Bond furnishing by chassis manufacturer permitted to cover body-builders, with standard export procedures for finished vehicles to be followed.
Manufacturer of the chassis may furnish the bond on behalf of body-builders for building bodies on chassis supplied to job-workers under the Central Excise (Removal of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 2001, and the normal export procedure for finished vehicles set out in the relevant notification and Central Excise Manual must be followed.

Classification of technology transfer documents limits printed books exemption, making them assessable as plans and drawings liable to concessional duty.
Imported technical literature supplied under Technology Transfer Agreements lacks the indicia of publicly available printed books - including author, publisher, priced availability, absence of an MOU, non confidentiality, serially bound pages and ISBN - and therefore should be classified as plans, designs and drawings and assessed to the concessional basic customs duty applicable to that category.

Restriction on OCB investment: barred from fresh PIS purchases while existing holdings may be retained and sold on exchange.
OCBs are not permitted to make fresh purchases of shares or convertible debentures in India under the Portfolio Investment Scheme; OCBs that have already invested may continue to hold and may sell those securities on the stock exchange. Link offices of Authorised Dealers must continue daily reporting of OCB sale transactions. The change is effected by amendment to the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2000. OCBs continue to be eligible to open and maintain non-resident accounts and to make direct investment (FDI) under existing regulations.

Customs duty calculation must treat auction sale proceeds as cum-duty price; no deduction for sale expenses.
Customs duty for auctioned unclaimed or uncleared goods shall be determined by backward calculation treating total sale proceeds as the cum-duty price, without allowing any deduction for sales expenses or other charges; after duty determination the sale proceeds are to be appropriated in accordance with the appropriation mechanism provided in the Customs Act.

Export obligation extension for gem and jewellery exporters affected by post September 11 disruptions, allowing extended compliance periods for specified licences.
Extension of Export Obligation periods for the Gem and Jewellery sector applies to exports under nominated agency supply and Advance Licences (Handbook paras 8.59 and 8.70) where triggering transactions occurred on or before 11 September 2001. Replenishment exports must be completed within 180 days from booking; outright advance purchases within 180 days from purchase; nominated agency gold loans within 180 days from release of gold on loan; and Advance Licence obligations within 180 days from import of the first consignment. Relief is available for permissible export destinations as per the Exim Policy.

Furnace oil exemption: furnace oil qualifies for customs duty exemption when used in fertiliser production chain, subject to import rules.
Furnace oil under heading 27.10 is eligible for customs duty exemption for use in manufacture of fertilisers even if not directly used in the final product, where it serves as fuel in upstream processes (e.g., steam generation for naphtha cracking to produce ammonia), subject to the importer following the Customs rules for import at concessional rates for manufacture of excisable goods.

All Industry Rates of Drawback applicable to embroidered garments and quilted made-ups, subject to individual drawback caps.
All Industry Rates of Drawback for Ready-made Garments and for Made-ups are applicable to embroidered garments and quilted made-ups respectively because the AIRs are subject to individual drawback caps that accommodate cost variations from embroidery, quilting or other similar processes. Field formations are directed to clear current exports and past claims accordingly and to issue public notices and standing orders to implement this clarification.

Drawback rate revision notified; revised all-industry rates and caps require public notice and issuance of standing orders.
Revision of All Industry Rates of Drawback for 2001-2002: the Government revised drawback rates and caps for specified product categories and notified the changes in Notification No.60/2001-Cus.(N.T.), effective 26th November, 2001, directing issuance of public notice and standing orders for staff guidance.

Passport endorsement optional for foreign exchange; authorised dealers may release travel exchange on traveller declaration.
ADs and FFMCs need not endorse passports with amounts of foreign exchange released for tourism and private visits; they may release exchange on the traveller's declaration of amounts availed during the calendar year, while travellers may optionally seek passport endorsement for their records.

Authorized bank branches for company fee deposits permit payment by challan while prescribed filing periods and late fees remain enforceable.
Additional Punjab National Bank branches in the Delhi/Noida/Faridabad area are authorized to accept fees for the Department of Company Affairs by challan. Companies must still file documents with the Registrar of Companies within the prescribed periods (thirty days for balance sheets and related documents; sixty days for annual returns); late filing will attract additional fees under the Companies Act, 1956. Other procedural aspects, including the head of account, remain as per the earlier ministry instruction.

