Brand rate fixation under drawback rules adjusted for GST transition; customs commissionerates now handle jurisdiction and claim conditions clarified.
Brand rate fixation under the Drawback Rules is restructured for the GST regime: during a three month transition exporters may claim AIR or Brand rate subject to conditions preventing simultaneous CGST/IGST credit or refund and barring carry forward of Cenvat credit; exporters must submit prescribed declarations. Responsibility for Brand rate work shifts to the Customs Commissionerate with jurisdiction over the place of export, with pending Central Excise applications transferred to Customs formations; Central Excise Commissionerates will continue tasks until Customs jurisdictions are notified.

Duty Drawback transition rules allow legacy composite AIR claims during GST rollout while restricting input tax credit usage.
A transitional arrangement permits exporters to claim existing composite All Industry Rates and Brand rates during the GST rollout subject to prescribed declarations and conditions that prohibit simultaneous availing of CGST/IGST input tax credit, claiming IGST refund, or carrying forward Cenvat credit; exporters may alternatively claim only the Customs component of AIRs and avail GST credits or refunds. Administrative duties for fixation of Brand rates and supplementary drawback claims are transferred to Customs formations, with Central Excise formations to continue discharging Customs functions until new Customs Commissionerates are notified.

Drawback of integrated tax and compensation cess now allowed on re-export, subject to a GST officer's no-credit-or-refund certificate.
Drawback now covers integrated tax and compensation cess paid on imported goods upon re-export, effected by amending the Re-export Rules to include refund of duties, taxes or cesses under the Customs Tariff Act. Sanction of drawback is subject to obtaining a certificate from the relevant GST officer confirming that no input tax credit or refund of integrated tax or compensation cess has been availed or claimed for the re-exported goods; all other drawback procedures remain unchanged.

Vijaydurg Port launches ICES 1.5 for electronic filing and automated processing of import/export customs declarations.
ICES 1.5 is launched at Vijaydurg Port to enable electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills. It requires pre filing registration of IE Codes, licences, bonds and agent details in ICES/ICEGATE, prescribes standardized currency, unit and port codes, and allows filing via service centre or remote EDI with digital signatures. The system automates valuation, duty computation, appraisal workflows, concurrent audit, TR 6/e payment, RMS risk based routing, and centralised licence/scrip and bond ledger management for exemptions and debits.

Indian Customs EDI (ICES 1.5) launched at Redi Port: mandatory electronic filing, automated assessment, RMS and centralized bond/license ledgers.
ICES 1.5 at Redi Port mandates electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills via ICES/ICEGATE, requiring stakeholder registration (IE Code, Customs Brokers, shipping agents, DGFT licences, bank accounts) and adherence to standardized codes. The system effects self assessment on B/E number generation, automated valuation and duty computation from maintained directories, workflow routing to Appraising Groups, electronic queries, RMS facilitation for risk based clearance, and centralized handling of DEPB/licenses and a Bond Management System for registration, debits, re credits and audit. Service centre charges, remote filing procedures with digital signatures, amendment, re assessment and export workflows including LEO and drawback processing are prescribed.

Customs EDI system rollout enables electronic filing and automated assessment of import and export declarations at Nagpur airport.
ICES 1.5 at Air Cargo Complex Nagpur implements electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills: importers, exporters, customs brokers and shipping agents must register IE/IEC codes, brokers, licences and bank details; use specified currency, unit, country and port codes; and may file remotely via ICEGATE with digital signatures. The system self assesses when a BE number is generated, validates directories, computes assessable value and duty, allocates cases to appraising groups, enforces RMS and bond/licence debit ledgers, automates DEPB/TRA and export promotion licence handling, and prescribes workflows for examination, amendments, payment (including e payment) and out of charge.

