Speaking order requirement: importers must request a speaking order when disputing valuation or classification, or confirm acceptance in writing.
When an importer contests proposed adjustments to declared value or tariff classification the Assessing Officer must issue a reasoned Order in Assessment enabling appeal; if the importer accepts a proposed revision the acceptance must be confirmed on company letterhead signed by an authorised signatory and the officer will record the letter reference and acceptance as departmental comments in the electronic Bill of Entry. Importers who do not accept proposed revisions must request a speaking order to permit fresh departmental analysis and issuance of an appropriate Order in Original.

Repacking from bulk to retail packs not treated as manufacture where goods arrive in tankers rather than bulk packs.
The circular states that whether labelling or repacking amounts to manufacture under Chapter Note 10 depends on whether the original conveyance is a bulk pack; it applies Tribunal precedent holding that goods received in tankers are not bulk packs, so transferring goods from tankers into smaller drums does not amount to repacking from bulk packs to retail packs and thus does not attract the fiction of manufacture.

Export manifest filing requires airlines to verify shipping bill details and submit EGMs before aircraft departure to enable LEO issuance.
Exporters/CHAs must file Shipping Bills at the Service Centre or online via ICEGATE; goods filed before arrival must be registered in ICES within seven days or the Shipping Bill will be purged. ICES validates online filings and Service Centre filings produce a checklist (Annexure C) that must be verified and corrected before a Shipping Bill number is allotted and goods registered. Assessment and examination in the ICES Export module follow and the designated officer issues the Let Export Order (LEO) on ICES. Airlines must file the Export General Manifest (EGM) electronically before departure, verify shipping details against the Export Promotion copy, submit endorsed EGM copies and an EGM-Shipping Bill chart daily to the Assistant Commissioner (Exports), and record any discrepancies in a Discrepancy Memo. No amendments to Shipping Bills are permitted after EGM filing or after LEO; corrections before LEO require Assistant Commissioner approval.

TDS mapping for international remittances updated to allow multiple assessing officer allocations by deductor jurisdiction.
The OLTAS screen has been modified to permit mapping of TDS payments on foreign remittances to multiple assessing officers; RCC users with the AR_TAS_SUP role must map such payments among AOs according to the alphabetical jurisdiction of deductors, and the TAS Supervisor must follow the steps in Annexure B to enable this mapping.

Refund banker transmission: AOs may confirm and populate bank/address details to enable electronic pickup of prior untransmitted refunds.
An electronic utility allows Assessment Officers to fetch refunds unpicked for transmission because they predate AO enrolment or lack address or bank details; if a paper cheque exists the AO must record the cheque number on the AST screen to prevent transmission, whereas where no paper cheque exists the AO may tick the confirm checkbox to enable refund banker pickup and, if required, be routed to AST screens to populate missing address and bank details for transmission to the bank branch.

Bonded warehouse licensing for diamonds and gemstones withdrawn; no new licences and existing warehouses subject to a limited transitory control.
The scheme permitting private/public bonded warehouses for import and re export of diamonds and gemstones has been withdrawn; no new bonding licences will be granted and the prior circular is withdrawn to that extent. Bonding in existing warehouses is prohibited. A three month transitory period allows existing warehouses to surrender licences, during which diamonds and gemstones are to be treated as dutiable goods for regulatory control and ex bonding procedures must be followed.

Royalty and technology transfer liberalization now permitted on automatic route, subject to current account foreign exchange rules.
Payments for transfer of technology, including royalties, lumpsum fees and payments for use of trademarks or brand names, are permitted on the automatic route without prior Government approval, subject to the Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules and a separate post-reporting mechanism to be notified; the guidelines modify and supersede specified earlier Press Notes.

Mutual Fund compliance: SEBI updates dividend delay interest, plan-launch, advertising, and employee trading rules for AMCs and trustees.
AMCs must pay interest for failure to dispatch dividend warrants within 30 days and report interest paid; collateral valuation for stock lending is deleted and funds must follow SEBI/Exchange guidance; consolidation records must be maintained within 21 days of exit-option closure; materially different additional plans must be new schemes while consistent plans may be launched via addendum filed 21 days in advance and approved by AMC and trustees; employee prior-approval holding period reduced to 7 days; tombstone advertisements limited to basic information with SID/SAI accompanying; disclosures change to compounded annualized yield; money market performance adverts may use 30-, 15- or 7-day simple annualized returns.

Allocation of government debt limits: bidding and first-come-first-served processes set caps, minimum bids and utilisation windows.
Unutilised government debt limits are allocated to FIIs via two mechanisms: a competitive bidding process on the Bombay Stock Exchange-subject to a per-entity cap of Rs. 300 crore and minimum bid and tick sizes of Rs. 50 crore-and a first-come-first-served tranche allocated among FIIs/sub-accounts subject to a per-entity ceiling, with requests to be sent to SEBI's dedicated email and an 11-working-day utilisation period for allocated limits.

