Non-bailable offences under Customs Act limit arrests to specified categories and require cautious, recorded exercise of arrest powers.
Offences under the Customs Act, 1962 are classified into non-bailable offences (specified categories under section 135) and bailable offences. Arrest under section 104 should be exercised sparingly and only where necessary to ensure investigation, prevent absconding, disrupt organised smuggling, or target key operators; value based exceptional arrest thresholds apply but do not constrain cases involving specified contraband. Arrests must follow D.K. Basu safeguards, include detailed arrest memos, appropriate medical examination, immediate intimation to senior authorities, and distinct procedures for bail and production before a Magistrate; reporting and monthly returns are mandated.

Phytosanitary compliance for wood packaging: exports failing ISPM 15 must not be cleared and will face strict enforcement.
No export consignments packed with raw or solid wood packaging material shall be cleared if they are deficient in meeting ISPM 15 phytosanitary requirements; Customs must verify compliance or possession of a phytosanitary certificate issued by accredited treatment agencies, and Chief Commissioners and Commissioners must ensure strict adherence with non compliance by officers viewed seriously.

Duty Drawback All Industry Rates revised, altering residuary and ad valorem rates and introducing caps and new tariff entries.
Revised All Industry Rates (AIR) of duty drawback effective 21.09.2013 recalibrate drawback entitlements using average input prices, input output norms, import content, applicable excise/customs duty incidence and service taxed input services. The notification converts certain specific rates to ad valorem, extends residuary AIRs to some previously nil items, reduces higher residuary bands, supplements many higher ad valorem rates with drawback caps, creates or amends tariff entries for classification clarity, and makes AIR on wheat nil. Pharmacopeia standards IP, BP, USP, EP and JP are interchangeable; commissioners must ensure compliance, prevent double recovery and monitor high value exports.

Classification as communication apparatus: Bluetooth headsets treated as active network transmission devices under customs tariff.
The document addresses classification of Bluetooth wireless headsets for mobile phones, describing them as monaural earphone microphone sets with radio transceiver, battery and charger that use a PAN wireless protocol to exchange voice and data. By application of the General Rules for Interpretation and Note 3 to the Section, the headset confers the essential character on the retail set; its active network communication function and simultaneous two way audio/data streaming place it in the tariff provision for apparatus for transmission or reception of voice and data.

Speaking orders under section 74 must explicitly address compliance with re export drawback procedural and substantive tests.
Officers must issue reasoned, appealable speaking orders that record findings on identity and determination of use, and explicitly explain how the procedural and substantive conditions of the drawback rules - including the manner and timing of claims - are satisfied or not, reflecting due diligence in sanctioning re export drawback claims.

Export allocation for gold imports enforced; nominated agencies must route imports through bonded warehouses and secure export proof.
Import of gold is limited to DGFT/RBI notified nominated agencies; coins and medallions are prohibited. Each consignment must reserve a fixed exporter allocation while the balance is for domestic use, with SEZ/EOU and authorised export allocations treated separately. All imports must be routed through customs bonded warehouses; nominated agencies must furnish bonds and, unless exempted, bank guarantees tied to estimated duty. Customs shall maintain agency wise registers, require exporter registration and proof of export, reconcile exports before permitting subsequent imports, and restrict later consignments based on exported quantities certified to customs.

Service Delivery Excellence (Sevottam) implemented to standardize acknowledgements, timelines and grievance redressal in customs services.
Implementation of the Sevottam Service Delivery Excellence Model institutes a centralized dak receipt system as a Single Window System issuing immediate acknowledgements with unique identification; postal submissions receive acknowledgement within seven days. Service norms from the Citizen's Charter require acknowledgements within seven days, decisions and related correspondence within 15 working days, release of seized documents within 30 working days (or letter to collect within 15 days if no SCN), and complaint acknowledgement within 48 hours with final replies aimed within 30 working days. Designated operational staff and a Public Grievance Redressal Officer are specified.

Simplified handling of mishandled baggage allows airlines to clear and deliver passenger baggage subject to specified documentary and liability conditions.
Airlines at Trivandrum International Airport may clear passengers' mishandled baggage if the passenger provides the original Landing Certificate or PIR, a signed authorization (Annexure A), an itemised list of contents with quantities or values, and relevant passport copies; the airline must produce an airline authorization (Annexure B), undertake payment of assessed Customs duty and indemnify Customs, while all statutory restrictions and seizure provisions remain applicable and the facility excludes Transfer of Residence claims and specified sensitive ports.

Delivery orders levied stamp duty under Article 24 at prescribed rates; collection effective 1 July 2013.
Stamp duty is leviable on delivery orders under Article 24 of the Karnataka Stamp Schedule. A delivery order is an instrument enabling a person, assignee or holder to obtain delivery of goods stored in docks, ports, warehouses or wharves and signed by or for the owner upon sale or transfer of property. Collection of the prescribed stamp duty on such instruments commenced on 01.07.2013.

