Custodian appointment for imported goods and containers-operators authorised to hold custody until clearance or handover.
Statutory approval designates Container Corporation of India Limited as custodian of imported goods and containers at the Inland Container Depot until transfer to Central Warehousing Corporation; Central Warehousing Corporation is designated custodian from receipt from CONCOR until goods are cleared for home consumption, warehousing, transhipment, and until containers are returned to CONCOR, effective immediately.

Drawal of samples clarified: category-based sampling frequencies and documentary reliance reduce routine chemical testing of exports.
Drawal of samples for chemical testing to determine drawback duties follows category-specific frequencies: annual sampling for branded exports with brand rates; six monthly sampling for generic goods with individual brand rates; consignment-level sampling for specification-based items unless acceptable certificates allow six monthly sampling; reliance on manufacturer's certificates, shipping bill declarations, literature and AR-4 for generic all industry rates with sampling only on doubt; AR-4 accepted and verified by Central Excise dispenses with sampling to that extent; sampling is percentage based and may be adjusted for surprise.

Warehousing interest treated separately from customs duty; refunds not governed by the Customs Act refund provision.
Warehousing interest under Section 61(2) is distinct from customs duty as defined in Section 2(xv), so the refund provision in Section 27 does not apply to refunds of interest recovered under Section 61(2); however, the Limitation Act may apply to the period for recovery or refund of such interest.

Customs valuation on high seas sale price permissible under GATT valuation code; state trading service charges excluded from importer expenses.
The Board confirmed that adopting the sale price at high seas for customs valuation is consistent with the GATT Valuation Code and withdrew the earlier contradictory manual instruction; separately, service charges payable to a State Trading Corporation are not includible as importer expenses under Rule 5(a) of the Customs Valuation Rules.

Treatment of warehousing interest: interest does not outrank warehouse-keeper claims in apportioning sale proceeds.
The Board held that interest on customs duty levied under Section 61(2) is distinct from customs duty and, in fairness, should not take precedence over the warehouse-keeper's rent and other claims when apportioning sale proceeds under Section 150; no amendment to the Customs Act to equate warehousing interest with customs duty is warranted, and this approach should guide apportionment on disposal of warehoused goods.

Security for transfer bonds: require full bank guarantees and strict rewarehousing monitoring to secure customs duty recovery.
The directive requires transfer bonds under Section 67 to be backed by a full bank guarantee to enable immediate recovery of customs duty on default, mandates strict monitoring and insistence on rewarehousing certificates within prescribed periods, calls for retrospective review and recovery actions in past transfer-bond cases, and orders detailed audits of inland bonded warehouses to detect abuse and initiate appropriate legal action.

Undervaluation suspicion permits disregarding declared transaction value; importer must explain or customs may apply alternate valuation.
Authority under Section 14(1) permits disregarding declared transaction value when under valuation is reasonably suspected and prima facie evidence exists; acceptable evidence includes published price lists and previously accepted customs values. If declared price is substantially lower than known prices, the importer must satisfactorily explain the difference; failing that, customs may reject the transaction value after giving a reasonable opportunity and apply subsequent valuation methods under the Rules.

Discontinuance of returns: customs and central excise reports discontinued with immediate effect reducing administrative reporting obligations.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs directed immediate discontinuance of specified statements, reports and returns across customs and central excise formations as communicated by D.O. F. No. 296/11/90-CX.9 dated March 15, 1990 and DGIA CCE circular of March 16, 1990: 13 technical statements/returns from Central Excise formations, 16 from Custom Houses, and 4 from Establishment, Administration, Accounts and Vigilance Wings, with the item at Sl. No. 6 excluded.