Fair Price determination governs auction-cum-tender disposal of seized and time expired goods, with joint pricing and government valuers.
Monthly disposal of seized, confiscated and time expired warehoused goods shall occur by simultaneous public auction and sealed tender. A Joint Pricing Committee in each Commissionerate will determine the Fair Price by reference to wholesale market price less a discount that reflects and exceeds the buyer's expected resale margin; Government Approved Valuers must ascertain market price and margins. No separate reserve price is to be fixed. The JPC may accept the highest bid if it meets or is close to the Fair Price; unsold lots are re-offered up to three times and sold at the highest third-attempt bid absent justified retention. E-auction implementation is mandatory; applicability is limited to goods for which statutory notice to owners has been issued.

Wood packaging treatment compliance required: exporters must use authorised ISPM-15 accredited providers and marking for export consignments.
Exporters must ensure wood packaging material is treated to be pest-free by heat treatment or methyl bromide fumigation in accordance with ISPM-15, using authorised, accredited treatment providers that assign international marks and numbers; exporters should consult the online list of authorised providers and contact the plant protection authority for details.

Expeditious disposal of goods: final tender for repeatedly unsold consignments and regular e-auctions to clear backlog.
Measures require an interim administrative process to clear long-pending unclaimed and uncleared consignments by re-offering lots unsold after multiple auctions/tenders through a final tender with the highest bid accepted, and to regularise disposal by conducting monthly e-auctions/tenders under Board procedure; hazardous waste disposal must follow existing Ministry guidelines. Special Task Forces at each Custom House must reconcile detained consignments with records, refer pending investigative or adjudicatory actions for completion, notify custodians of non-detained goods for auction, and complete reconciliation within a prescribed period, with quarterly Customs-custodian meetings to match pendency and update statuses.

EOU registration for duty free imports: single port registration permits clearance at other ports subject to authenticity verification.
Registration of established Export Oriented Units, EHTP and STP at the port of import is required for duty free clearance. Applications must be submitted to the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (EOU) with documents including Letter of Permission, Private Bonded Warehousing Licence, IEC, green card, bank attested authorised signatory details and signatory photographs. The Superintendent (EOU) may verify licence authenticity with the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner and may grant registration if no verification report is received within the short verification period. Registration issued at one port permits duty free clearance at other ports subject to authenticity verification and subsequent EDI registration.

Notice to owner of goods required before sale under customs law; noncompliance can create financial liability for revenue.
Requirement that notice to the owner of the goods be issued before sale of goods under the Customs Act; goods not being confiscated must be sold by public auction, tender, or other methods only after notice to the owner, and the notice obligation also applies to confiscated goods where the owner has not exhausted appeal or legal remedies.

Waiver of interest on warehoused customs duty: consolidated guidelines adopt accessory interest principle and defer enforcement pending use.
The Board consolidated prior instructions on waiver of interest on Customs duty for warehoused goods, delegating decision making within monetary limits to Chief Commissioners while requiring Commissionerates to examine requests first and to forward cases beyond delegation to the Board. It lists categories generally eligible for waiver subject to merits and timing conditions (e.g., ex bond clearance, completion of EOU obligations), adopts the Supreme Court ratio treating interest as accessory to the principal, and directs that interest be raised but not enforced until purpose is fulfilled, with waiver decided within six months.

Customs area declaration permits examination, stuffing and sealing of FCL import and export containers under supervision.
Declaration of M/s Vishrutha Logistics Ltd. premises as a customs area authorises Customs to examine and clear import FCL containers moved from Chennai port to the CFS, to supervise stuffing/loading of export cargo into containers and to affix Customs seals; LCL cargo and passengers' unaccompanied baggage are excluded. The notice sets out the site's location, storage and handling capacity and requires adherence to the Custom House procedural public notices governing operations.

Vehicle hiring policy requires ministry approval for premature or additional hires and mandates day/km ceilings and procedural safeguards.
Heads of departments may hire replacement vehicles for those condemned after full service under the Ministry's terms, but hiring to replace pre-maturely condemned vehicles or to obtain additional vehicles requires administrative approval/financial sanction. The previous monetary ceiling is removed and replaced by a broad ceiling of days/kilometers; procurement must follow GFR tendering and two-bid procedures, hires must be need-based and non-AC, users must follow Department of Expenditure OMs and maintain log book records for official journeys.

Denaturing of Ethyl Alcohol: Circular requires implementation, reporting of difficulties, and dissemination to trade stakeholders.
Public Notice encloses a Customs Tariff Unit Circular on denaturing of ethyl alcohol for information, guidance and necessary action, states the Circular is self explanatory, requires immediate reporting of implementation difficulties to the Commissioner, and directs trade associations and Customs House Agents to publicize the Circular among their members to ensure compliance.

Spamming at ICEGATE delays electronic communications; use document tracking and service centre with extended filing hours.
Spamming at ICEGATE has slowed delivery of automated responses to filings; users should use the Document Tracking Facility on the ICEGATE website to check filing status instead of awaiting e mail. As an operational alternative, trade may file through the EDI service centre at the New Custom House, where document acceptance hours on working days have been extended to 6.00 p.m. to accommodate increased in person filings while technical remediation is undertaken.