ACES registration enables workflow-based electronic registration and return filing with online validation and status tracking.
ACES is a workflow-based electronic platform automating registration, return filing, claims, refunds, provisional assessment, dispute resolution and audit for Central Excise and Service Tax. It offers distinct interfaces for assessees and officers, supports online and offline return preparation with ACES validation and status tracking, and issues system-generated credentials enabling statutory registration and electronic issuance of registration certificates. Digital signature support is designed but not initially activated, and procedural variations exist for New Assessees, Existing Assessees, Non-Assessees and LTU units.

Customer due diligence: AMCs must retain investor KYC and PoA and suspend distributor payments until compliance.
Mutual Funds/AMCs are responsible for maintaining investor KYC, Power of Attorney and related documentation even when distributors assert custody of records; trustees must suspend payments to distributors lacking complete documentation, obtain missing KYC/PoA and supporting past transaction records, send duplicate statements for investor confirmation, set up dedicated customer service for affected unit holders, exercise heightened scrutiny before authorising transactions on incomplete files, and report steps and completion status to SEBI.

Investor right to change distributor: asset managers must accept investor requests without requiring a no-objection certificate.
Mutual funds must act on an investor's written request to change their distributor or to go direct without insisting on a No Objection Certificate from the existing distributor; AMCs are required to cease inconsistent practices and comply in letter and spirit with this investor-driven change process under the regulator's statutory powers.

Assessable value inclusion of after-sale and pre-delivery inspection charges: duty notices to continue pending Larger Bench decision.
After-sale service and pre-delivery inspection charges are treated as part of the dealer's margin and governed by the Valuation Rules, and conflicting tribunal decisions have led to referral of the question to a Larger Bench on whether such dealer-received charges form part of "transaction value." Pending the Larger Bench decision (and related Supreme Court referral on the transaction value concept), the conference directed, and the Board endorsed, issuing show cause notices demanding duty on these charges and transferring matters to the call book.

Preservation of records: originals must be retained until investigation or trial concludes; exchanges must amend bylaws and notify members.
Recognized stock exchanges, their members, and stock brokers must preserve specified books, accounts and records-physical or electronic-within prescribed retention periods, with electronic records complying with the Information Technology Act. If enforcement agencies take copies during investigation, the original documents must be retained until investigation and trial conclude. Exchanges must amend bye-laws and the Listing Agreement, notify and publish the requirements for members, and report implementation in the Monthly Development Report.

Preservation of records: originals must be retained when enforcement agencies take copies until trial concludes.
Depositories and Depository Participants must preserve records for at least five years and comply with the Information Technology Act for electronic records. If an enforcement agency takes copies of records during investigation, the original records-physical or electronic-must be maintained until the investigation and trial are concluded. Depositories must amend bye laws, notify DPs, publish the requirement on their websites and report implementation to the regulator in the Monthly Development Report.

Customs Area designation establishes specific warehouse portions for receipt, storage and disposal of uncleared international cargo.
The Commissioner of Customs, exercising powers under Section 8 of the Customs Act, 1962, designates specified portions of the MIAL Import Warehouse-1595 sq.metres on the ground floor and 3151 sq.metres on the first floor-as a Customs Area, marked in annexures, for receipt, storage and disposal of uncleared, unclaimed and abandoned international cargo of the Air Cargo Complex.

Port of Registration amendment adds specified seaports, airports, ICDs and LCSs under Foreign Trade Policy registration rules.
Director General of Foreign Trade amends paragraph 4.19 of Handbook of Procedures, vol. I under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy by adding specified seaports, airports, Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Land Customs Stations (LCSs) to the list of locations for Port of Registration, listing the exact entries appended to each category and noting the amendment is issued in public interest.

External Commercial Borrowings policy tightens all-in-cost ceilings and revises ECB eligibility for NBFCs and telecom spectrum.
The circular modifies the External Commercial Borrowings (ECB) policy: it restores all-in-cost ceilings under the approval route from January 1, 2010 with maturity based caps; extends approval-route ECB access for integrated township developers until December 31, 2010; discontinues FCCB buyback permissions from January 1, 2010; allows NBFCs exclusively financing infrastructure to raise ECB from recognised lenders including international banks subject to prudential norms and full currency hedging with AD Category I bank certification; and permits ECB for payment for telecom spectrum allocation, while other ECB conditions remain unchanged.

Amendment to focus products list updates handloom product classifications, adding and deleting specified HS codes.
Amendment to the Focus Products list in Appendix 37D, Handbook of Procedures Vol. I: under HANDLOOM PRODUCTS, ITC (HS) code 52091113 is added after 52091112 and ITC (HS) code 52091119 is deleted. The modification is effected by Public Notice No. 24/2009-14 issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade for publication in the Gazette.

Admissibility of DEPB benefits: value added doormats are excluded from the DEPB entry for rubber compounded sheets.
Admissibility of DEPB entry number 507 for Rubber Compounded Sheets/Rings/Gasket is limited to that specific product and excludes doormats/rubber mats. The DEPB Committee found doormats to be value added with higher export prices; DEPB rates and value caps for entry 507 were calculated for the upstream product only, so exporters of doormats/rubber mats cannot claim benefits under that entry. DGFT issued a clarification implementing the Committee's recommendation.