Notional interest on advance payments may be contested while imports allowed on bond securing differential customs duty.
The Board considers inclusion of interest charges in the assessable value for levy of customs duty is under active consideration; pending finalisation consignments shall not be held up and may be cleared on execution of a bond with sureties for the differential amount of duty to safeguard Government revenue.

Demurrage and despatch payments excluded from customs assessable value as non freight contractual penalties for valuation purposes.
Demurrage and despatch payments are contractual penalties or rewards between carrier and charterer and do not constitute freight or part of the price paid or payable for goods; therefore they are not to be included in the assessable value for customs valuation.

Monitoring of bonds and guarantees: stricter verification, custody and registry rules to secure enforceability and revenue protection.
The circular identifies failures in execution, verification, custody and follow up of bonds and bank guarantees by Custom Houses and prescribes corrective measures: strict compliance with manual procedures, maintenance of prescribed bond registers (CBR CUS. No. 321) and a Forward Diary, acceptance of bonds in presence of an appraiser with verification of bonder authenticity and witness status, spot verification of bank guarantee signatures (with bank confirmation for large amounts), safe custody of original bonds in cash department, monthly audits and pendency abstracts, avoidance of finalisation on photocopies, creation of a common bond cell, prompt enforcement on expiry, and use of computerisation for monitoring.

Warehousing restrictions limit inland public bonded warehouse storage to industrial raw materials and components, subject to customs approval.
Warehousing in inland public bonded warehouses is restricted principally to industrial raw materials and components; prior permissive circulars are withdrawn and Board instructions must be strictly followed. The Board will declare warehousing stations in consultation with the Collector, keep station numbers minimal to ensure customs expertise and equitable industrial access, appoint public warehouses (phasing out private licences), and limit the manufacture-in-bond facility in inland areas to predominantly export oriented industries with Board reference required. Customs staff for warehouses will be on a cost recovery basis.

Bank guarantee reduction for rewarehousing permits eligible exporters to post lower security for inland warehouse transfers.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs has modified existing re-warehousing instructions to allow Established Export Houses and Trading Houses to furnish a reduced bank guarantee in lieu of the previously required higher guarantee when transferring imported goods from major ports to inland warehousing stations, with all other conditions remaining in force except as expressly amended.

Warehousing bond-interest recording: new bill of entry column required to capture interest details and period.
Mandate to insert a new column titled Details of Bond-interest collected immediately below the "Date of removal of goods from the warehouse" on the ex-bond Bill of Entry, requiring (a) Date of first extension of warehousing period, (b) Amount of interest collected, and (c) Period for which interest collected, so that interest on customs duty for warehoused goods is collected timely and noted by assessing officers.

Third party exports: EOUs/FTZs/EPZs may accept orders provided export benefits remain with the exporting unit.
Guidelines allow 100% EOUs and FTZ/EPZ units to procure third party export orders provided the third party may or may not be named on export documents but must stipulate that all export benefits accrue only to the EOU/FTZ/EPZ. The third party must disclaim any claim to export benefits or export performance for certificates or special licences. Exports must be executed directly from the customs bonded unit of the EOU/FTZ/EPZ in compliance with bonding procedures; negotiation of documents through a third party is allowed.

Bond for differential customs duty requires immediate payment on vacation of stay or adverse judicial decision.
Circular prescribes a standard bond for importers clearing consignments under court orders staying recovery of differential customs duty, obliging the importer and successors to pay the differential duty immediately on demand if the stay is vacated or an adverse judicial decision is given, and requiring a bank guarantee for the full differential duty to the satisfaction of the Collector of Customs; recovery may be effected by the Collector or other officer under the Customs law and the bond form may be modified to match the court order.