Appointment of Special Adjudicator: show cause notices reassigned for centralized adjudication under customs administrative authority.
The Board assigns the Show Cause Notices listed in the annexed Table to the Commissioner of Central Excise (Adjudication), Chennai for adjudication, identifying each affected person by name and file number and notifying relevant Commissioners and departmental contacts to take necessary action.

CST reimbursement timing changed: claims must be filed within the prescribed post quarter period; late and supplementary rules apply.
CST reimbursement is payable quarterly and claims must be filed within six months from the completion of the quarter in which the claim arose; for purchases paid in installments, the claim may be filed in the quarter when full payment against the invoice/bill is effected. Late applications are governed by paragraph 9.3 of the Handbook of Procedure, Vol. I. Supplementary claims will be considered under paragraph 9.4 of the Handbook of Procedure, Vol. I.

Proof of landing for Focus Market Scheme includes import bill of entry, delivery order, arrival notice or carrier tracking report.
Amendment to ANF 3D documentary requirements under the Focus Market Scheme permits four forms of proof of landing: a self attested import bill of entry filed by the importer in the destination market, a delivery order from port authorities, an arrival notice from the goods carrier, or a tracking report from the goods carrier, as acceptable evidence of arrival of export cargo.

Border enforcement of intellectual property rights: Customs may suspend release of suspected infringing imports subject to registration and bonds.
Customs may suspend release of suspected infringing imports after right holders register under the IPR (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007. Registration requires execution of a General Bond and indemnity; following interdiction a consignment-specific bond with surety and security must be furnished within prescribed days or the goods are released. Right holders bear sampling, testing, demurrage, destruction and related costs; false information or non-compliance can lead to cancellation of registration.

Service tax compliance: registration, mandatory e payment, invoicing, returns and CENVAT credit usage clarified for taxpayers.
Consolidates procedural requirements for service tax administration: mandatory registration and separate registration for input service distributors; monthly/quarterly payment schedules with mandatory e payment for taxpayers exceeding the prescribed payment threshold; invoicing and consignment note particulars to enable CENVAT credit; half yearly ST 3 returns with e filing and provisions for revised returns; self and provisional assessment mechanisms; CENVAT credit rules clarifying non availability of credit to consignor/consignee for GTA services beyond place of removal and admissibility criteria for input services; audit, interest, penalty, adjudication, revision and appeal frameworks are specified.

Service tax classification and valuation clarified: codified departmental positions on taxable services, exemptions, exports and CENVAT consequences.
Circular consolidates and codifies departmental positions on service tax technical issues, superseding prior clarifications except specified statutory orders. It prescribes a coding system for issue identification and states departmental views do not override law. The circular clarifies scope and classification (examples include courier, consulting engineer, manpower recruitment, mandap keeper, and business exhibition services), valuation principles (exclusion of non consideration amounts, treatment of spare parts), export/import of service rules (composite international journey valuation), CENVAT credit limitations, composition scheme constraints, exemption treatment for statutory functions, and taxability of sub contractors and certain financial and port services.

Jurisdiction of Commissioner (Appeals) clarified: appeals from Assistant Commissioner customs orders for 100% EOUs on service tax credit lie with Customs Appeals.
For Customs jurisdiction 100% EOUs, the appellate authority for rebate or refund claims of input service tax credit and refund of unutilised credit is the Commissioner (Appeals) in the Customs appellate capacity; appeals from orders of the Assistant Commissioner, Customs Division (including refund/unutilised service tax credit orders) lie with that Commissioner (Appeals) in Bangalore.

Adhoc norms validity: notification and representation deadlines set for Norms Committee decisions on export-import authorizations.
Where the Norms Committee ratifies adhoc norms for the same export and import products under an authorization, those norms are valid for one year from ratification, and the NC must notify any adhoc norms not already notified within one month after that one-year period. If the NC fixes adhoc norms and the exporter files a representation against the fixation, the time limit for filing a representation before the Norms Committee is four months from the date the decision fixing the adhoc norms is communicated.

Claim filing deadlines require banking channel payment evidence and a twelve month filing window from payment period end.
Claims for supplies under paragraph 8.2(a), (b) and (c) must be filed against receipt of payment through the normal banking channel as in Appendix 22B, within twelve months from the end of the monthly/quarterly/half yearly period reckoned from the date of payment per the applicant's option. If payment is received in advance, the filing deadline may be correlated with the date of supply. TED claims may be filed Invalidation Letter/ARO wise against individual licences within the specified time limit.

Section 11C exemption: field units to report cases where exemption followed demand confirmation for central excise write-off.
Field formations must report instances where an exemption notification under Section 11C was issued but, before that notification, orders confirming demands had been passed and those demands were shown as revenue arrears; the report must provide notification details, adjudication and appellate orders across levels, amounts by duty/fine/penalty, and appellate status to enable assessment of write-off requests.

