Factory stuffing permission: FSP Cell issues LoFSPs to IEC holders with sealed Central Excise verification and supervision.
Procedure for issuance and administration of a Letter of Factory Stuffing Permission (LoFSP) by the FSP Cell at ICD Whitefield, Bengaluru: exporters with valid IEC must apply on Annexure B with sealed NOC/verification from jurisdictional Central Excise (Annexures C-E); Manufacturer Exporters under Free Shipping Bills are excluded due to mandatory self sealing. The FSP Cell verifies IEC, processes applications within five working days, may issue provisional 30 day LoFSPs to DGFT status holders pending Central Excise reports, and final LoFSPs are valid for specified premises, exports (except prohibited goods) and subject to supervision, prescribed examination norms and cancellation on adverse findings.

Fee increase for document management coupons updates docket charges, requiring stakeholders to apply the revised rate from the stated effective date.
Corrigendum amends Paragraph 2.2 of Public Notice No. 09/2016 to increase the coupon price under the Document Management System by 5%, setting the revised charge at Rs. 17 per docket, effective 22.06.2016, and applying to the Exim community, Customs brokers, steamer agents, consolidators and other stakeholders.

Bonded trucking operations permission enables road transshipment of export cargo through specified gateway airports under customs rules.
M/S T.T. Aviation Handling Services Pvt. Ltd., Chennai is authorised to operate Bonded Trucking Operations for transshipment of export cargo by road from Visakhapatnam Air Cargo Complex (custodian: M/S AP Trade Promotion Corporation Ltd.) to Customs notified ACCs at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, subject to Customs approval and consignee/airline request, and strictly following Customs Circulars No. 57/98-Cus and No. 06/2007-Cus as amended.

Weekly Open House schedule revised to subject-wise sessions; participants must submit pending issues by preceding Monday.
Weekly Open House will be held every Wednesday from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at the Zonal Addl. DGFT Chennai Conference Hall. Participation requires advance submission of complete details of pending issues and participant names/designations by the preceding Monday (requests after 5 p.m. that Monday are deferred). Sessions will be subject-wise: Chapter 3 and EDI on 1st/3rd/5th Wednesdays and Chapters 4, 5 and 7 on 2nd/4th Wednesdays. Submissions must be sent to the designated email address.

Presumptive taxation threshold expands audit exemption for eligible taxpayers who opt into the presumptive scheme.
A person carrying on business must obtain an audit when total sales, turnover or gross receipts exceed the general audit ceiling, but an eligible assessee who opts for the presumptive taxation scheme benefits from a higher non audit ceiling and is not required to have accounts audited while receipts remain within that elevated threshold; the higher ceiling applies only to those who elect the presumptive regime and does not affect taxpayers who do not opt in.

Lab Module integration enables online generation and sharing of test memos and laboratory results for customs sample testing.
Introduction of a Lab Module in ICES creates an online process for Customs officers to generate Test Memos, record samples, and refer consignments to mapped laboratories and referral agencies; laboratories access Test Memo details, record test findings electronically, and Customs may act on consignments based on those electronic results while fee payment and document submission continue under existing practices.

Port clearance procedure for ACP clients enables terminal gate examination and OOC issuance after Cargo Container Bond approval.
ACP clients opting for port clearance may obtain a Cargo Container Bond Approval Order from the Superintendent CMFC, register the Bill of Entry with the Docks Import Examination Cell, and complete examination and verification of container and seal numbers at the terminal gate or Docks Examination Cell; the examination report will be entered in the system and Out of Customs Charge (OOC) granted, while containers selected by the system for examination or scanning must be moved to CFSs/ICDs for further formalities with TR Bond debiting.

Declaration under Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme suspends appeal proceedings and mandates prescribed forms and deposit compliance.
Taxpayers with appeals pending before the Commissioner (Appeals) on 1 March 2016 may file a declaration under the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme (Chapter XI, Finance Act, 2016). The scheme prescribes Form 1 (declaration), Form 2 (acknowledgement by the Designated Authority) whose issuance suspends appeal proceedings for sixty days, Form 3 (details of deposits) and Form 4 (order discharging dues). Declarants must deposit required sums within a fortnight of the dated acknowledgement and report the deposit within seven days. Shri Roy Joseph is nominated as the Designated Authority for Chennai VIII.

Import procedure for duty free gold, silver, platinum requires home consumption clearance, bonds, guarantees and exporter proof of export.
Nominated agencies importing duty free gold, silver and platinum under notification 57/2000 must clear such consignments on a bill of entry for home consumption; warehousing under Chapter IX is inapplicable. Transitionally, ex bond bills under section 68 may be filed until 13 August 2016 and existing vaults may be used. Agencies must execute bonds and furnish a 25% bank guarantee (subject to exemptions for designated banks/PSUs meeting non default conditions), maintain accounts, submit monthly exporter wise reports, and ensure exporters produce export proofs; duty becomes payable if export obligations are not met.

Reverse charge liability for services of arbitral tribunals places tax obligation on recipient business entities in taxable territory.
Services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including individual arbitrators, to a business entity located in the taxable territory with turnover above the exemption threshold are taxable under the reverse charge mechanism, with the recipient liable to discharge the service tax; references to arbitral tribunal include the natural persons composing it and recent amendments do not change this liability position.