GST coordination helpdesk to provide round the clock procedural and technical support for GST implementation in customs.
Establishment of the GST Suvidha Kendra at ACC, Sahar, Mumbai to provide round the clock procedural and technical support for GST implementation in customs; specific officers and the Admin Incharge of ACC are designated to staff the helpdesk, and its remit includes Sevottam, Post Clearance Audit, Taxpayer Service, RTI, Transhipment of Cargo, Special Additional Duty, Bond & Bank Guarantees, and miscellaneous matters.

Manual filing of bills of entry requires Commissioner permission and is processed through ICES 1.5 with electronic challan payment.
Manual bills of entry are allowed only in exceptional cases with Commissioner permission and are processed using ICES 1.5 amendments. After permission, Appraiser/Group enters specified identifiers and transactional data in MBE role; a Job Number is assigned and linked to IGM where applicable. The Group AC/DC records reasons and approval reference, generates a six-digit running BE number, and after paper assessment enters assessed duty and licences in ICES1.5. Duty challans are generated electronically and paid via ICEGATE; manual challans are disallowed. OOC is recorded in SUP role and remaining details entered in MBE role; copies must be preserved and entries randomly verified.

GST implementation helpdesk for customs provides 24x7 support to trade for procedural and technical queries.
A 24x7 helpdesk at Air Cargo Complex, Sahar is instituted to facilitate GST roll-out in customs, addressing Bill of Entry issues, Shipping Bill and GSTIN identification, export invoice and drawback declaration changes, IGST levy and collection and CETH declarations, and queries on IGST, CVD, Compensation Cess, NCCD and other cesses. Designated officers with direct contact numbers are assigned for continuous procedural and technical support; ICEGATE toll-free and email support are also available 24x7.

Drawback rules revision limits drawback to customs and specified excise duties and replaces composite rates with general AIRs.
The notification implements Drawback Rules, 2017 and revises All Industry Rates effective 1 October 2017, narrowing drawback to Customs duty and specified Central Excise duty while excluding integrated tax and compensation cess, discontinuing composite rates, and providing only general AIRs (suffix 'B') with caps. Alternative AIRs for garment exports under Special Advance Authorization require suffix 'D'. Provisional drawback payments are to equal the applicable AIR and count toward further provisional authorisations. Brand rates fixed earlier do not apply for exports with let-export date on or after 1 October 2017 and fresh applications under Rule 6 or Rule 7 are required.

IGST on imports requires GSTIN reporting and EDI reconciliation to enable credit claims and validate export refund eligibility.
Imports will attract Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) and possibly the GST Compensation Cess in addition to customs duties, calculated on an aggregate value that includes customs duty but excludes IGST or cess. Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills (manual and EDI) have been modified to require GSTIN for registered persons or PAN/state code for non-registered persons; Customs EDI will reconcile IGST credit claims with GSTN returns and publish IGST and cess paid on each Bill of Entry to facilitate credit claims and refunds.

State code alignment with GSTN requires ICES to adopt census-based state codes for consistent BE and SB declarations.
ICES state codes will be aligned with Census Codes used by GSTN, replacing the prior RBI-based codes. This change affects state fields in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills (including State of Origin and VAT registration code) and requires traders to declare the new codes in BE/SB filings. The NIC RES package and ICES master have been updated for implementation from mid-June 2017; trade may report difficulties to the System Manager/ADC (EDI) or the ICEGATE contact email.

Manual filing of Bills of Entry now restricted and processed through ICES digital workflow with mandatory e-payment and record verification.
Manual filing of Bills of Entry is permitted only in exceptional cases with authority approval and must be processed through ICES 1.5: PO/EDI in MBE role enters specified bill details, a Job Number links IGM to the BE, Group AC/DC in ACL role records reasons and concurs, ICES generates a six-digit running BE number, duty and licence details are entered, a system challan is produced for ICEGATE e-payment (manual challans prohibited), OOC acknowledgement is recorded by the Shed Appraiser, and PO/EDI completes post-clearance entries; manual BE copies must be preserved and cross-verified.

