Food not specified classification allows import of Sajji Khar/Papad Khar without product approval, subject to contaminant testing.
Imported consignments of Sajji Khar/Papad Khar shall be considered food not specified until standards are notified and therefore do not require product approval under the Approval of Non-specified Food Regulations; such consignments must be tested and comply with contaminant and residue standards, including heavy metal limits, and officers must be sensitized to apply these testing and clearance measures.

Import certification requirement: tea from neighbouring country must have food-safety, sanitary and tea-council clearances before entry.
Imports of tea from Nepal marketed as "Darjeeling Tea" require statutory import clearance under the food safety import regime and mandatory sanitary and phytosanitary documentation; importers must hold licenses under the Tea Distribution and Export Control Order and obtain a Tea Council clearance certificate, all of which Customs must insist on before permitting entry.

Extension of NOC validity for certain imported alcoholic beverages permits revalidation after prolonged port storage upon inspection.
For imported alcoholic beverages bottled in origin and in bulk without an expiry date and containing more than ten percent alcohol, the Food Authority has directed that the NOC under the FSS (Import) Regulations, 2017 shall be valid for 300 days; consignments beyond that period may be re validated by conducting visual inspection at ports/customs upon payment of the visual inspection fee, the direction being issued under Section 16(5) of the FSS Act and valid until further orders.

Import of wireless equipment by TSPs permitted on self-declaration via Saralsanchar; Customs accept QR-verified certificates, cancellation for violations.
TSPs may import wireless equipment on the basis of self declaration via the Saralsanchar portal: submissions 30 days before port entry yield an immediate system generated certificate on payment of Rs. 500; submissions within 30 days require Rs. 5,000 and departmental authentication with issuance after 48 hours. Customs will accept and may QR verify these certificates; the facility is effective 15 November 2021. The certificate provides technical clearance only, is cancellable for violations or false declarations, and imports remain subject to DoT agreements, frequency assignments and WPC/WMO inspections.

MEIS scrip utilisation requires certified transfer records, payment evidence and indemnity when online ownership recording remains unavailable.
Where online recording of MEIS scrip transfer and ownership details is unavailable, importers seeking to use a scrip for customs-duty payment must establish the complete ownership chain through bank-certified transfer instruments. They must also provide certified purchase-payment details, upload all materials through E-Sanchit, and furnish an indemnity bond covering misuse, fraudulent transfer or procurement, and third-party claims. Customs officers verify ownership from these materials, while responsibility for valid and genuine transactions and resulting ownership disputes remains with the importer and seller or sellers.

RoDTEP rates for AA/EoU/SEZ exports: industry must submit certified product wise data on unrefunded tax incidence within three weeks.
The Drawback Division requests product wise data from Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards, trade associations and chambers to determine RoDTEP ceiling rates for AA/EoU/SEZ exports for 01.10.2019-31.03.2020. Submissions must list all inputs, quantify input use and indigenous ratios, and detail currently unrefunded central, state and local duties/taxes/levies (including embedded CGST/SGST, electricity duty, fuel and stamp duty) per unit. Data must be certified by the manufacturer and its Chartered Accountant/Cost Accountant, supported by invoices, shipping bills and notifications, limited to units consenting to inspection, and sent to the Drawback Division within three weeks.

Import relaxation for genetically modified soya cake permits controlled imports through specified ports with mandatory GM status declaration and monitoring.
The Central Government relaxed Condition 6(b) of the General Notes on Import Policy to permit controlled import of crushed and de oiled GM soya cake (non living organism) under ITC(HS) codes 23040020 and 23040030 through specified ports only, subject to a time bound last shipment/document date, strict aggregate quantity monitoring, and mandatory Bill of Entry declarations of GM status and product grade; Customs must monitor and report clearances daily and publish permitted daily quantum to aid trade planning.

Authorised courier registration now has lifetime validity with provisions for deemed invalidity on prolonged inactivity and renewal.
Amendments grant lifetime validity to Authorised Courier registrations, allow voluntary surrender, and specify deemed invalidity for continuous one-year inactivity while enabling Principal Commissioners/Commissioners to renew such registrations; duplicate registrations across Customs Stations are to be rationalised by treating the first registration as the single registration with other locations regularised through the prescribed intimation and bond/security procedures, aided by DG Systems, and revocation communications must be coordinated to other stations and designated nodal officers.

Electronic sea cargo manifest compliance requires custodians and terminal operators to file prescribed stuffing, movement and voyage messages.
Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment Regulations, 2018 require electronic advance information for sea cargo and allocate filing responsibilities among carriers, transhippers, custodians and terminal operators. Custodians must file container-specific stuffing and stripping reports and conveyance arrival and departure information, while terminal operators must provide voyage call and container movement details. Transitional filing under the earlier regime remains available until 31 December 2021. From 1 January 2022, stuffing messages, ASR, DP and AR filings by custodians, and voyage call messages by terminal operators become mandatory.

RoDTEP duty credits remit unrebated export levies through transferable e-scrips, subject to export-proceeds realization and customs-duty use.
RoDTEP remits unrebated duties, taxes and levies on specified exports through transferable electronic duty credits. Exporters must claim through an electronic shipping-bill declaration, avoid duplicate remission, and retain audit records. Customs processing generates scrolls from which e-scrips may be created in the electronic duty credit ledger. E-scrips are valid for one year, transferable only in full, and usable solely for payment of Basic Customs Duty on automated imports. Credits depend on timely realisation of export proceeds and may be suspended, cancelled or recovered for excess allowance or non-realisation.