Customs duty exemption for ash handling, water treatment and coal transport imports for mega power projects regardless of plant boundary.
Goods required for development of ash disposal systems (including ash dyke), water intake including treatment and storage facilities, and coal transportation facilities for ultra-mega/mega power projects are eligible for customs duty exemption under project imports, notwithstanding that such facilities may be set up inside or outside the power plant's designated boundary.

Finished leather inspection protocol mandates provisional assessment and laboratory testing before finalising export consignments, with duty on non compliance.
Consignments declared as finished leather will be examined with CLRI officials present; samples drawn by customs in CLRI presence will be sent to CLRI for testing and shipping bills will be provisionally assessed pending results. Exporters must execute a provisional bond, pay testing charges to CLRI, and present goods for sampling; CLRI will forward test results to the deputy commissioner and, if confirmed as finished leather, the shipping bill will be finalised and the bond closed, otherwise export duty and further action will follow.

Finished leather inspection: consignments subject to CLRI testing and provisional assessment, non-compliance attracts export duty and action.
Consignments declared as finished leather will be provisionally assessed pending laboratory test results: samples are drawn under Customs supervision, documented via triplicate test memos and a register, and sent to a designated technical laboratory; exporters must execute a provisional bond (simplified for registered exporters, additional security for others) and pay testing charges; compliance confirmed by test report leads to finalisation and bond closure, while non compliance attracts export duty and further legal action.

Insurance for customs-area cargo tied to average stored-goods value, with carrier bond validity standardized to reduce procedural burden.
The amount of insurance required of CCSPs must equal the average value of goods likely to be stored in the customs area for a 30-day period based on projected capacity, subject to Commissioner discretion regarding goods already insured; carrier bonds executed by CCSPs shall have a validity period of two years or five years as applicable.

Provisional assessment bond clearance drive expedites finalisation and cancellation with strict submission and reply deadlines.
The notice mandates a time bound administrative drive to finalise or cancel provisional assessments for P.D., Test and End Use Bonds pending over six months; importers and brokers must submit required documents to the concerned Dy./Asstt. Commissioners, who will raise discrepancies within six days, require replies within five days, and verify and cancel the bond within two days.

Customs procedures for SEZ LNG operations require DTA importers to complete customs formalities before using SEZ storage services.
DTA entities using the PLL-operated LNG regasification facility in Puthuvypeen SEZ must complete Customs Act obligations-filing Bills of Entry, assessment and payment of duty-before availing storage and handling services; vessel arrival formalities and Import General Manifest filing are to be completed with the Cochin Custom House, and Customs endorsements at the SEZ will be accepted for assessment, while manifest reconciliation for SEZ-only goods may be processed via a transshipment application.

Electronic EX Bond Bill of Entry processing under ICES ensures system ledgering, assessment allocation, and supervised out of charge clearance.
Electronic processing of EX-Bond Bills of Entry under ICES 1.5 at ICD Waluj applies where the related warehouse B/E was processed under ICES 1.5; the system creates an item ledger on out of charge of the warehouse B/E, Ex Bond B/Es are auto allocated for assessment on standard parameters, may inherit provisional assessment from the warehouse B/E, duty is paid via designated banks or e payment, and the Superintendent (Bond) verifies system bond register, warehousing validity, payments and tariff/exemption consistency before granting out of charge and generating prescribed B/E and Order of Clearance copies.

Maximum charges for console agents and freight forwarders set, limiting permissible levies and prescribing removal from EDI for repeat overcharging.
Maximum permissible service charges for console agents and freight forwarders are fixed and converted into per CBM rates for 20 and 40 foot containers with rounded figures; delivery order/documentation charges per importer are capped. Where freight is paid CIF for delivery at the port, no charges beyond the prescribed items may be levied unless additional load port or transit port expenses are expressly declared on the Master Bill of Lading. Confirmed overcharging will trigger investigation and deletion from the EDI system, with permanent debarment after three consecutive verified complaints. The norms must be publicly displayed under the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations.

Liquor import restriction for minors bars airport import or duty free purchase, with contraband subject to confiscation and penalties.
Persons below the age specified in the Kerala Abkari Act are ineligible to import alcoholic beverages as baggage or purchase them from Duty Free Shops at the international airport, and such imports are liable to confiscation; imports by eligible passengers beyond the baggage allowance attract applicable duties.

Customs Brokers Licensing Regulation modernizes broker licensing and compliance, introducing exams, bond requirements, and notification duties.
The notification replaces the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 with the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2013, renaming Custom House Agents as Customs Broker, instituting Form F and Form G examinations, prescribing educational qualifications, syllabus, licence grant, bond and security requirements, broker obligations, and procedures for suspension, revocation and penalties; it also mandates administrative changes to correspondence, issuance of new forms on renewal, and a one month duty to notify contact detail changes to the CBLR Section.

Examination without Delivery Order permitted; cargo released to importer only upon production of Delivery Order and Out of Charge.
Customs will permit examination of imported goods without insistence on the Delivery Order when goods are registered for examination after payment of duty and presented by Custodians at ICD Whitefield and associated CFSs on the basis of a self attested bill of lading; final delivery to the importer/CHA will be made only after production of the Delivery Order and issuance of the Customs Out of Charge.