GST implementation support: customs establishes a dedicated GST cell to guide trade on levy, forms, filing, and EDI changes.
Creation of a dedicated GST cell in the Customs Commissionerate, Kandla to provide guidance on IGST and Compensation Cess, revised Bill of Entry and Shipping Bill forms, manual filing procedures, and EDI system changes; named contact officers are provided for stakeholder assistance and trade associations are requested to inform their members.

State code alignment with GSTN implemented-trade must use revised codes in customs declarations to avoid interface mismatches.
Alignment of state code lists in ICES from the RBI list to the Census/GSTN codes has been implemented via an NIC RES package update; trade must use the new codes in Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills to ensure correct State of Origin and registration declarations and to prevent ICEGATE-side mismatches, and report any difficulties to the System Manager at the Custom House.

Indian Customs EDI launch at Okha enables electronic filing, automated valuation, licence and bond ledgering, and e payments.
ICES 1.5 at OKHA Port implements electronic filing and automated processing of import Bills of Entry and export Shipping Bills: mandatory pre registrations (IE Code, Customs Brokers, shipping lines, DGFT licences, bank accounts), remote filing via ICEGATE with digital signatures, system self assessment upon generation of document numbers, automated valuation/conversion and duty calculation, workflow assignment to Appraising Groups, RMS risk routing, centralized licence and bond ledgers for automatic debits/credits (DEPB, EPCG, TRAs), and Bond Module enforcement preventing goods registration/out of charge until bond/BG/cash conditions are satisfied.

Indian Customs EDI launch at Navlakhi enables electronic filing and automated processing of import Bills of Entry and export Shipping Bills.
Launch of ICES 1.5 at NAVLAKHI port establishes mandatory electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills, requiring registration of IE Codes, customs brokers, shipping lines and DGFT licences; use of prescribed currency, unit, country and port codes; ICEGATE/remote filing with digital signatures; system calculation of assessable value and duties; assignment to appraising groups; self-assessment on Bill of Entry number generation; RMS risk selection; procedures for first/second check appraisal, queries, concurrent audit, payment (including e payment), examination, and generation of Out of Charge and clearance documents.

ICES 1.5 launch at Muldwarka Port requires mandatory electronic filing and automated customs processing for imports and exports.
Launch of ICES 1.5 at MULDWARKA Port mandates electronic filing and automated online processing of import Bills of Entry and export Shipping Bills; prerequisities include IE Code, Customs Broker and carrier registrations and use of prescribed currency, unit, country and port codes. Remote filing via ICEGATE with Class III Digital Signatures or Service Centre entry is allowed; generation of a system Bill of Entry/Shipping Bill number constitutes self assessment. The system validates data, computes duties from maintained directories, allocates Bills to Appraising Groups, and integrates RMS routing, query workflows, licence and bond registration and automatic debits for export promotion schemes, while preventing goods registration/out of charge until bonds/licenses/payments are satisfied.

Indian Customs EDI (ICES 1.5) launched at Jamnagar/Bedi Port enabling electronic filing and automated processing of import clearances.
ICES 1.5 at Jamnagar/Bedi Port mandates electronic filing and automated processing of Bills of Entry, IGMs and related declarations via ICEGATE or service centres, subject to IE Code, customs broker and carrier registration and digital signature enrolment. The system validates codes and documents, converts currency, computes assessable value and duty, assigns B/Es to appraising groups, enables RMS facilitation, supports amendment, audit and reassessment workflows, and centrally manages licenses, DEPB/TRA scrips and bonds with automatic ledger debits/credits before out of charge.

Goods and Services Tax implementation prompts extended customs office hours to facilitate import and export operations.
Implementation of Goods and Services Tax w.e.f. 1 July 2017 is supported by trade facilitation measures: all CBEC offices will remain open to ensure continuity of import and export processes; Chennai Customs House will remain operational on the weekend immediately following GST commencement; and the Chennai Customs House Service Centre will operate from the midnight prior to GST commencement to assist importers and exporters with filings and procedures.