Import container controls require scanning, secure storage, full examination of suspicious cargo, periodic verification and disposal procedures.
Handling of un-claimed, un-cleared, suspicious and detained import containers requires mandatory scanning, weighment, secure designated storage, reporting and verification. Containers without a Bill of Entry beyond 24 hours, or uncleared beyond 15 days subject to specified exclusions, fall within the controls. CFSs must maintain continuously monitored CCTV-secured storage areas and transfer covered containers there under supervision. Suspicious containers require immediate 100 percent examination, while designated-area containers require fortnightly physical verification. Containers pending clearance beyond 30 days are to be taken up for disposal under applicable customs procedures.

Latest container freight station request governs when Direct Port Delivery importers submit multiple change requests for one consignment.
For Direct Port Delivery import consignments, multiple online requests to change the container freight station for the same bill of lading or consignment are resolved by treating the latest request as final. The approach covers duplicate or revised requests caused by changed preferences, error correction, or repeated submissions and avoids uncertainty in consignment stacking.

Container Freight Station custodianship extended with bond, insurance and indemnity conditions until 31 January 2022.
The Principal Commissioner has extended the Custodianship and approval as Customs Cargo Service Provider for M/s. LCL Logistix (India) Private Limited, CFS, Haldia up to 31.01.2022 under Regulation 10(2) and Regulation 13 of Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2019 (HCCAR, 2009) and Section 45 of the Customs Act, 1962, subject to bond of Rs. 8,64,00,000, insurance of Rs. 15 Crore, indemnity obligations under Regulation 5(6), and ongoing compliance with the Customs Act and HCCAR, 2009.

Ship-call monitoring strengthens timely SCMTR manifest filing through vessel-wise compliance checks, error resolution, escalation, and weekly reporting.
Ship-call-based monitoring at Mangalore Customs Commissionerate requires vessel-wise oversight of timely and error-free filing of SCMTR import and export messages and manifests. An Assistant Commissioner is allocated to each vessel to verify filing acknowledgements, coordinate with relevant stakeholders, support resolution of user-level errors and escalate unresolved system issues through the SCMTR cell. Daily ship-call registers and weekly vessel-wise monitoring logs must record filing status, acknowledgements, errors, rectification status and system responses for the Voyage Call Number, Sea Arrival Manifest, entry-inward application, Sea Departure Manifest and Sea Departure Notification-Acknowledgement.

Faceless customs assessment reforms accelerate import clearance through higher facilitation, specialised assessment groups, automated examination orders and anonymised escalation.
Faceless customs assessment is expedited through a higher Risk Management System facilitation level, uniform FAG working hours, a first-decision timeline for Bills of Entry, limited and clearly framed assessment queries, and commodity-based FAG specialisation. Direct Port Delivery is extended to fully facilitated advance Bills of Entry, subject to port, terminal and custodian delivery requirements. Uniform Risk Management System-generated examination orders and First Check routing are introduced. An anonymised ICEGATE escalation mechanism permits importers and Customs Brokers to seek expeditious clearance of Bills of Entry delayed in assessment or examination.

Intimation of arrest reporting: arrests must be notified in prescribed format to investigation authorities and compiled monthly by email.
Every arrest must be intimated promptly to the investigation member and zonal authority in the prescribed format; zonal offices must send a monthly zone-wise report of arrested persons to central investigation headquarters for compilation and onward transmission to the Board, and all reports must be submitted only by electronic mail, discontinuing hard-copy submissions.

Remission of duties on exports: transferable duty credits issued in electronic ledgers, usable for basic customs duty on imports.
Scheme issues transferable duty credit maintained in an electronic duty credit ledger for eligible exported goods, computed as percentages of Free on Board value or specified amounts and issued through the customs automated system. Exporters must claim via shipping bill declarations, may convert scrolls into e-scrips within the prescribed period, and use e-scrips only for payment of basic customs duty on imports. E-scrips are uniquely identified, valid for a fixed period, transferable only in whole, and subject to suspension, cancellation or recovery where export proceeds are not realised or credits were excess.

Transferable duty credit under RoSCTL - e scrips usable for basic customs duty, subject to export proceeds realisation.
RoSCTL for apparel/garments/made ups from 01.01.2021 provides remission as transferable duty credit recorded in an electronic duty credit ledger under section 51B. Claims will be processed on filed shipping bills and, once systems are enabled, by item level declaration in the electronic shipping bill. Systems processing will generate a scroll with duty credits which exporters may combine to generate e scrips. E scrips are valid one year, transferable only in whole, usable solely for Basic Customs Duty payments on imports, and subject to export proceeds realisation and provisions for suspension, cancellation and recovery.

Container re-export extension: temporary rule allows three-month extension if importer intimates laden re-export before expiry.
Where containers imported under the exemption regime have an initial six-month re-export period ending on or before 31.03.2022, the Assistant Commissioner may apply the existing provision permitting an extension beyond six months up to a further three months upon receiving an intimation from the importer before expiry that the container will be re-exported in laden condition within the next three months.

Ship-call compliance monitoring requires assigned officers to verify manifest filings, resolve stakeholder errors, and maintain weekly vessel-specific records.
Ship-call based monitoring requires each vessel calling at Nhava Sheva to be assigned to an Assistant/Deputy Commissioner for ensuring timely SCMTR message and manifest filing. The assigned officer must verify filing acknowledgements, assist stakeholders in resolving user-level errors through prescribed guidance and error codes, and escalate unresolved system issues only after stakeholder-level rectification. Vessel-specific logs must record filing, acknowledgement, error and rectification status for required import, export and transhipment messages, and must be submitted weekly to the SCMTR section.