Interception of conveyances: limited clerical e-way bill errors avoid seizure and attract nominal penalties and reporting instead.
The circular clarifies interception and detention rules: specified documents and a valid e-way bill are required for goods in movement; absence permits detention and seizure. If consignments carry invoices and a valid e-way bill, limited clerical discrepancies (name spellings with correct GSTIN, minor PIN or locality errors not affecting validity, small document or vehicle number mistakes, limited HSN digit differences with correct tax rate) should not attract detention proceedings. In those cases a nominal penalty must be imposed for each consignment and officers must report weekly consignments exempted from detention.

Refund eligibility under reciprocity: UIN entities must furnish prescribed certificates, undertakings and attested invoice statements for GST refunds.
The circular clarifies that GST refund entitlement for UIN entities is governed by the principle of reciprocity and must be verified against letters issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. It prescribes mandatory documentation and standardized formats - including a Refund Checklist, Certificates, Undertakings, and a Statement of Invoices - requires attested copies of invoices lacking UIN, mandates submission of Protocol Division Prior Permission for vehicle refunds, and provides for a one time waiver for invoices without recorded UIN subject to attestation and a revised monthly reporting format.

Authorized Economic Operator AEO-T1 application simplification: mandatory new annexures and zonal processing; prior applications optional.
All new AEO-T1 applications must be filed using Annexure 1, Annexure 2 and the prescribed Declaration, replacing earlier annexures; these forms are mandatory immediately. Accreditation processing is decentralized: Zonal AEO Cells will file and process applications and the Zonal AEO Programme Manager will make the final acceptance or rejection, with accepted applicants' details forwarded to the Directorate for certificate generation. For applications already submitted, the Zonal AEO Programme Manager may allow processing under the earlier annexures or require the new forms; applicants may submit revised annexures or address issued deficiency memos.

SCOMET licensing centralisation announced, with industry invited to submit feedback via shared spreadsheet for procedural simplification.
DGFT centralises SCOMET licence administration and maintains live status of licence applications online; it has published a publicly accessible Google spreadsheet 'To do list for SCOMET Policy/Procedure' for industry to record outstanding issues and submit new suggestions. Stakeholders including EPCs, exporters and regional authorities may add entries; DGFT will consider submissions and update the status of actions taken to simplify licensing procedures.

Self sealing permission under GST requires standardized documentation and customs verification prior to approval by jurisdictional authorities.
Grant of self sealing permission under the GST regime requires exporters/traders to submit a prescribed application and supporting documents-including GST registration, export modality (IGST or Bond/LUT), copy of LUT or acceptance, recent GST return, PAN and Aadhaar of principals, IEC, memorandum, commodity HS code and IGST rate, and premises address for stuffing and sealing-to the jurisdictional Customs Circle, which must conduct on site inspection and verification of premises viability before considering permission.

Safeguard duty on solar cells: provisional assessment withdrawn and duties to be assessed and collected under notification.
The Instruction permitting provisional assessment and non insistence on payment of safeguard duty on solar cells (Instruction No. 12/2018) is withdrawn; all provisional assessments must be finalised and the safeguard duty assessed and collected in accordance with Notification No. 1/2018 Customs (SG), and any difficulties reported to the Board.

GST liability on PSLC trading clarified under forward charge with seller bank paying tax at the applicable rate.
GST liability on trading of Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) for the period from 01.07.2017 to 27.05.2018 was clarified as payable by the seller bank under the forward charge mechanism, and such supply was stated to attract GST at the rate of 12 percent. The communication forwards the CBIC clarification, approved by the GST Council Implementation Committee, for necessary action by field authorities.

Pre-import condition relaxation permits EODC regularisation where RAs did not endorse pre-import limits and trade completed within validity.
A one-time relaxation allows regularisation and issuance of EODC for Advance Authorisations/DFIAs for Natural Rubber and Silk where the RA did not specifically endorse a pre-import condition on the condition sheet and where exports and imports were completed within the authorisation's stipulated validity; the relief is limited to EODC regularisation, prohibits any further exports or imports, and does not waive pre-import requirements for IGST exemption.

Tariff Rate Quota allocation for raw sugar to USA permits export under Free non-levy quota with origin certification.
Allocation under the Tariff Rate Quota designates 8424 metric tons of raw cane sugar (HS codes 170113 and 170114) from the non-levy Free quota for preferential export to the USA for the US fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018 and ending September 30, 2019; exports under this allocation are subject to the governing TRQ conditions and reporting obligations, and require a Certificate of Origin issued by the specified issuing authority in Mumbai, with other certification requirements to be observed.

