GST applicability on uncleared cargo: bid amounts are cum-duty and no extra sums beyond the bid may be demanded.
Clearance of UCC cargo is effected by the custodian filing a Bill of Entry in the bidder's name, with customs duty and IGST assessed and paid by the custodian in that name. The sale proceeds are the cum-duty value because the duty portion is appropriated from the bid amount under the statutory appropriation mechanism. No amount beyond the bid value is demandable from the highest bidder; any additional taxes may be paid from the balance retained by the custodian, who must follow the appropriation procedure.

Sea cargo manifest compliance requires stakeholder registration, electronic declarations and prescribed bonds, with penalties for SCMTR contraventions.
Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018 require specified sea cargo stakeholders to register and electronically file applicable manifests, declarations and messages. Full mandatory compliance applies from 1 April 2021 following a transitional period for filing under the earlier regime. Authorised sea carriers and sea agents must file arrival and departure manifests and related notifications; other notified carriers must file Cargo Summary Notifications; and authorised transhippers must submit shipment requests and Customs Inland Manifests. Required National Container Bonds and National Transhipment Bonds must also be furnished. Contraventions may attract penalty.

SCMTR registration requires transhippers to register national bonds and foreign shipping line representatives to register as authorised sea carriers.
SCMTR requires Customs Brokers acting as other notified sea carriers to register as ANC, while licensed Customs Brokers and Authorised Economic Operators are exempt from the ANC bank-guarantee requirement. Custodians carrying out cargo transshipment must register as Authorised Transhippers and register a National Transhipper Bond, which is mandatory for transshipment manifests and inland transshipment messages and applies across India. Direct representatives of foreign shipping lines must register as Authorised Sea Carriers and provide the actual carrier or ASC PAN in manifests.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess requires mandatory exemption claims and revised electronic duty declarations for Bills of Entry.
Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess applies to imported goods unless an applicable exemption is claimed, and to petrol and high-speed diesel as excise AIDC. Bills of Entry must quote the relevant AIDC exemption notification, including for fully exempt goods. Customs AIDC claims require notification type "C" and additional duty flag "A", while excise AIDC claims require notification type "E" and additional duty flag "A". ICES incorporates the revised levy, exemptions and duty-calculation logic, requiring transitional verification of assessments and EDI calculations.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess applied on imports; importers must quote notifications and use EDI flags to claim exemptions.
Introduction of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on imports is chargeable in addition to existing customs or excise duties, with valuation following customs valuation rules. ICES/ICEGATE system updates require mandatory quoting of the relevant notification serial numbers in the Bill of Entry and use of specified BE_DUTY flags (NOTN TYPE 'C'/'E' and Additional Duty Flag 'A') to claim customs or excise exemptions; excise AIDC applies to petrol and high speed diesel. Social Welfare Surcharge treatment and automated system adjustments for notified exemptions on gold and silver are implemented. Trade and officers must verify duty calculations during the transition and report discrepancies to the ICES helpdesk.

Mandatory uploading of import/export documents in e-Sanchit updated; many documents now uploadable by IECs and brokers.
The notice revises the list of mandatory documents for upload to e-Sanchit (Annex I) and identifies a limited set of document codes to remain PGA-only (Annex II). All other document codes can be uploaded by the IEC or Customs Broker; PGAs may upload only for IECs registered on ICEGATE. BE Statement amendments claiming exceptions must be filed at item level (Invoice Sl. No. and Item Sl. No.), online using Amend Code S_STMT or via service centre. Systemic checking at OOC is disabled for BEs filed before 23.01.2021.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess introduced on imports and excisable goods; EDI updated and BE notification quoting required.
AIDC has been introduced on imports and certain excisable goods effective 02-02-2021 and is additional to other customs or excise duties. AIDC on imports is calculated on the same value basis as customs duty. Importers must quote relevant notification Sl. Nos. in the Bill of Entry to claim rates or exemptions and set BE_DUTY flags: NOTN TYPE 'C'/'E' with Additional Duty Flag 'A' for Customs/Excise AIDC respectively. Excise AIDC applies only to petrol and high speed diesel. SWS is levied on AIDC except where Notification 13/2021 exempts specified gold and silver headings. Traders should verify duty calculations for entries on 2-3 February 2021.

