Revalidation of advance licences: expired licences may be revalidated for a limited additional period where exports were completed.
Revalidation of advance licences issued under the 1992-97 policy is permitted for a further limited period where exports have been completed but licences expired before utilization; applicants must file with the Regional Licensing Authority within the specified short window and revalidation is not available for licences already made transferable or for licences affected by misrepresentation or fraud.

Notification of Handbook of Procedures: revised export-import procedural rules issued under policy, now effective for stakeholder compliance.
Notification of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) formally issues the Revised Edition as the operative procedural guide under the Export Import Policy, invoking the policy provision that authorises such notifications, specifying its commencement date, and referencing the Annexure containing the Handbook text.

Fast track clearance delegated to AO of export oriented units, centralising registration scrutiny and out of charge procedures.
Registration scrutiny and issuance of the subsequent out of charge order for fast track clearances of export oriented units and processing zones shall be performed by the Assessing Officer of the export-oriented unit department rather than by the Import Commissionerate FTCS Assessing Officer; this consolidated procedure takes immediate effect.

Retail sale price declaration required for customs additional duty and national calamity duty; import entries must include RSP.
Importers and customs house agents must declare the Retail Sale Price (RSP) in rupees for each distinct article and pack size in the amended service-center declaration so ICES can assess additional duty under section 3 and apply the National Calamity Contingent Duty; the system will compute applicable abatement by reference to Central Excise Tariff headings and allows amendment of declared RSP at prescribed stages subject to approval.

Cess calculation and mandatory cargo type declaration revised, with new data fields and query workflow changes affecting export filings.
Modification of the ICES Exports Software, effective 2 April 2001, revises the cess calculation to use (FOB x rate)/(100+rate), mandates new Annexure A/B data fields including gross weight, unit of weight, total packages, marks and numbers, and requires declaration of a cargo type code at filing. Query workflow is restructured so approvals and replies route through designated officers including AC/DC, and Annexure C is modified to capture and verify master and house airway bill package counts at goods registration; no amendments are permitted after filing the EGM.

Foreign exchange regulations restrict EEFC credit facilities and revise account limits, altering foreign investment and remittance permissions.
Regulatory amendments under FEMA revise EEFC account treatment-prohibiting credit facilities against balances, disallowing term deposits, requiring non interest current accounts and resetting eligible credit limits for export and other units-while enabling SEZ units to credit full foreign receipts. The changes clarify guarantee discharge and repayment to non resident guarantors' foreign or non resident rupee accounts up to the rupee equivalent paid, restrict foreign investment in print media, permit specified foreign employee foreign bank accounts with salary and tax conditions, authorize hedging for crude importers, amend export repatriation and documentation, and empower the Reserve Bank to permit currency movement beyond existing thresholds.

Duty-free import under licensing schemes clarified: bond and bank guarantee rules, account monitoring, and DGFT certification required.
Notification No. 35/2001-Cus exempts raw pearls, rough diamonds and other precious or semi-precious stones imported under Chapter 8 licences and clarifies procedural safeguards: replenishment licences require no bond or bank guarantee; diamond imprest imports carry export obligations with bond-only acceptance for qualifying exporters and bond plus partial bank guarantee for others; DGFT monitoring and certification will be relied upon for discharge of obligations; Customs may demand duty proportionate to any shortfall. Bulk licence imports require bonds and duty may be charged for unaccounted quantities.

Incremental margin requirement: gross client-level calculation for MCFS/ALBM/BLESS with tiered rates and mandatory cross-exchange application.
Incremental margins for MCFS, ALBM and BLESS are to be calculated and collected on a gross basis at client level from system data; additional margins are levied at the higher applicable rate under prescribed tiered slabs for gross carry forward or outstanding market positions, effective April 02, 2001, and once any exchange imposes such margins other exchanges with these facilities must follow from the next settlement.

Thinly traded securities redefined; valuation rules updated prescribing amortised cost for short term debt and yield to maturity for government securities.
Definitions and valuation procedures for thinly traded and non traded securities are revised: thinly traded equity requires both a low value and low volume of trading aggregated across recognised exchanges; thinly traded debt (non government) is identified by low trading volume in the thirty days before valuation. Non traded debt with residual maturity up to 182 days must be valued on an amortisation basis (cost plus accrued interest and spread recognised over remaining maturity); government securities not recently traded shall be valued at yield to maturity. Clarification treats "second quarter" as the second calendar quarter. Amendments are effective immediately.