GST taxpayer distribution in Assam assigned between Central and State administrations under single-interface guidelines.
Distribution of GST taxpayers between the Central and State tax administrations in Assam was made in accordance with GST Council guidelines to maintain a single interface under GST. The State Level Committee assigned the pending taxpayer base, including 120 dealers without available turnover data, by placing them in the below 1.5 crore category and allocating them between the Central Tax Office and the State Tax Office as reflected in the annexures.

E-way bill requirements: goods stored in a transporter's godown require valid e-way bills unless godown is declared recipient's additional place.
Goods in movement stored in a transporter's godown must be accompanied by a valid e-way bill; if the recipient taxpayer declares the transporter's godown as an additional place of business (by declaration with the transporter's concurrence), delivery to that godown concludes the e-way bill transportation and no extension of e-way bill validity is required, whereas any subsequent movement from that godown to other recipient premises requires a new valid e-way bill under state rules.

E-way bill requirement: storing goods at transporter's godown treats it as recipient's additional place of business, affecting e-way validity.
E-way bill must accompany goods stored in a transporter's godown as goods in movement. If the consignee declares the transporter's godown as its additional place of business (with transporter concurrence), transport under the e-way bill is deemed complete on arrival there and no extension is required. Subsequent movement from that godown to other recipient premises requires a new valid e-way bill. Transporters must maintain warehouse-keeper accounts and records and recipients must maintain required records, with allowance to keep books at their principal place of business.

E-way bill obligations where goods are stored in a transporter godown require adherence to CBIC guidance and trade dissemination.
The Trade Notice directs attention to a CBIC Circular providing guidance on e-way bill obligations when goods are stored in a transporter's godown during transit, clarifying compliance responsibilities of consignors, consignees and transporters and requiring dissemination of that guidance to trade associations and the public.

Refund application processing for Canteen Stores Department clarified; guidance issued for trade and industry circulation.
Processing of refund applications filed by the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) is addressed by a trade notice referencing Circular No. 60/34/2018 GST from the GST Policy Wing, CBIC, and directs trade and industry to follow the circular's procedural guidance and to circulate its contents to association members and the public.

Refund clarification directs dissemination of GST circular to trade associations and the public for compliance guidance.
The Trade Notice references CBIC Circular No. 59/33/2018 GST as providing authoritative clarifications on refund related issues under GST and directs trade and industry to disseminate the circular's contents to association members and the public.

Wrongly availed CENVAT credit recovery procedures highlighted; trade urged to disseminate CBIC circular guidance on transitional credit.
The Principal Commissioner notifies trade of a CBIC circular explaining recovery mechanisms for wrongly availed CENVAT credit and inadmissible transitional credit; trade associations are directed to disseminate the circular so that taxable persons review past credit claims and comply with admissibility and recovery procedures.

Principal-agent relationship under Schedule I clarified; trade advised to note and disseminate circular guidance promptly.
Trade notice alerts trade to CBIC Circular No. 57/31/2018 GST (4 September 2018) clarifying the scope of the principal-agent relationship under Schedule I of the CGST Act, and directs recipients to bring the circular's contents to the attention of association members and the public.

Notice of Pending Litigation: importers must be informed that customs clearance remains subject to pending petition and accounting.
Customs must ensure goods given clearance are properly accounted and importers are explicitly informed that litigation concerning those goods is pending; any clearance granted without protective measures will be viewed in light of the contentions raised in the petition and remains subject to the petition's result.

SEZ approvals and extensions: Board permits LoP/LoA extensions, co-developer recognitions and conditional shareholding transfers.
Decisions record approvals and conditional approvals for SEZ matters: extensions of LoP/LoA and formal approvals where progress or justifiable reasons exist; grants of co-developer status and new SEZ establishments subject to SEZ Act and Rules; and approvals of shareholding/name changes, mergers and demergers conditional on continuity of SEZ activities, fulfillment of eligibility and security clearances, compliance with revenue/company law and furnishing of financial and PAN details to CBDT, with Assessing Officer rights to assess taxability under the Income Tax Act.

Tax audit reporting compliance requires adverse case information and MPR-11 submissions for specified assessment years.
Submission of tax audit reports and adverse case information in the prescribed MPR-11 format is required for specified assessment years. Adverse case information for 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 is to be sent to the Headquarters Inspection Section by 31.12.2018, and information for 2015-16 by 31.03.2019. Tax audit details for assessment year 2016-17 and subsequent months are to be submitted in MPR-11 by the 5th of each succeeding month and entered in the departmental portal.