Advance licence tie up rules permit intermediate supply or direct export, and clarify licence validity and port registration conditions.
Amendments correct cross references and revise advance licence provisions to allow advance licences for intermediate supply based on tie up agreements with holders of Advance Licences and permit licensees either to supply the intermediate product to that Advance Licence holder or to export directly. Licence validity is specified (12 months for imports, 18 months for exports), one port of registration applies for imports, exports may use ports in paragraph 7.19, and multiple licence issuance is restricted so no two licences for the same major export product group are issued for one port at the same time; entitlement revival, third year issuance conditional on SION settlement, proof of fulfillment after 18 months, and regularization for bonafide default are required. Appendix amendments add Major Export Product Group codes and correct administrative entries and numbering.

Deletion of DTA sale guidelines for EOU/FTZ/EPZ/EHTP/STP units affects compliance under DGFT procedural amendment framework.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amended the Handbook of Procedures (Vol I) by deleting paragraphs 1(m) and 1(n) of Appendix 42, thereby removing the specified guidelines governing sale of goods in the Domestic Tariff Area by EOU/FTZ/EPZ/EHTP/STP units; the amendment was issued by public notice dated 20 July 2000 under authority of the Export and Import Policy and is stated to be in the public interest.

Officer identification and visit register: inspections require production of identity cards and mandatory entries in factory visit registers.
All licensees must maintain a Record of Visits in the prescribed performa and Inspectors and Superintendents must enter relevant particulars on each visit; visiting officers are required to carry and produce official identity cards to factory representatives on demand. The same rules apply to Registered Dealers, and assessees may contact nominated Public Relations Officers and divisional officers for redressal if officers fail to follow these procedures.

Compulsory dematerialisation required for Sibar Software Services shares, making all trading and settlement in demat form.
NSDL has confirmed that SIBAR SOFTWARE SERVICES is available for dematerialisation; therefore trading and settlement in that scrip must be compulsorily effected in dematerialised form for all investors from the previously announced implementation date, superseding the earlier postponement for that scrip.

Retrospective amendment in excise classification permits recovery for past periods; authorities instructed to finalise pending assessments.
Statutory amendments have removed the prior bar to recovering differential excise for past periods arising from a change in approved classification; authorities are directed to finalise pending show-cause notices and proceed with assessment and recovery for short levy or short payment as permitted under the amended law, modifying earlier instructions that had suspended enforcement.

Postage stamp requirement: self-addressed envelopes must carry prescribed stamps loose; affixed stamps are not accepted.
Applicants requesting delivery of documents by Registered Post or Speed Post must provide a self-addressed envelope bearing the prescribed postage value for the chosen service, and the envelope and postage must be submitted in loose form; envelopes with postage stamps already affixed will not be accepted at counters.

Export control for ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine requires a No Objection Certificate before export under export policy.
Amendment to Schedule 2 Appendix 1 of the ITC(HS) classification permits exports of ephedrine and its salts and pseudo ephedrine and its salts only upon production of a No Objection Certificate from the Narcotics Commissioner of India, Gwalior, as required under paragraph 4.11 of the Export & Import Policy, 1997-2002.

Import exemption for PCBs permits consignments in the transition period to be cleared without surrender of Special Import Licence.
Printed circuit boards were made free for import effective 31 March 2000; although certain ITC licensing notes were deleted only on 10 May 2000, consignments imported between those dates shall be cleared without surrender of a Special Import Licence, and any ITC bonds taken at Customs in respect of such releases shall be redeemed without insisting on SIL surrender.

DEPB scrip restriction: DEPB credits cannot be used to debit customs duty for items barred by the Public Notice.
DEPB debit shall not be permitted for goods covered by the Public Notice restriction which allows DEPB credit only for freely importable goods except capital goods; Circular No. 76/98-Cus. is amended to this extent, limiting earlier permission to debit duty in DEPB scrips for imports under schemes such as EPCD and Project Import.

State credit repayment: nominated Indian banks authorised to handle exports to Russia under FEMA directions, with penalties for non-compliance.
The Reserve Bank of India has added Oriental Bank of Commerce, State Bank of Patiala and Bank of Punjab Ltd. to the list of nominated banks authorised to handle exports to Russia against repayment of State Credits; authorised dealers must notify constituents and comply with directions issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, non-observance attracting statutory penalties.