Merchant exporter manufacturing arrangement allows rebate of duty on inputs when exports clear directly and ARE-2 names match.
Inputs used in manufacture of export goods qualify for rebate of duty paid on inputs for merchant-exporters where goods are cleared directly from the manufacturer/processor's factory and the merchant-exporter's name is shown on the ARE-2, subject to other conditions of Notification No.41/2001-CE(NT); Para 8.2 of Part-V, Chapter-8 of the Central Excise Manual is modified to reflect retention of the pre-1.9.2001 position.

Prohibition on use of protected emblems requires company name availability checks to ensure compliance with emblems and names law.
Instruction No.8 bars allotment of company names that attract the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act; Registrars of Companies must apply that Act when determining name availability and ensure strict compliance when making names available under the Companies Act.

Classification of Ready Mix Concrete: reclassified under heading 68.07 for the prior period and covered by a new tariff subheading thereafter.
Ready Mix Concrete is reclassified from heading 38.23 to heading 68.07 for the prior period; the Board has modified earlier circulars to accept that classification, and a later specific tariff subheading was inserted to cover Ready Mix Concrete thereafter.

Non applicability of value caps for specified drug formulations affirmed; existing DEPB rates and policy apply to affected exports.
Non applicability of value caps is affirmed for drug formulations under Sr. No. 40 of the DEPB Rate List: DEPB Committee approved modifications to rates for the Chemical & Allied Product Group take effect from the Committee's operative date, the existing DEPB rates and policy shall apply, and customs and trade officers are directed to notify trade and acknowledge receipt.

Gate-pass validity confirmed for pre-cutoff issued documents endorsed later, provided credit is taken by the prescribed deadline.
The Gujarat High Court held that gate-passes issued before the cutoff but endorsed after it are valid duty-paying documents for availment of credit under Notification No.16/94-CE(NT), provided the credit is claimed by the prescribed final date. The Board accepted this interpretation and instructed field formations to decide pending cases following that ratio.

TRA facility extension under DEPB allows imports at notified seaports and airports against scrips for non notified places.
Extension of the TRA facility under the DEPB scheme permits imports against DEPB scrips issued for exports from non notified places through any sea port or airport notified under the DEPB notification; TRAs must state description, value, quantity, notified entry port, DEPB serial number, date and duty entitlement, be recorded in Licence Registers, and importing Customs Houses must report imports to the issuing Customs House, with the Asstt. Commissioner/Dy. Commissioner responsible for ensuring proper account and preventing misuse.

Foreign-going aircraft classification denies duty-free fuel and stores for domestic extension flights, requiring customs notices and compliance.
Extension flights operating solely between two Indian airports are not foreign-going aircraft and therefore are not entitled to duty-free supply of fuel and other imported stores; customs formations must issue public notices or standing orders to that effect and report implementation difficulties to the Board.

Duty drawback entitlement for garment exporters hinges on declarations of non-availment of Cenvat and verification procedures.
Manufacturer exporters may furnish a declaration (Annexure-I) that they have not paid Central Excise duty and have not availed Cenvat; Commissioners shall verify these declarations with Central Excise authorities per the procedure in Circular No.54/2001-Cus. Exporters and supporting manufacturers/job workers must submit the prescribed Annexure-II declaration that no Central Excise duty was paid and no Cenvat was availed for garments supplied to the exporter; exclusivity restrictions on job workers have been removed, but mis-declaration will result in recovery of excess drawback. The Circulars apply to past exports and pending claims may be processed on submission of these declarations.

Printing bank account details on payment instruments now mandatory to prevent fraudulent encashment and secure dividend payments.
Companies must mandatorily print investor bank account details furnished by depositories on payment instruments to prevent fraudulent encashment of dividend and other cash benefit instruments, and depositories and stock exchanges are to instruct companies/issuers to implement this requirement.

DEPB rate amendment: revised entitlements for chemical formulations and conditional revalidation of expired DEPB licences.
The notice amends DEPB entitlements for chemical formulations by specifying entitlement proportions relative to the DEPB rate of the relevant bulk drug for formulations lacking specific rates, and sets flat DEPB value caps for other formulation categories. It also permits limited revalidation of expired DEPB licences for designated chemical and textile entries upon application and fee payment, except where misrepresentation, fraud, or adjudicating orders preclude revalidation.