Classification of Copper Phthalo Cyanine pigment: minimum purity threshold reaffirmed for standardised ready-to-use status, subject to sample testing.
CPC Blue qualifies as a standardised ready-to-use pigment for classification under Chapter Heading No. 3204.19 if it has a purity not less than 95% on a dry basis and the majority passes through a 100-125 mm sieve; earlier guidance is amended accordingly and pending assessments are to be finalised subject to sample testing.

Refund timing for duty exemption: cheque must be issued before sanction; claim must be filed within six months of payment.
Manufacturers entitled to a further duty exemption when a saloon car is registered as a taxi must refund the exemption amount to the purchaser and file a statutory refund claim. The Board interprets refund as receipt of the cheque by the purchaser, but the refund claim period runs from the date of duty payment; therefore the cheque must have been issued before the claim can be sanctioned, while the claim itself must be filed within the statutory filing period from duty payment.

Weight basis for customs duty: use transactional weight if sale by weight, otherwise packing weight unless actual net weight proved.
Where a commodity is sold on a weight basis, the transactional weight determines duty liability; where not sold by weight, the normal weight in the invoice or packing specification is the basis for levy; however, if the importer produces adequate proof of the actual net weight, the actual weight shall be used for assessing customs duty.

Broad-banding of inputs limited to select sectors; garments subject to special-scheme actual-user restriction.
Broad-banding by Customs applies to Electronics and Writing Instruments under the specified Customs exemption notifications; there is no Customs broad-banding for Pharmaceuticals under the DEEC Scheme. Garments have a limited broad-banding facility confined to the Special Scheme under the EXIM Policy and Customs Notification, and that facility is subject to an actual user condition requiring inputs to be used in manufacture for export.

Classification of plastic grills as parts of air conditioners affirmed; treated under machinery parts tariff rather than plastic articles.
Plastic grills for air-conditioners perform the functional role of deflecting airflow and are identifiable components of the appliance; they are therefore more appropriately classifiable as parts of air-conditioners under Chapter 84.15 of the Central Excise Tariff, 1985, rather than as generic articles of plastic.

Service tax on insurance refunds seeks procedural relief for bulk adjustment and clarity under Section 11-B.
M/s United Insurance Co. Ltd. seeks simplification allowing adjustment of premium refunds against future service tax liabilities and tax adjustments tied to premium reconciliations. They identify three refund types-pro-rata refunds on mid-term cancellations, provisional premium reconciliations, and book reversals for dishonoured payments-that generate frequent refund claims. The Board requests comments on whether existing procedures and documentation under Section 11-B of the Central Excise & Salt Act, 1944 are adequate for bulk disposal or whether separate procedures and amended formats are required.

Return of defective inputs: use return-challan movement without accounting entries, with safeguards to protect revenue.
The existing return-challan procedure is applicable for returning defective inputs to suppliers, allowing movement on designated challans without making credit or debit entries in the buyer's RG 23A Part-II account; revenue safeguards must be implemented where returned inputs are not received back by the manufacturer and trade and field formations are to be informed.

Carnet-de-passage new format: field formations must familiarise for smooth acceptance and to avoid inconvenience to holders.
Federation of Indian Automobile Associations will continue guaranteeing the AIT/FIA Carnet-de-Passage in a new prescribed format; customs field formations are directed to familiarise themselves with the revised document, with a specimen enclosed, to ensure acceptance and avoid confusion or inconvenience to carnet holders visiting India.

Date of transfer for securities: broker's note or contract date governs holding period and FIFO applies to multiple lots.
Determination of the date of transfer for securities transacted through stock exchanges is the date of the broker's note for sellers and purchasers, provided delivery of shares and transfer deeds follow; for direct party sales, the declared contract date governs subject to actual delivery. Where purchases occurred in multiple lots and scrips cannot be correlated, the FIFO method determines holding periods, and indexation for long-term gains is applied accordingly.

Detection of explosives in imported scrap: Customs must notify police, who secure Defence or specialist disposal assistance.
Customs must inform local Police upon detection of explosives in imported heavy melting scrap; the Police shall contact Defence authorities or an alternative specialist agency for disposal and may seek Ministry of Home Affairs assistance if expertise is unavailable. Import controls require foreign suppliers to provide pre-shipment inspection certification, a supplier certificate attesting absence of arms or explosives, and the contract copy with undertakings; designated agencies for inspection are set out in the public notice. Officers must regulate scrap imports and follow prescribed disposal procedures, reporting difficulties to the Board.

