Customs EDI migration centralises processing under ICES 1.5, requiring prior submission, electronic duty messaging, and system cutover.
Implementation of ICES 1.5 migrates local Customs EDI operations to a centralized national data centre, ceasing local server operations at cutover and requiring manual clearances during the interim. All pending service centre submissions and custodian truck summaries must be submitted prior to migration or re-entry will be required. Document numbers will be centrally assigned and no longer continuous by location. Duty payment challans will be exchanged electronically with the designated bank which must confirm payments. Temporary scroll generation is mandatory for DBK scrolls. CHAs must use PAN-based registration numbers; message specifications are on ICEGATE; helpdesk contacts are provided.

Customs agent authorization: only authorized CHA pass holders may submit and sign customs documents; verification required.
Only persons authorised by the appointed Customs House Agent and holding a valid Customs pass (type F or G) linked to that CHA may sign, submit or handle customs documents at Cochin/ACC Nedumbassery. CHAs must verify client identity, antecedents, IEC and address using reliable independent documents; authorised signatories must file written authority with the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner, record cardex number and pass type beneath signatures, and only authorised, examined persons may sign declarations. Officers must verify pass validity and obtain full signature, block name and cardex number on hard copies; acknowledgments for pass applications do not substitute for a valid pass.

Declaration of intent mandatory for claiming Chapter Three export benefits; claims are inadmissible without this declaration.
Declaration of intent is mandated as a precondition for claiming Chapter Three benefits and must be stated in all categories of shipping bills; absence of the prescribed declaration makes claims under Chapter Three inadmissible. The declaration is also required for exports under Chapters Four, Five and Six and for supplies to SEZs, without needing scheme names. For products/markets notified during the year, the declaration requirement applies only after a one month grace period from the public notice; exports prior to notification are excluded.

Declaration of intent for Chapter 3 export rewards required; exporters must list eight digit ITC (HS) codes on Shipping Bills.
Mandatory declaration of intent is required for exporters claiming benefits under Chapter 3 reward schemes of the FTP, and exporters must mandatorily mention the eight digit ITC (HS) code on the Shipping Bill; where that code is not specified in scheme appendices the applicable entry of the intended reward scheme must be shown. Customs EDI (ICEGATE) will be modified to include an affirmative declaration field, and exporters may record intent elsewhere on the Shipping Bill until modification. EPCs must educate trade about these requirements.

Centralised EDI migration centralises document numbering and mandates electronic challan settlement ahead of system cutover.
Migration of Customs EDI at New Custom House, Mangalore to ICES 1.5 hosted at the National Data Centre centralises document numbering and processing, routes duty challans and confirmations electronically with Canara Bank, and changes printout responsibilities to designated customs officers. Service Centres remain managed under existing arrangements but must submit all pending entries before the migration cutoff to avoid re-entry. DEPB licences will be debited from a centrally maintained common ledger across ICES 1.5 locations; TRAs will be issued for non-EDI or legacy locations and registered in the system.

Call auction in pre-open session introduced for benchmark scrips; establishes price discovery, order priority and dissemination rules.
A pilot call auction is to be introduced in the pre-open session for benchmark index scrips, with segmented order entry, matching and buffer phases, random closure during order entry, admission of limit and market orders within a price band, continuation of the cash market risk framework, and dissemination of indicative equilibrium price and cumulative quantities. Equilibrium price selection prioritises maximum tradable volume, then minimum imbalance and proximity to prior closing; order execution gives precedence to limit orders, and unmatched orders shift to the continuous market under time priority. Exchanges must implement systems, amend rules, notify members and obtain regulator approval; the framework is reviewable after three months.

Settlement flexibility for stock derivatives allows cash or physical settlement, subject to exchange systems and SEBI approval.
SEBI permits exchanges to offer cash or physical settlement for stock options and futures in any of four configurations, with phased introduction allowed but physical settlement required to be completed within six months. The settlement mechanism must be decided in consultation with Depositories. Physically settled expiries/exercises are subject to the cash segment risk management framework, and cash and derivative settlements remain separate. Exchanges must establish systems, amend bye-laws, notify market participants, publish details, and submit an implementation framework to SEBI; any change of settlement mode requires prior SEBI approval.

Classification of tea fortified with vitamins confirmed as preparation of tea for tariff purposes under customs classification.
Tea fortified with vitamins, comprising tea plus stabilizers and vitamins, constitutes a preparation of tea that is not excluded by any applicable Section or Chapter Note and therefore falls within the chapter dealing with preparations of tea.

LUT/BG requirement ensures import authorisations for re export of restricted items are secured and redeemable on proof of re export.
Import authorisations for restricted items on a re export basis must be secured by execution of LUT/BG at issuance: status holders and qualifying manufacturers execute only a LUT for the full import value, while other importers execute a LUT for the full import value plus a bank guarantee. The LUT/BG must cover the re export period plus six months and must be redeemed by the Regional Authority upon receipt of documentary evidence of re export.

SFIS entitlement clarified: telecom firms must segregate service earnings, undergo review and recomputation, and face recoveries where excess granted.
Regional Authorities must re-open and review all previously sanctioned telecom SFIS and DFCE cases to recompute entitlements under the revised interpretation, require applicants to segregate foreign exchange earnings by service type (ILDO, NLDO, AP and listed subcategories), call for information in a time-bound manner, recover any excess grants without imposing penal interest because the policy interpretation is recent, report monthly to DGFT, and complete the review within six months; telecoms are not entitled to SFIS on foreign exchange earned from 2009-10 onwards.

