National Calamity Contingent Duty: imported specified goods face both CVD collection and a separate customs duty liability.
Levy of National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) applies to specified goods and, for imports, operates through two separate charges: NCCD recovered as Countervailing Duty and NCCD charged as a Customs duty on import. A notification exempts NCCD when collected as CVD for certain imported specified goods, but no exemption exists for the separate NCCD liability charged as Customs duty on imported goods; field formations are to finalize assessments accordingly.

Concessional duty on gold and silver extended to all importers, excluding imports via post, courier or baggage.
Notification No. 62/2004-Cus. extends concessional rates of customs duty on specified gold and silver items to all importers, removing the prior restriction to certain authorised agencies. The concessional scope covers items classified under Chapter 71 as "gold in any form" or "silver in any form" (excluding jewellery and foreign currency coins), and excludes imports by post, courier or baggage; fineness need not be 24 carats.

Phytosanitary certificate requirement for packaging materials suspended; wood packaging treatment rule scheduled to commence subsequently.
Implementation of a phytosanitary certificate requirement for packaging materials of imported goods was withheld; the Ministry of Agriculture deleted the earlier sub-clauses imposing that requirement and inserted a new provision prescribing treatment of wood packaging materials, with the new provision scheduled to enter into force at a later commencement date.

Phytosanitary certificate requirement suspended; implementation for packaging material imports withheld pending further orders from authorities.
The Department of Revenue directs that implementation of sub clause (22), clause (3) of the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003-requiring phytosanitary certificates for packaging material of imported goods-be withheld from the deferred commencement date and remain suspended until further orders, with the Notification of the Ministry of Agriculture having previously deferred its start date to 1 June 2004.

Seizure notification: Customs must immediately inform custodians when goods are seized, detained or confiscated and confirm receipt.
The Board directs that whenever goods are seized, detained or confiscated the custodian must be informed immediately by Customs or the concerned authority, and authorities are required to take necessary action and record acknowledgement of receipt.

Misuse of FTA origin rules: policy disputes go to Commerce; enforcement referrals directed to customs investigation units.
Allegations of manipulation of country of origin and value addition under the Indo Sri Lanka FTA raise policy and enforcement issues. Policy or dispute settlement matters must be referred to the Ministry of Commerce via the Department of Revenue, while instances suggesting offences-such as gross undervaluation, under invoicing, violation of agreement terms, or undeclared country of origin-must be referred to the Commissionerate Special Investigation Branch or the Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence for investigation.

Assessment of Manual Bills of Entry: tariff-specific appraising groups to assess non-EDI entries, exceptions handled by Group II B.
All manual (non-EDI) Bills of Entry shall be assessed and audited by the Appraising Groups for the respective tariff items, except Direct Delivery Bills of Entry, defence and diplomatic imports, and current newspapers and magazines; Appraising Group II B will undertake assessment and permissions for those exceptions and maintain registers. The import noting section will allocate the "Thoka No." to allowed manual Bills of Entry and keep a register recording B/E and IGM details, importer, goods description, declared assessable value, Appraising Group, CHA/self and remarks.

Cost recovery posts require prior IFU sanction for extension and shared charges when officers serve multiple export units.
Clarifies that cost recovery posts for officers in EOUs and EHTP/STP units are sanctioned annually and require prior IFU sanction for continuation beyond one year; modifies the earlier circular accordingly. Where a cost recovery officer serves more than one EOU, the post cost shall be equally shared among those EOUs and this sharing must be recorded in the posting order; past noncompliance need not be reopened. Cost recovery charges for fully export-oriented units are to be based on the average cost of the post.

Disposal of unclaimed cargo under section 48 extended; custodians allowed additional time to complete disposals and notify trade.
The Board extends the time for completion of disposal processes for unclaimed and uncleared cargo landed up to 31.3.2003 under section 48 of the Customs Act, 1962, permitting custodians-public or private-to complete disposals by 31.12.2004 and directing issuance of public notices to inform trade and custodians of the revised deadline.

Filing of import manifest before arrival amended to add ports; advance IGM procedure continues to apply.
The Circular reiterates that advance filing of Import General Manifests prior to vessel or aircraft arrival is required under the prescribed procedure and amends Annexure-I of Circular No.30/2004-Cus by inserting after Sr. No.10 the entry "11 Colombo Bangalore," directing field formations to ensure strict compliance.

Operationalisation of SEZ customs provisions expands transfer rights and procedural relaxations while preserving safeguards on export incentives.
Operationalisation of Chapter XA implements amended Special Economic Zone Rules and Regulations effective 11 5 2004, liberalising procedures: depreciation for capital goods and computers is by straight line method (full quarter convention, up to 100%); SEZ units may transfer all goods (including raw materials) to EOU/EHTP/STP/SEZ with safeguards against indirect benefit of drawback or DEPB; repayment of export benefits on destruction is not required where payment was received in foreign exchange; procedural changes include endorsed returns to Development Commissioner, bonds with Deputy/Assistant Commissioners, jurisdictional monitoring through Unit Approval Committee, and developer approvals based on Chartered Engineer assessments.