Modified Carry Forward System: increases broker carry forward limits, adds extra margin for excess positions, removes maximum holding period.
The circular revises the Modified Carry Forward System, raising the overall broker carry forward limit and imposing an additional 5% margin on incremental positions above the earlier cap; the margin applicable up to the earlier cap remains unchanged. It prescribes a per scrip, per broker position limit to curb concentration and removes the prior 90 day maximum tenure for carry forward transactions, while other existing conditions remain in force.

Importability of passenger vehicles: EPCG licences require a bank guarantee for tourism-sector applicants regardless of status.
Travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators certified as eligible under notifications may import motor cars, SUVs and all-purpose vehicles under the EPCG Scheme only if any licence issued is secured by a bank guarantee covering the full duty saved amount; for zero duty EPCG licences, CIF value increases are not permitted though item substitutions, additions or deletions may be allowed provided the licence's CIF value is not exceeded.

FDI liberalisation expands sectoral access, removing caps, easing dividend controls and permitting full foreign ownership in key sectors.
Government liberalises FDI by permitting full foreign ownership in e commerce (restricted to B2B and requiring divestment to Indian public if listed abroad), removing dividend balancing for specified consumer goods industries with immediate effect, eliminating the upper foreign equity limit for non atomic power projects under automatic approval, and allowing full foreign ownership in oil refining under the automatic route.

Drawback entitlement: AIR equivalent to central excise on indigenous inputs allowed without DFRC licence; claims must be processed promptly.
AIR drawback equivalent to the Central Excise duty portion on indigenous inputs is payable for exports under the DFRC Scheme even when the DFRC licence is not yet issued; exports completed before licence issuance remain eligible. Pending drawback claims must not be held up for want of a DFRC licence and should be processed expeditiously, with standing orders issued to field staff for compliance.

DEPB credit calculation clarified: uniform credit for non specified constituents and exemption from bulk drug value caps for formulations.
DEPB credit for chemical formulations depends on whether constituent bulk drugs are specified or non specified in the DEPB appendix: where all constituents are non specified a uniform credit applies irrespective of constituent weight; where all constituents are specified the credit is calculated per the note attached to the DEPB entry for specified formulations. Value caps applicable to bulk drugs do not apply to chemical formulations and customs must not impose those caps on such formulations.

Bonded cargo trucking facility: broadened custodian appointments and streamlined custody and permit requirements for airport transshipments.
Amendments permit unaccompanied baggage to move by bonded trucks and broaden custodian appointment for bonded cargo trucking: airlines, their approved agents, gateway or destination custodians may be appointed; custodial permits are initially valid one year and renewable every three years. The previous requirement that custodians issue goods for full value and Customs duty is deleted, and custodial functions allocated to airlines may be performed by any appointed custodian.

Compulsory dematerialised trading postponed for selected scrips while depository agreements and connectivity are pending.
SEBI required compulsory trading and settlement in dematerialised form for a list of securities effective July 24, 2000, but postponed the effective date for 39 scrips because they had not completed required depository agreements or established connectivity; a revised date will be announced after compliance is achieved.

E-corporate business working group to harmonise Companies Act and Information Technology Act for coordinated corporate governance reform.
An e-corporate business working group is constituted to harmonise provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 with the Information Technology Act, 2000 by identifying corporate governance areas for alignment. The group, chaired by the Joint Secretary of the Department of Company Affairs and including departmental and technical members, will set its procedures, consult or co opt external experts and professional bodies as needed, provide TA/DA to invited experts as per rules, and receive secretariat support from the Recodification Cell.

Customs duty exemption on re imported share certificates applies if no export benefits were claimed and no processing occurred.
Customs duty on re-imported goods is prima facie payable, but an exemption applies where no export benefits were claimed, the goods have not undergone processing or alteration abroad, and re-importation occurs within the stipulated period; share certificates meeting these conditions qualify for the exemption and Customs may finalise pending provisional assessments accordingly.

Duty free import verification requires Customs to match export details with records and refer discrepancies to issuing authority.
Customs must match the export details on the DFRC licence with export records held by the Customs House; where discrepancies appear, Customs shall refer the matter to the issuing authority and allow duty free import only after satisfaction as to the genuineness of the exports. This verification supplements the checks prescribed in the Department of Revenue circulars and the Handbook of Procedures.