Denial of excise exemption to unregistered small-scale units; no invocation of Section 11C and report requested.
Denial of Central Excise duty exemption to unregistered small-scale/tiny units for the period 1-4-1992 to 21-5-1992 is the issue; on examination there is no case to invoke Section 11C, and field formations are directed to take necessary action and furnish their report to the Board.

Price list approval reform urged: adopt invoice-based assessment to improve price monitoring and verification.
Reform the price-list approval system by adopting invoice-based assessment as the basis for evaluation, enabling contemporaneous data collection, systematic monitoring of price movements, and targeted verification of sale prices to support compliance and vigilance functions.

Transit passenger facilitation at Bombay airport: through-traffic and interlining allowed subject to manifesting and transit lounge rules.
The Collector of Customs at Bombay Airport permits a controlled transit passenger facility allowing passengers arriving from overseas to transit to notified domestic customs airports with interlined baggage for final-destination clearance, provided they are manifested as direct transit passengers, remain in the transit lounge until boarding their connecting flight within 24 hours, and their checked baggage is tagged to show final destination; all such transit baggage remains in customs custody.

Automatic regulator classification for motor control apparatus where measurement and active power factor regulation dictate tariff placement.
The Supermizer SMX comprises converter/inverter elements together with measuring, control and operator devices that rectify AC to DC, invert to variable AC and actively control the induction motor's power factor by comparing actual and preset values. Because it incorporates measurement and regulation functions intended to stabilise an electrical quality, it is not a mere electrical static converter but falls within the concept of automatic regulators of electrical quantities and is classifiable accordingly; classification as a plain static converter is excluded under the General Interpretative Rules.

Foreign travel tax reporting requires monthly submission on new FTT forms, with financial year reporting and carrier-specific collection monitoring.
The Board has replaced three prior FTT forms with two new forms: Form I (Part A for monthly collections by carrier-including gross deposits, refunds, net and progressive collections; Part B for month end outstanding amounts, deposits against outstanding dues, period wise balances and recovery action) and Form II (monitoring utilisation of collection charges, carrier claims, payments and outstanding amounts). These forms must be submitted monthly on a financial year basis and certified by the Assistant Collector (Customs).

Set off of unabsorbed partner losses allowed against firm income, permitting set off under sections 70 and 71.
Unabsorbed business losses apportioned to partners for earlier years shall be brought back to the firm for set off if the partner continues in the firm, and may be carried forward and set off under the statutory carry forward and set off provisions; the administration directs that set off under the provisions permitting inter head adjustments may be allowed in the hands of the firm for assessment year 1993-94.

Inland Air Travel Tax reporting required monthly; airlines must submit prescribed collection and charge statements to customs.
Mandatory monthly submission of Form I (Part A: month-wise Inland Air Travel Tax receipts, arrears, refunds, net and progressive collections; Part B: month end outstanding liabilities and recovery actions) and Form II (collection charges claimed, payments, outstanding amounts and progressive totals), each signed by the Assistant Collector (Customs), for administrative and budgetary monitoring.

Duty concession removal for import negative items alters DTA clearance liability and triggers administrative compliance obligations.
Items on the Negative list of imports are not eligible for the 50% concessional basic customs duty and additional customs duty on DTA clearances from EPZ/100% EOU/EHTP/STP units; clearances from the effective date must be reviewed and demands for the duty differential issued and collected. Administrative steps include notifying Assistant Collectors and Superintendents, compiling unit wise lists linking manufactured goods to the Negative list, and using a nodal Collector to transmit any future changes in the Negative list to Principal Collectors and supervisory officers for dissemination.

Permissibility of STP imports: import allowed for export obligation, with later in unit training use acceptable under notification conditions.
Imports of equipment by STP units should be permitted under the relevant customs notification when the declared intention at import is to fulfil STP export obligations; subsequent use of such equipment for training within the STP unit is acceptable provided training is confined inside the unit and notification conditions are observed.

Central Excise Duty now applies at both roll clearance and finished car matting manufacture after Modvat extension.
The circular clarifies that conversion of non-woven floor-covering rolls into car mattings produces distinct marketable products, creating separate liabilities: Central Excise Duty is payable on non-woven material in rolls when cleared from the factory and again on car mattings subsequently manufactured from those duty-paid rolls; earlier contrary guidance is withdrawn and assessments are to follow these revised instructions.