Correction of Public Notice date: references to PN No.7 in PN No.32 must be read as 24th April 1999.
The Director General of Foreign Trade issues a corrigendum to Public Notice No.32/(RE-99)/1997-2002 under powers in the Export and Import Policy, directing that every reference to the date of Public Notice No.7 in Public Notice No.32 should be read as "24th April, 1999," framed as a ministerial correction issued in the public interest to amend the reference date without altering other provisions.

EPCG licence self-declaration: nexus fixation by HQ committee and liability for customs duty with interest if disallowed.
The Notice amends the Handbook of Procedures to permit EPCG licence self-declaration subject to final nexus fixation by the Hqrs. EPCG Committee, requires forwarding of applications to that Committee, and imposes applicant undertaking to pay customs duty with interest if capital goods are disallowed. It reallocates licence-granting authority by CIF value bands, deletes paragraph 6.8(B), tightens debonding prohibitions for second-hand capital goods, and revises newcomer duty-free and advance licence verification, bank guarantee and export-obligation conditions.

Transferability of advance licences allowed for expired cases where administrative delays prevented endorsement; revalidation subject to certification.
Revalidation and endorsement of transferability for Advance Licences may be granted where export obligations were completed before the prescribed cut off but endorsement failed due to administrative delays or where licences could not be submitted because of DEEC logging or MODVAT reversal delays; requests must be filed within the prescribed deadline, supported where applicable by a customs certificate of delay, and licensing authorities must complete endorsements within the stipulated timeframe, with revalidated licences having limited residual validity and no revalidation where transferability already effected.

DEPB credit re credit required where final duty is lower to ensure equitable adjustment and prevent illegal over debit.
When final duty assessed is less than the provisional duty debited to a DEPB scrip, the Customs House must re credit the excess debit to the DEPB scrip as an administrative adjustment, since a DEPB scrip can only be debited to the extent of duty leviable and failure to re credit would amount to an unlawful higher duty charge.

Rebate of duty on processed textile fabrics: procedural deviations may be ignored where goods were exported and duty was paid.
Where exporters did not follow prescribed procedural formalities for rebate claims on processed textile fabrics used in made-up exports, the rebate sanctioning authority should relax those procedural requirements if satisfied that the goods were actually exported and duty on the processed fabrics was paid by the independent processor; rebate to be allowed on the basis of input-output norms determined by the competent authority, even if determined post-facto, provided claims are otherwise admissible.

Product description correction: "Others" replaces "Tipper" in drawback table, covering chassis of heavy motor vehicles.
The Drawback Table entry erroneously showing "Tipper" for Sub Serial No. 87.09 is a clerical error; the description should read "Others" and is intended to cover chassis of motor vehicles of payload exceeding 4000 kgs. Recipients are instructed to notify staff and trade and to acknowledge receipt of this corrigendum.

Transferability of Advance Licences allowed with conditions and revalidation to be issued under DGFT public notice.
Endorsement of transferability and revalidation is permitted for expired Advance Licences issued under Exim Policy 1992-97 where export obligations were completed on or before 31.12.97 but endorsement could not be effected; qualifying situations are licences submitted to DGFT by the prescribed cut off but not endorsed due to subsequent notifications or administrative delay, and licences not submitted because of DEEC logging delays or delayed issuance of Modvat Reversal Certificates - the latter require a certificate from the Assistant Commissioner of Customs/Central Excise. DGFT will allow transferability with revalidation up to 31.3.2000 and issue a Public Notice.

DEPB rate denial for composite hessian bags with liner, handle and zipper clarifies export classification and entitlement.
The Department of Revenue directed that the DEPB rate under Sr. No. 38 of the Plastic Group not be applied to the export product "Hessian Bag with LDPE liner, plastic handle and zipper" because the listed entry covers hessian bags with liners for industrial/commercial use, whereas the exported item is a composite consumer good; Customs staff and trade associations are to be notified to prevent application of the Sr. No. 38 DEPB entitlement to this composite product.

Appeal disposal targets require appellate commissioners to meet set monthly averages to reduce pendency and allow regional redistribution.
Chief Commissioners of Income-tax and Directors General of Income Tax must ensure Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) dispose of an average specified number of appeals per month in their charges; regional heads may fix individual targets according to case nature, redistribute work to equalise pendency, continue sending reports in the prescribed format to Director (RSP&PR), and note that this instruction supersedes all prior instructions on the subject.