Rupee loans for NRI ESOP purchases allow banks to finance share acquisitions under specified regulatory conditions.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks may grant rupee loans to NRI employees to acquire shares under ESOPs, subject to a board approved policy and conditions: loan capped at 90% of purchase price or Rupees 20 lakh per employee; bank determined interest and margin within regulatory directives; payment directly to the company; repayment by inward remittance or debit to NRO/NRE/FCNR(B) accounts; and inclusion of such loans in capital market exposure for compliance with prudential limits.

DEPB schedule amendment adds raw sugar to Food Products, creating a new export benefit entry effective immediately.
An amendment to the Schedule of DEPB rates inserts, with immediate effect, a new entry under Food Products (Product Code 67) adding Raw Sugar at Sl. No. 12 with a DEPB rate of 4%, issued under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy and Paragraph 1.1 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I).

Import licensing for rough marble allows need based approvals but prohibits sale of products made from imported blocks after processing.
Importation of rough marble blocks and slabs is permitted on a need basis to specified end-users such as hotels (with Ministry of Tourism recommendation) and places of worship, subject to licence. A post-import restriction prohibits sale of any products manufactured after processing of imported rough marble blocks or slabs; licensing and customs authorities must enforce need based authorisation and the prohibition on sale of processed products.

Export entitlement clarified: only shipments with foreign exchange received directly qualify, and supporting manufacturers are not suppliers.
An export shipment is countable for an applicant's export performance only if export proceeds are received in free foreign exchange directly by the applicant; documentary proof is required when multiple names appear in export documents. Supplies from one status holder to another are ineligible under DFCE, but goods made by a supporting manufacturer on behalf of the applicant are not to be treated as 'supplies' merely because the supporting manufacturer holds a status certificate. When direct foreign exchange receipt and the supporting-manufacturer distinction are met, the shipment qualifies for export performance and reward-scheme benefits.

Exemption from bank guarantee for manufacturer-exporters includes duty paid via Cenvat credit, affecting Advance Authorisation and EPCG schemes.
Manufacturer-exporters qualifying for exemption from executing a bank guarantee under Para 3.1(e) of the CBEC circular must have their excise duty total calculated inclusive of duty paid through Cenvat credit; trade notices and standing orders should be issued to inform trade and guide assessing officers, and implementation difficulties should be reported to the Board.

Immunity from prosecution applies only to applicants who file and fully disclose; others remain subject to prosecution.
Immunity from prosecution is granted only to a person who applies for compounding and makes full and true disclosure; other persons in the same case who do not apply remain subject to departmental proceedings. The compounding authority may prescribe the compounding amount as ten lakhs or any amount up to twenty percent of the market value of the goods, with the higher threshold prevailing, and must take into account the gravity of the offence and the degree of the applicant's involvement.

Transmission of shipping bills to DGFT: automated acknowledgements govern acceptance, regeneration, and retransmission procedures for exporters.
Electronic transmission of finally assessed shipping bills from ICES to DGFT via ICEGATE uses paired data and control files; DGFT returns acknowledgement codes that determine acceptance, file regeneration, or retransmission. File-level codes trigger acceptance or re-generation (including resend for mismatches or missing files), while file-level code 02 contains shipping-bill-level rejection codes; rejected bills (except duplicates) are automatically retransmitted in the next day's message file. Exporters can view status and request retransmission via ICES enquiry menus; retransmission requires meeting system criteria and may prompt error messages if requirements are unmet.

Import quota for rough marble amended, annual permitted quantity adjusted and prior-year unallocated quota excluded under DGFT circular.
Import quota for rough marble blocks and slabs for 2007-08 is amended to a fixed annual allocation of 1.4 lakh MT, and this revised allocation excludes any unallocated quota carried forward from 2006-07; the amendment is issued by administrative circular with the approval of the competent authority.

Extension of export obligation period for sugar: automatic one-year extension without composition fee where obligation had not expired earlier.
Advance authorisations for export of sugar whose export obligation period did not expire prior to 19-4-2007 are automatically extended for one year for discharge of export obligation, without payment of the Composition Fee, effective from the date the original obligation period expires, under the Foreign Trade Policy authority and incorporated into the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. I.

Line of credit for export finance sets shipment declaration and conditional agency commission rules requiring prior approval.
A Line of Credit from Exim Bank to the Eastern African Development Bank finances eligible exports to member countries, with defined effective and terminal dates and shipment declarations required on GR/SDF forms. Agency commission is generally disallowed under the facility but may be permitted up to a prescribed ceiling for exports requiring after sales service subject to prior approval and invoice deduction, with Exim Bank reimbursing the negotiating bank on a specified basis. Otherwise exporters must fund commissions from their own resources or EEFC balances, and AD Category I banks may allow remittance after full realisation subject to prevailing rules; directions are issued under FEMA.