Phytosanitary compliance: Customs to enforce ISPM 15 for wood packaging, referring non compliant consignments for quarantine action.
Customs must verify that consignments packed with solid wood packaging material comply with ISPM-15 or are accompanied by an endorsed phytosanitary certificate from DAC accredited agencies; non compliant consignments shall be referred to Plant Quarantine authorities for treatment, destruction or deportation and reported in the prescribed format under the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of import into India) Order.

Units of measurement declaration must use statutory standard units, or applicable schedule units, or face penal consequences.
Importers, exporters and authorised CHAs must declare quantities in statutory standard units when filing Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills; declarations in non-standard units breach customs measurement requirements and may attract penal action. Where export duties are payable in alternate units as prescribed by the relevant schedule, those schedule-specified units must be used for export declarations.

Risk Management System implementation extends facilitation to accredited exporters while non accredited shipments face assessment and post clearance audit.
RMS is extended to multiple Export Promotion schemes so that Accredited Clients' Bills of Entry are facilitated while non accredited entries undergo assessment and examination; concurrent audit of all EP imports is replaced by selective post clearance audit. Importers must continue registration of licences/authorisations and follow established procedures for Bonds and Bank Guarantees. For facilitated entries, Procurement Certificates for EOUs will be handled by Bond Section and verified by Shed officers at Out of Charge, who must tally documents, debit/deface certificates and comply with examination instructions before release.

Sampling Procedure: centralized sample cell and accredited testing requirement streamline customs testing and reporting timelines.
Establishes a standardized regime for drawal, sealing, duplicate storage, forwarding and testing of import/export samples through a newly formed Central Sample Cell (CSC), prioritising Customs laboratories and, where necessary, Government or NABL accredited outside laboratories; prescribes Test Memo and register formats, EDI/intranet reporting of test reports, monitoring timelines with fortnightly/monthly reconciliations, commodity specific sampling criteria, rules for reliance on prior or in house test reports, and retention/disposal protocols for remnant and duplicate samples.

Additional customs duty on narcotic drug imports prompts administrative guidance and trade notification for compliance.
An additional duty of customs at sixteen percent ad valorem is imposed on imports of codeine phosphate and other narcotic drugs, with an enclosed communication from the Tax Research Unit providing administrative guidance; trade bodies and customs agents are asked to publicise the notice and follow the instructions when declaring and clearing affected consignments.

DFIA amendment conditions CENVAT credit on post-export imports: bond or additional duty payment required to prevent double benefits.
Amendment of DFIA rules permits availment of CENVAT credit but conditions post-export imports: importers clearing materials after discharge of export obligation must either furnish a bond to use imported materials in the manufacture of dutiable goods and obtain a certificate of such use within six months, or pay an amount equal to the additional duty of customs at clearance (payment allowing CENVAT credit). Transfers of authorisations or imported materials require payment of additional duty with interest if not paid at clearance. Recovery for past periods is limited to cases where duty-free replenishments were used to manufacture non-dutiable goods.

Electronic transmission of DES and EPCG licences enables Customs validation and use of licence numbers as Customs registration numbers.
DGFT will transmit DES file numbers and DES/EPCG licence messages electronically to Customs via ICEGATE for licences issued on or after 1 April 2009; Customs will validate these online, make licence details available at the port and on ICEGATE, and the DGFT licence number will serve as the Customs Registration Number. Exports under DES may begin on receipt of the DGFT file number, while EPCG exports commence after licence issuance. Customs and DGFT will exchange bills and an Export Obligation Discharge Certificate for monitoring; amendments require an online amendment message before further imports are allowed.

Customs examination procedure for raw cashew nuts allows limited dock inspection then movement to importer premises with obligations and seals.
Customs will permit limited dock inspection of a sample of containers for raw cashew nut imports; if sample containers are found in order, remaining containers may be moved to the importer's premises for detailed examination provided there is consent from the jurisdictional central excise authority, a plain paper undertaking to return the Bill of Entry after examination within the prescribed period, and Customs seals applied by Container Cell. CHA-wise registers at Docks will monitor movements; failure to present Bills for out-of-charge order within the stipulated period may suspend the facility for the importer/CHA. Traders from outside the State and those opting out will undergo full de-stuffing and 100% examination at CFS, while RMS-facilitated consignments remain unchanged.

Pre-audit requirement for customs refund claims centralised at commissionerate headquarters, followed by divisional orders and commissioner review.
Pre-audit of refund applications at or above the specified threshold will be conducted at the Commissionerate Headquarters by the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner (Audit). Thereafter, the Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of the Group/Division will pass the order-in-original on the claim, and those orders-in-original will be subject to review by the Commissioner. The relevant portions of the earlier Board Circular are amended to reflect this procedure.

ISPM-15 compliance required for wood packaging: customs must ensure treatment/marking or phytosanitary certification and report non-compliance.
Articles packed with raw or solid wood packaging shall not be released by customs unless the wood packaging is treated and carries the ISPM-15 marking or is accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate; untreated packaging may be treated at point of entry under Plant Quarantine Officer supervision. Customs officers must verify compliance and report non-compliant cases to the concerned Plant Quarantine stations/authorities.