Electronic import document compliance through e-Sanchit permits item-level exceptions and revised uploader responsibilities for mandatory records.
Mandatory electronic submission of prescribed import documents through e-Sanchit is governed by a revised tariff-heading-based list of document codes. Importers holding an Importer Exporter Code and Customs Brokers may upload all document codes except those temporarily reserved for Participating Government Agency uploading. Agency uploads require ICEGATE registration. Where a required document is inapplicable, the Bill of Entry Statement table may be amended online or through a service centre at item level, identifying the invoice and item serial numbers. Automated mandatory-document checking at the Out-of-Charge stage is disabled for Bills of Entry filed before the specified cut-off date.

Late fee waiver applies to delayed Bills of Entry affected by ICES downtime during Budget updation.
Late fees otherwise imposable for delayed filing of Bills of Entry are waived for consignments covered by Import General Manifests filed on 1 and 2 February 2021, where filing was affected by ICES system downtime for Budget updation. ICES services for Bills of Entry were enabled after updation on 3 February 2021, and implementation is to be treated as a standing order for officers and staff.

Late-fee waiver for delayed Bills of Entry applies where budget system downtime prevented timely filing.
Late fees for delayed Bills of Entry under the Bill of Entry (Forms) Amendment Regulations, 2017 are waived where ICES unavailability during the 2021-2022 budget update prevented timely filing. The waiver is confined to belated Bills of Entry pertaining to Import General Manifests filed on 1 and 2 February 2021, after which ICES services were restored.

Container seal mismatch procedures: certain prefix/leading-zero or interchange discrepancies can be recorded and resealed without full examination.
Standing Order 03/2021 prescribes that where a container's one-time-lock differs from the Bill of Lading due to leading zeros, missing/added carrier prefixes, or interchange among containers under the same Customs Transit Declaration or Bill of Lading, the Shed Superintendent shall record the actual seal number in CINS, apply the prescribed RFID/ECTS seal, and allow movement without 100% examination; other intact mismatches may be cleared on submission of an amended Bill of Lading from the shipping line, while remaining cases continue to be subject to examination and Customs may open seals on specific intelligence.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on imports requires notification citation and specific BE duty flags for correct levy.
AIDC is introduced as an additional customs and, for specified excisable goods, excise levy, calculated using customs valuation and payable in addition to other duties. ICES has been updated and importers must quote relevant notification serial numbers in the Bill of Entry to claim AIDC exemptions; claim is mandatory. Excise AIDC applies only to petrol and high speed diesel. Filers must set BE_DUTY flags (Customs: NOTN TYPE 'C' and Additional Duty Flag 'A'; Excise: NOTN TYPE 'E' and Additional Duty Flag 'A'). SWS is leviable on AIDC with a system exemption for certain gold/silver CTHs.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess introduced on imports; EDI filing must quote notification and duty flags for claims.
AIDC is introduced as an additional duty on imports and as excise on specified excisable goods, with valuation aligned to customs valuation rules. ICES/ICEGATE has been updated and importers must quote the relevant notification serial numbers in the Bill of Entry; use NOTN TYPE 'C' with Additional Duty Flag 'CA' for customs AIDC and NOTN TYPE 'E' with Additional Duty Flag 'A' for excise AIDC. SWS is generally levied on AIDC but is exempted for specified gold and silver headings; traders must verify duty calculations and report discrepancies to ICEGATE.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess requires mandatory Bill of Entry notification claims and specific system flags for imports.
Introduction of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) imposes an additional levy on imports and, for excisable scheduled goods, as excise; AIDC value follows customs valuation under section 14. Importers must mandatorily quote the relevant Notification 11/2021 Sl. Nos. in the Bill of Entry, and use specified BE_DUTY flags (NOTN TYPE 'C' or 'E' and Additional Duty Flag 'A') to claim exemptions. Excise AIDC is limited to petrol and HSD. SWS applies to AIDC except where Notification 13/2021 exempts specified CTHs; ICES has been updated and duty calculations should be verified and discrepancies reported.

