending the benefit of Notification No. 76/86 to gambier; from the amendment date the benefit will not apply to gambier and Public Notices should be issued.