Special Additional Duty refund: amounts paid through export incentive scrips must be re credited to the originating scrip.
Refund of the Special Additional Duty of Customs shall be effected by re crediting the eligible amount to the export incentive instrument used to pay the duty; amounts paid by DEPB, VKGUY, Focus Product Scheme, or Focus Market Scheme scrips must be re credited to the respective originating scrip.

Risk Management System extended to additional export promotion schemes, including Target Plus and nominated-agency gold/platinum imports.
Implementation of a Risk Management System (RMS) is extended to import cargo under remaining export promotion schemes, adding the Target Plus Scheme and imports of gold and platinum under the scheme for exports against supply by nominated agencies, and correcting the name to Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme where previously misnamed.

Exporters must submit BRCs or negative statements for drawback-linked export proceeds under new monitoring software.
Exporters filing Shipping Bills under drawback must declare Authorized Dealers at each port and submit Bank Realization Certificates or prescribed negative statements on a six monthly basis; the ICES BRC software (effective 31 March 2009) will generate due dates tied to the let export order and maintain pendency lists. The module permits three data-entry options to clear Shipping Bills-direct BRC entry, six month negative statement clearing all bills, or negative statement listing only pending bills-and includes a Recovery Module to remove bills when drawback is recovered.

Retrospective drawback amendments require exporters to file supplementary claims under Drawback Rules for differential drawback amounts.
Retrospective amendments substitute tariff entries and revise duty drawback rates across Chapters 52, 54, 60, 82 and 87, including an explanatory definition for "manufacture of filament yarns". Exporters affected by these retrospective rate enhancements are advised, under the Drawback Rules, to file supplementary claims to claim any differential drawback amounts arising from the changes.

Valuation of polymers: use PLATT international prices as the benchmark and restrict deviations to authorised, tested discounts.
Assessment of imported polymers and related products is to rely on weekly PLATT international prices as the primary benchmark; the PLATT rate of the week prior to opening of an irrevocable L/C or, for registered non-L/C contracts, the PLATT rate on the contract date (subject to shipment timing) shall determine assessable value. No variation from PLATT for prime grade; limited downward discounts allowed for off-grade, re-generated polymers, floor sweepings and stock lots only with supervisory approval, provisional assessment and accredited testing. Freight, insurance and landing charges are added to PLATT (FOB) to arrive at assessable value.

Risk Management System implementation streamlines export promotion scheme clearances, accredits clients and replaces blanket concurrent audit.
Risk Management System (RMS) is extended to imports under the remaining Export Promotion Schemes w.e.f. 30 March 2009. Bills of entry filed by Accredited Clients will be facilitated, while others will be referred for assessment and examination. Concurrent audit for all EP scheme bills is replaced by selective post clearance audit. Importers must continue prescribed registration of licences/authorisations and follow existing bond/guarantee registration procedures. For facilitated clearances, Procurement Certificates will be opened and recorded by the Bond Superintendent and shed officers must verify, debit/deface certificates and comply with examination and out of charge procedures.

Online transmission of trade licences enables electronic validation and monitoring, integrating DGFT and Customs for export/import compliance.
DGFT will transmit DES file numbers and DES/EPCG licence messages to Customs via an Electronic Message Exchange System; Customs will validate licences at ICEGATE and make them available at the port. The transmitted licence number will function as the Customs Registration Number, replacing manual registration. Importers must present DGFT hard copy licences and execute bonds/LUTs and BGs for monitoring, while Customs will electronically send Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills to DGFT and receive Export Obligation Discharge Certificates to permit release of bonds/LUTs and BGs after verification.

Monitoring of export proceeds through mandated BRCs and negative statements enables automated tracking and recovery of drawback payments.
Exporters filing Shipping Bills under the Drawback Scheme must declare Authorized Dealers and submit Bank Realization Certificates or prescribed negative statements every six months; the ICES BRC software will generate due dates using the Let Export Order date, flag Shipping Bills without certificates, allow officer entry via three options to clear or retain S/Bs, and enable recovery entries when drawback is recovered. BRCs/negative statements for Drawback S/Bs with LEOs from 1.1.2004-31.12.2007 must be furnished within the four month period directed by the Board; the module is effective from 31 March 2009.

Re-credit of additional customs duty paid through scrips required; eligible refunds to be re credited to relevant scrips.
Where additional customs duty was paid through DEPB, VKGUY, FPS or FMS scrips, the refundable amount shall be re credited to the relevant scrip rather than paid in cash. The Refund Cell will scrutinize complete refund applications and, after sanctioning, forward claim files to Group VII for re crediting to the appropriate scrip.

Customs public notice extends the validity of earlier notice and confirms the revised operative period.
The validity of Public Notice No. 02/2005 is extended up to 20.06.2009 under a customs public notice issued by the Commissioner of Customs (Port), Kolkata. The notice functions as a continuation of the earlier public notice and sets the revised validity period without adding any further substantive conditions or directions.