Surety requirement: proprietors and partners cannot act as sureties for their own EOU bonds; independent entity required.
The Board clarifies that the surety for a B-17 bond executed by an EOU/STP/EHTP must be an independent legal entity distinct from the obligor; proprietors of proprietorship EOUs and partners of partnership EOUs cannot act as sureties for their own firms. The circular recalls that individuals or corporate bodies distinct from limited company EOUs may act as sureties and that solvency of sureties may be certified by chartered accountants or bankers. All B-17 bonds should be reviewed for compliance and difficulties reported to the Board.

Mandatory document upload in e-Sanchit: revised codes; online item-level amendments permitted using Amend Code S STMT.
The notice revises the mandatory document code list (Annexure I) and identifies doc codes still uploadable only by PGAs (Annexure II); other codes may be uploaded by IECs or Customs Brokers. PGAs may upload documents only for ICEGATE registered IECs, so importers should obtain ICEGATE registration. Amendments to the BE Statement table for exceptions can be filed at item level via service centre or online using Amend Code S STMT with Invoice Sl No and Item Sl No. Systemic checking at OOC stage is suspended for BEs filed before 23.01.2021.

Mandatory uploading in e Sanchit: IECs/Customs brokers can upload most documents; select codes remain PGA only.
The mandatory document code list for e Sanchit has been revised (Annexure I); most document codes may now be uploaded by the IEC or Customs Broker, while specified codes remain PGA only (Annexure II). PGAs can upload documents only for IECs registered on ICEGATE; importers are urged to register. Amendments to the BE Statement table to claim exceptions must be filed at item level using Amend Code S_STMT or via the service centre with Inv SI No and Item SI No. Systemic OOC checking is disabled for BEs filed before 23.01.2021.

Mandatory document upload in e Sanchit: importers must quote IRNs in the BE and amend BE to add post filed documents.
Uploading mandatory documents to e Sanchit is only the first step; importers must quote the system generated IRNs in the corresponding Bill of Entry and, where documents are added after filing, attach them by way of a BE amendment (no officer approval required). Doc codes must be entered at the item level. PGAs may upload certain documents directly, and importers registered on ICEGATE will receive IRN notifications which must be included in the BE. If a mandatory doc code is not applicable, the importer must declare the exception using Statement Type REM with reasons in the BE.

Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess introduced on specified imports, with simultaneous recalibration of customs and excise duties.
The Finance Bill, 2021 effects wide ranging changes: numerous Basic Customs Duty adjustments, introduction of an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on specified imports with simultaneous BCD recalibration and SWS treatment, recalibration of excise duties including AIDC on petrol/diesel with compensatory adjustments to other excise components, consolidation and amendment of concessional entries (notably for mobile/ battery/solar and project imports), procedural and time limit reforms in Customs investigations and trade remedial measures (ADD/CVD/safeguards), and amendments to CGST/IGST linking input tax credit to supplier reporting and streamlining annual return and seizure/confiscation procedures.

Mandatory uploading of documents in e Sanchit: revised code lists, PGA restrictions, ICEGATE registration and S_STMT amendment procedure.
The mandatory document codes list for ICES has been revised (Annexure I) and certain codes remain PGA only in Annexure II; IECs/Customs Brokers may upload other documents on e Sanchit. PGAs can upload documents only for ICEGATE registered IECs. Amendments to the Statement table may be filed online or at service centres at item level using Amend Code S_STMT, citing Invoice SI No and Item SI No. Systemic OOC checks are disabled for BEs filed before 23.01.2021; the notice operates as a standing order and trade may report issues to the Joint Commissioner.