Krishi Kalyan Cess imposed on taxable services with specified accounting codes for collection and refunds.
Krishi Kalyan Cess is imposed on all taxable services from 1 June 2016, excluding fully exempt or otherwise not liable services, and is chargeable in addition to service tax. The Controller General of Accounts has allocated a new Minor Head 507 (Krishi Kalyan Cess) with specified sub heads for Tax Collection, Other Receipts, Interest, Refunds (deduct) and Penalties, and the trade notice reproduces the circular providing the numerical accounting codes for these entries.

Reverse charge on arbitral services applies: business entity recipients meeting turnover threshold must pay service tax on tribunal services.
Reverse charge applies to services provided by an arbitral tribunal, including individual arbitrators, where the recipient is a business entity located in the taxable territory and exceeds the statutory turnover threshold in the preceding year; services to non-business recipients or to businesses below the threshold are exempt.

Single Window clearance: SWIFT exemptions and declarations reduce ADC referrals and enable risk-based sampling for drugs and cosmetics.
Single Window clearance in SWIFT has been simplified: a PGA Exemption Category lists chemicals not treated as drugs to avoid ADC referrals; dual-use items and excipients that are non-pharmaceutical grade and contain no API need not be routed to ADC if declared not for human or veterinary medicinal use; risk-based testing will limit sample drawing and a batch previously tested with NOC need not be re-sampled; digitally signed declarations within the Integrated Declaration will substitute for separate hardcopies; ADC clearance applies at notified ports, with transshipped consignments referred to the nearest ADC.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme permits settlement by paying tax, interest and reduced penalty to secure discharge of dues.
The Scheme permits a party in appeal on the cutoff date to file a declaration before the designated authority and obtain discharge by paying tax with interest and a penalty equal to 25% of the penalty in the impugned order, then intimating the designated authority with proof; on receipt the authority shall issue a prescribed discharge order within the specified timeframe.

Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme allows appellants to file declarations to suspend appeal proceedings and seek discharge.
The notification sets out the Indirect Tax Dispute Resolution Scheme procedural mechanics: an appellant may file a declaration in Form 1 with the designated authority, which acknowledges receipt in Form 2 and triggers suspension of appeal proceedings for a prescribed period. The declarant must deposit required sums within a short period and report deposits in Form 3. The designated authority issues a discharge order in Form 4; the Commissioner on receipt matches the order and removes the appeal from his pendency, with such disposal carrying no precedent value.

Cost escalation clause in DMS contract triggers coupon price increase for docket handling, effective on the first anniversary.
The DMS contract between the Commissioner of Customs (Vendee) and M/s Newgen establishes a mandatory cost escalation clause requiring the Vendee to accept a minimum 5% annual increase on the vendor's base rate (exclusive of taxes) after one year; increases beyond 5% need prior vendee consent. Pursuant to this clause, the coupon price for dockets is increased by 5% effective on the first anniversary of DMS implementation, with all other terms of the earlier public notice remaining in force.

Government-supported Line of Credit permits exports with minimum domestic sourcing and specified utilisation and reporting conditions.
A Government-supported Line of Credit by Export-Import Bank finances specified projects in Bangladesh subject to export eligibility under the Foreign Trade Policy. At least 75% of contract value for goods and services (excluding consultancy) must be sourced from India, reducible to 65% for civil construction and further on a case-by-case basis (not from a third country). Separate terminal utilisation periods apply for project exports and other supply contracts. Shipments must be declared on EDF/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC; exporters may use own funds or EEFC balances and AD Category-I banks may permit remittance after full realisation, subject to prevailing rules. Directions are issued under FEMA.

Cost escalation clause permits annual rate increase for document management services, leading to an adjusted docket coupon charge.
The Commissioner implemented a Document Management System under a contract with a vendor that contains a Provision for Cost Escalation requiring the Vendee to accept a minimum 5% annual increase in vendor rates after one year, with any increase beyond 5% requiring prior consent of the Vendee and increases calculated on base cost excluding taxes; accordingly the docket coupon price is revised pursuant to that contractual escalation and other conditions of the earlier public notice remain unchanged.

Precious metal imports duty free cannot be warehoused; nominated agencies must post bonds, guarantees, and monitor exporter proof of export.
Precious metals imported duty free by nominated agencies under notification 57/2000-Cus cannot be warehoused under Chapter IX and must be cleared on bill of entry for home consumption; transitional ex-bond filing and continued storage in existing vaults are permitted. Nominated agencies must execute bonds and furnish a 25% bank guarantee (subject to specified exemptions), maintain accounts, submit monthly exporter-wise returns, and deposit duty where exporters fail to produce proof of export within the FTP period. Exporters must register, undertake to export within FTP timelines, and provide export documentation and bank realization certificates.

Warehousing restriction for duty-free precious metals: imports must clear for home consumption and follow bond and guarantee-based supply procedure.
Precious metals imported duty free under the nominated agencies scheme are not to be warehoused under Chapter IX and must be cleared for home consumption; nominated agencies must execute bonds to maintain accounts and to discharge duty if exporters default, accompanied by a bank guarantee equal to 25% of estimated duty (with specified exemptions for designated banks and certain public undertakings). Exporters must register and provide undertakings or declarations and proof of export; nominated agencies must submit exporter wise monthly accounts and deposit duty on quantities not exported within the Foreign Trade Policy period.