High seas sale transaction value: actual last buyer contract price governs assessment; importer must prove chain of sales.
The actual high seas sale contract price paid by the last buyer constitutes the transaction value under Rule 4 of the Customs Valuation Rules, 1988 when the immediate sale was intended as an export to the country of importation; notional additions of standard high seas charges are inappropriate. The importer must prove the chain of high seas sales by producing original invoice, sale contracts and details of service charges/commissions; if declared value is doubtful, the Department may reject it and apply sequential valuation methods.

High-seas sale valuation: actual high-seas contract price governs customs assessment when it exceeds CIF plus sales charges.
For high-seas sales the transaction on the high seas is the relevant transaction and the last buyer is the importer; declared high-seas sales charges are added to CIF (generally treated as two percent of CIF unless actual charges are higher), and where the actual high-seas sale contract price is known and exceeds CIF plus sales charges, that actual contract price is to be taken as the customs value for assessment.

Import prohibition of hazardous wastes mandates verification, testing, and re-export, destruction or regulated recycling under supervision.
Imports of listed banned hazardous items are prohibited and Notification under the Customs Act has been issued. Port and Customs authorities must verify consignments against authenticated Form 7 from the exporter before clearance and ensure laboratory testing follows criteria prescribed by the pollution control authority. Importers of used oil, furnace oil and zinc wastes must furnish bank guarantees released only after conformity is established. Banned wastes must be re-exported or destroyed at importer's risk; regulated wastes may be released or auctioned to registered recyclers only with Monitoring Committee clearance and supervision.

Export controls on plants require no-objection and cultivation certificates to accompany export documentation for wild and cultivated consignments.
Export consignments of plants, plant parts, derivatives and extracts must be accompanied by a No Objection Certificate from the appropriate wildlife or forest authority; cultivated material from non-forest areas may be exported on production of a Cultivation Certificate from the District Agriculture or Horticulture Officer, with forest/wildlife authorities still issuing transport and CITES permits where applicable. Required certificates must accompany export documentation in strict compliance with the Exim Policy and DGFT notification.

Reward policy for informers and government servants revised to include service tax and set ceilings and sanctioning authorities.
Guidelines extend reward eligibility to informers and Government servants for detections under Customs, Central Excise, NDPS and Service Tax; references to "duty" shall read "duty/Service Tax." The order fixes a career ceiling on total rewards for Government servants, a per case cap for individual officers with provision for exceptional higher sanctions on Board recommendation, and prescribes tiered sanctioning authorities and committees by monetary bands for both informers and Government servants. Service Tax claims are to be processed like Central Excise cases.

Filing Import General Manifest in advance: registration and EDI filing required with transitional relief for short haul movements.
The circular requires advance electronic filing of the Import General Manifest under Section 30 of the Customs Act, 1962, prescribes registration formats and Annexure A data capture for airlines, shipping lines and consol agents, removes bond/guarantee and relaxes contract proof at registration, grants system access subject to post verification by the nominated Commissionerate, provides transitional penalty relief and filing-time relaxations for listed short haul flights and voyages, treats domestic transshipment flights as short haul, allows post-arrival amendments subject to verification, and mandates manual filing where electronic systems are unavailable.

Inclusion of barging charges must be treated as extended transport cost and added to assessable value under customs valuation rules.
Barging or lighterage charges borne by the importer to bring goods from outer anchorage to the landmass must be included in the assessable value as extended cost of transportation under the Customs Valuation Rules, because importation completes on reaching the landmass. The departmental 1% levy is for landing charges covering loading, unloading and handling at the place of importation on land and does not replace inclusion of barging/lighterage costs; mis-declarations may be proceeded against according to law.

Concessional duty for research imports may be allowed when an affiliated university issues an essentiality certificate.
Where privately funded colleges lack DSIR registration, concessional customs duty under Notification No. 51/96-Cus. may be extended on a case-by-case basis if the college's affiliated University-an eligible importer under the notification-issues an item-specific essentiality certificate for equipment exclusively required for research, and imports are for delivery to or use by that University (including in affiliated college laboratories).

Custodian appointment guidelines: earlier-custodian obligations continue for pre-existing ports and air cargo facilities; new guidelines not retroactive.
The Board clarifies that the new guidelines on appointment of custodians do not apply to custodianships notified prior to the reference cutoff date, including where custodianship or area remained unchanged, premises were transferred to a new custodian, or premises were extended under the same custodian; however, existing conditions and obligations being discharged by earlier custodians must be retained and applied to any new custodians, and field formations should issue appropriate public notices.