Valuation of illiquid and thinly traded securities: new rules prescribe valuation methods and impose a cap on illiquid holdings.
The notification amends the Mutual Funds Regulations to require valuation rules for thinly traded securities, to limit the aggregate value of illiquid securities in a scheme and prescribe valuation for excess holdings, to require provisions for income accrued but unpaid as per Board guidelines, and to mandate disclosure in the balance sheet of aggregate carrying and market values of non performing investments, defined by lack of dividend or interest for the period specified in the guidelines.

Mis-declaration of drug composition renders exports ineligible for export-promotion benefits and attracts customs enforcement measures.
Exports of pharmaceuticals whose actual composition differs from labelled composition or pharmacopoeial standards constitute mis-declaration under the Customs Act, rendering such shipments ineligible for DEPB/drawback and other export-promotion benefits and attracting customs enforcement; officers are directed to monitor exporters and take action where composition discrepancies or nonconformity are detected.

Importer liability for demurrage: failure to accept bonding or provisional clearance results in responsibility for detention charges.
Detention should be exceptional; importers must be offered written notice and the option to shift goods to a bonded warehouse under section 49 or obtain provisional clearance by furnishing a bond with a bank guarantee (not exceeding twice the duty). If goods are detained over twenty days, senior officers must record reasons and actions taken; where bond/guarantee cannot be furnished, goods should be destuffed into port or departmental warehouses and containers released. Warehousing, demurrage and container detention charges are the importer's/exporter's liability if they do not avail bonding or provisional-clearance options, and this liability must be communicated in writing.

Charitable donation deduction: employer-issued certificate allows employees to claim 80G relief for consolidated donations through employers.
Employees who donate to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, Chief Minister's Relief Fund or Lieutenant Governor's Relief Fund through their employers, and whose contributions are remitted by consolidated cheque, are eligible to claim deduction under 80G; where separate receipts are not practicable, the deduction claim is admissible on the basis of a certificate issued by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer or employer.

Compulsory rolling settlement expanded to listed scrips nationwide; exchanges must implement trading infrastructure by July.
All scrips in the ALBM/BLESS or MCFS lists and those in the BSE 200 not already covered must be traded only under Compulsory Rolling Settlement nationwide from the implementation date; exchanges must develop requisite software and infrastructure or else affected scrips will be limited to spot trading on that exchange, and report progress in the Monthly Development Report.

System-based gross margining required; exchanges must use client-code transaction data for margin calculation or lose margin facilities.
SEBI mandates implementation of system-based gross margining using system-available transaction data and mandatory client-code entry at broker order-entry; exchanges must calculate MCFS/ALBM margins from system data rather than broker self-certification and face discontinuation of MCFS/ALBM/BLESS facilities for non-compliance.

Securities lending custody: lent securities must remain with the clearing corporation and not be sold during settlement.
Securities borrowed under the Automated Lending and Borrowing Mechanism (ALBM) and the Borrowing and Lending Securities Scheme (BLESS) must remain deposited with the exchange's Clearing Corporation or Clearing House and shall not be sold or substituted during the same settlement cycle; exchanges are directed to ensure strict compliance with this custody and prohibition requirement.

Scope of Animal Feed - oil cakes and rice bran not classifiable under Heading twenty-one, affecting tariff application.
The dispute concerned whether de-oiled rice bran and similar oil-seed and cereal by-products qualify as animal feed under Heading 21 of the Second Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act. The Tribunal held such products were ingredients, not animal feed, and a higher forum affirmed that oil cakes and rice bran cannot be characterised as animal feed within Heading 21, clarifying the classification boundary relevant to tariff and export duty application.

Acceptance of transference shipping bill for DEEC logging; alternates include mate receipt or bank realisation certificate.
DEEC book logging for exports through ICDs shall accept the transference copy of the shipping bill, endorsed at loading, as primary evidence; if that copy is not received within the prescribed period after let export order, logging may be done on mate receipt with bill of lading or on production of a bank realisation certificate, and staff and trade must be notified by standing order and Public Notice.

Sale backed by delivery requirement continues until further notice, applying to proprietary trades and deferral product positions.
Sales transactions must be backed by delivery unless preceded by an equivalent purchase in the same client name on the same or any other exchange; this applies to proprietary and client trades in deferred-settlement products and operates on self-certification subject to exchange off-site inspection and inter-exchange information sharing.

Quantitative export ceiling for maize allocated to designated agencies, with sourcing and shipment conditions under export policy.
The Director General specifies a quantitative ceiling permitting an additional maize export quantity placed at APEDA's disposal for issuance of Registration-cum-Allocation Certificates to named agencies with stated allocations; the maize must be sourced from Karnataka and all shipments under this allocation must be completed by the prescribed last date.