SEZ Rules amendment: prior administrative instructions withdrawn and declared infructuous following regulatory change.
Amendment of the Special Economic Zone Rules, 2006 by Notification G.S.R. 501(E) renders several earlier administrative instructions ineffective; Instruction Nos. 36, 25, 24 and 16 (issued in 2009) are formally withdrawn as infructuous by Instruction No. 61 dated 14th July 2010, communicated by the Director.

Mobile storage prohibition: field units must withdraw on wheel bonding permissions and direct assessees to rebate routes.
The Board clarifies that storage of non-duty paid aviation fuel in vehicle-mounted mobile tanks as an "on wheel bonding facility" is not authorised by its circulars; Commissioners may permit co-storage in registered warehouses but not in mobile tanks. Field formations must withdraw any such on-wheel permissions, warn of pilferage and revenue risk, and advise assessees to use the rebate mechanism for supplying duty-free fuel to international flights.

VAT return scrutiny targets high-turnover dealers for comprehensive review and mandates monitored sampling for lower-turnover filers.
Prescribes a turnover based selection regime for VAT return scrutiny using the circulated proforma: comprehensive scrutiny for the highest turnover dealers, alternate return scrutiny for the next band, one fourth of returns for the middle band, and a small random sample for the lowest turnover band; instructs officers to apply earlier relevant circulars and requires zonal/additional commissioners to monitor ward scrutiny and report weekly to the Commissioner.

Refund processing procedures: require statutory notice, supplier ITC analysis, statutory forms, securities and document verification before payment.
Processing of refund applications under the Delhi VAT regime mandates prompt issuance of a statutory notice for requisite documents, detailed analysis of suppliers' tax payments and claimants' purchase registers to substantiate ITC, and reconciliation with returns. Security may be prescribed under section 38, with bank guarantees preferred for missing interstate C/F forms and demands created where forms are overdue. Authorities must examine credit notes, discounts and TDS certificates for proportional ITC adjustments, use the Refund Processing System to flag cases, consider audit/enforcement findings, and undertake physical verification where necessary.

ASBA facility: downloadable pre filled bid forms with unique application numbers and electronic blocking of bid funds.
ASBA bid cum application forms must be downloadable from exchange websites with a unique application number; merchant bankers must provide issue details and a soft copy of the prospectus in advance so exchanges can pre fill and post forms; exchanges must ensure form accuracy, online prospectus access, generation of unique application numbers, and availability of bid revision forms. The forms authorise SCSBs to block/unblock funds, upload bids electronically, transfer funds after allotment instructions, and set rejection consequences for incorrect demat, PAN, or insufficient funds.

Change of Regional Authority address: amendment under Foreign Trade Policy updates Raipur office location and territorial jurisdiction for Chhattisgarh.
Amendment under Foreign Trade Policy authority changes the Raipur Regional Authority entry in Appendix 1 of the Handbook of Procedure to record a new office address at CSIDC Bhavan, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar, Sector 4, Ring Road No. 1, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, with updated telephone, fax and e mail details; territorial jurisdiction remains the State of Chhattisgarh and the notice is issued in the public interest by the Director General of Foreign Trade.

Standard Input-Output Norms amendment updates aseptic packaging input specifications and permitted import quantities for exports.
Amendment updates the Standard Input-Output Norms (SION) entry H-444 to specify permitted import inputs and corresponding measurement relationships for the export item Aseptic Packaging Material. The annexure lists import items-paperboard/bleached paper/kraft paper, aluminium foil, LDPE, LLDPE/HDPE/MLLDPE granules/film, ethylene acrylic acid copolymer/adhesive copolymer granules, polymer strips (net-to-net), printing inks (weight per export product), and photo polymer plates (number per export product)-and sets the applicable content-based conversion factors and unit relationships for application under the Handbook of Procedures.

Prohibition on high-denomination Indian currency notes: travelers warned that carrying such notes to Nepal attracts penal consequences.
Export and import of Indian currency notes above the denomination of one hundred rupees to and from Nepal are prohibited and possession or use of higher denomination Indian notes in Nepal is proscribed with criminal penalties. Travelers carrying prohibited denominations risk seizure of notes and sanctions including fines and imprisonment for up to three years in Nepal. Customs must display prominent notices at Airports and Land Customs Stations and airlines are requested to sensitize passengers at check in counters about these prohibitions and penal consequences.

Special currency basket value revised, requiring authorised dealer banks to apply the new rupee parity and notify constituents.
The circular revises the rupee parity of the special currency basket under the Deferred Payment Protocols and directs Authorised Dealer Category I banks to apply the revised rupee value effective from a specified date in June 2010 and to notify their constituents; the directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and do not affect other statutory permissions or approvals.

Wastage norms for studded jewellery updated to a uniform allowance for gold, platinum and silver under export rules.
The amendment replaces Sl. No. (b) of paragraph 4A.2 in the Handbook of Procedure (Vol. I) 2009-2014 to prescribe wastage allowances for studded jewellery: 7% with reference to gold and platinum content and 7% with reference to silver content, issued under paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014.