Restriction on unauthorized entry: valid customs passes and authorized CHA signatories required before customs accept or process documents.
Only persons with valid identity credentials or day passes may enter the Custom House and CFSs; signing or filing of customs documents is limited to CHA owners/employees who possess the required examination qualification and customs pass category and are duly authorised. Service Centres must verify permanent or date valid temporary customs passes and record signature, name and Kardex number; Banks must verify identity cards on payment; departmental officers must accept documents only from bona fide employees with identity cards and record full signature, printed name and Kardex number on hard copies before finalisation.

Plant quarantine clearance required before release of imported plants and plant products to prevent pest introduction.
Import consignments of plants and plant products shall not be released by Customs for home consumption without prior clearance from Plant Quarantine authorities under the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003; consignments must be inspected to verify absence of pests and diseases, and previous releases without quarantine referral have risked introduction of exotic pests and revenue loss.

DEPB scheme eligibility clarified: imports during the notification gap may provisionally receive DEPB credit and valid older licences honoured.
Imports with bills of entry filed during the interval between DEPB notifications may provisionally receive DEPB credit, subject to licence validity and fulfillment of the controlling notification's conditions. DEPB licences referencing earlier notifications may still be used under the current notification provided the licence validly covers the imported goods and all notification conditions are met; licences issued under earlier open ended notifications may likewise be utilized where valid.

Retrospective anti-dumping duty: final ADD may be collected for the interregnum when imposed from the provisional levy date.
The Law Ministry's view, endorsed by a tribunal, allows imposition of a final anti-dumping duty with retrospective effect from the date of provisional imposition, making duty payable for the intervening period after provisional duty lapsed; customs should collect the final duty on imposition and finalize pending assessments accordingly, while the existing rule requiring refund when final duty is lower remains operative.

Classification of used rails confirmed as rails under the tariff, not as ferrous waste or scrap.
The Board concluded that the waste-and-scrap tariff heading applies only to material ordinarily used for metal recovery by re-melting or for chemical manufacture and excludes structural items or worn railway lines usable after renewal; by contrast, the HSN note for rails covers all rails of the type used for railway or tramway track irrespective of intended use. Consequently, "used steel rails" shall be classified under the tariff heading for rails and not under ferrous waste and scrap.

DFRC licence for Deemed Export requires customs and excise verification with prescribed documentary certification before imports allowed.
DFRC licences for deemed exports are issued with a single port of registration and require supporting documents: an invoice certified by the receiving unit and jurisdictional excise authority (or a Project Authority Certificate where applicable) and a prescribed payment certificate; bank evidence of realization is required for supplies to EOUs/EHTPs/BTPs. Licensing authorities must endorse licences to Customs and excise authorities. Customs must verify DFRC licences before allowing imports and obtain an original Central Excise statement confirming the supplies; discrepancies must be reported to the licensing authority and Customs.

Procedural relaxation for EOUs and Gem & Jewellery schemes streamlines de bonding, DTA sales, sourcing and inter unit transfers.
Procedural relaxation implements time bound de bonding where EOU/EHTP/STP units self assess duty, notify the Development Commissioner and jurisdictional Customs/Central Excise, and the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner must confirm liabilities or communicate discrepancies within fifteen working days and issue a No Dues Certificate after payment; re warehousing certificates require physical verification. It also standardizes DTA sale by defining "similar goods" by Customs Valuation criteria, allows sourcing by Advance License/DFRC without AROs subject to endorsement, prescribes ARE 3 procedures for inter unit transfers, permits sharing of specified common facilities among co owned units, and provides conditional restraints on withdrawal of pre authenticated CT 3 facilities.

Import compliance for ODS free HVAC equipment requires declaration in bills of entry and a supplier certificate at assessment.
Importation of air conditioners, compressors, chillers and water coolers that do not contain ODS substances is permitted freely under normal imports and the EPCG scheme, but importers must declare in the Bills of Entry that the equipment do not contain ODS substances and submit a supplier's certificate to that effect at the time of assessment or examination.

Transaction value principle governs bulk liquid import duty assessment; invoice price, not measured quantity, determines ad-valorem liability.
For bulk liquid imports, where customs duty is ad-valorem the assessment must be based on the invoice price as the transaction value regardless of shore tank or ship ullage measurements; for deliveries to multiple ports the value must be apportioned by intended discharge quantities. Where duty is specific, quantity determined by shore tank measurement remains relevant and earlier Circular No.96/2002 applies to specific-rate cases; pending provisional assessments should be finalized accordingly.

Includibility of ship demurrage charges - provisional import assessments before a historic cutoff may now be finalized, guidance pending.
Following dismissal of the Department's review petition in the Indian Oil valuation matter, all pending provisional assessments for importations prior to the pre-cutoff period may be finalized; assessments for importations after that period remain under consideration pending further clarification.