Charging section for additional customs duty clarified; excise on DTA clearances now capped by statutory ceiling under proviso to Central Excise Act.
Supreme Court clarification that the charging provision for the additional duty of customs is not Section 12 necessitated amendment of notifications so that excise on DTA clearances by EOUs and FTZs is computed using aggregate customs duties read with the relevant notification but capped by the statutory ceiling in the proviso to the Central Excise Act; excise payable is the lesser of the aggregate customs duties and the statutory ceiling, effective from 16 September 1999.

Excise duty computation revised: DTA clearances by EOUs capped at statutory ceiling after customs duty reclassification.
Notification 38/99 amends earlier concessional excise notifications so customs duties for computing excise on DTA clearances are to be read as duties leviable under the Customs Act or any other law; however, excise payable remains subject to the proviso ceiling in section 3(1) of the Central Excise Act, and the excise charged is the minimum of the aggregated customs-derived rate and that statutory ceiling.

Deemed export benefits clarified: corrigendum replaces referenced '10th' with '16th' in the policy paragraph for consistent application.
Corrigendum to Policy Circular No. 33 on admissibility of deemed export benefits instructs that every occurrence of '10th' in Paragraph (2) be read as '16th', directed to Licensing Authorities, Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards and industry stakeholders to ensure consistent application of the corrected reference.

Courier clearance reforms expand weight and value allowances and streamline security, notice, and administrative procedures for shipments.
Amendments to the Courier Imports & Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 increase permissible consignment weight, convert the free-gift ceiling to a per-consignment limit, raise commercial-sample value thresholds, permit exports above the standard value threshold subject to Reserve Bank waiver, require notice to authorised couriers before disposal of detained imports, permit Assistant Commissioner extension of export time in deserving cases, reduce prescribed security amounts with bank-guarantee option and remove limits on authorised couriers per airport, and broaden administrative delegations for manifest amendments while mandating night appraisal coverage at major airports.

Excess shortage reconciliation for stockyards mandates annual special registers and duty payment where net excesses are found.
A special procedure requires stockyards/depots of Integrated Steel Plants to maintain plant wise, tariff head wise Special Registers in addition to Form RG 23D, use a wagon/vehicle close indicator to determine annual net excesses or shortages as of March 31, and submit reconciliations to the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner. Eligibility requires a letter of undertaking; net excesses trigger suo moto duty payment by the plant by the prescribed date, while net shortages do not attract refunds and are carried forward for adjustment against future excesses. Buyers receive no additional modvat credit for differential duty paid on reconciliation.

Deemed export benefits reinstated: prior circular restored and restrictive guidance withdrawn, entitling main contractors to benefits.
Policy amendments designate the Special Imprest License to the main contractor and remove the restriction that limited deemed export benefits to goods manufactured by the main contractor. Consequently, Policy Circular No.57 is withdrawn and the prior DGFT circular dated 18th March, 1994 is restored as the governing guidance, with supplies during the intervening period and subsequently being entitled to deemed export benefits under the reinstated circular.

Deemed export benefits continued for contracts with pre-suspension letters of intent, subject to delivery schedule and certification.
Deemed export benefits under Paragraph 10.2(d) of the Exim Policy, 1997-2002, are extended to contracts with letters of intent issued prior to the World Bank suspension date, where tenders were evaluated under World Bank procurement procedures; benefits apply during the contracted delivery period including authorised extensions. Contracts completed before this Public Notice are ineligible for special imprest licence unless licence application preceded supply. The Project Authority must certify in Appendix 14 A that the contract was entered into prior to the suspension date.

Special Import Licence eligibility for electronic and telecom exporters requires an additional declaration preventing duplicate applications.
Eligibility for Special Import Licence is available to exporters of telecommunication equipment and electronic goods who must apply in prescribed form to the licensing authority or the Development Commissioner of the EPZ with documents specified in Appendix 20C; additionally, a signed declaration that no other application has been made for the same exports for the same period to the Development Commissioner of the EPZ must be submitted.

Dried garlic classification clarified: treated as dried when moisture content is within the prescribed threshold, regardless of drying method.
Imports of Dried Garlic shall be treated as dried garlic for tariff classification where the garlic's moisture content does not exceed the specified threshold, regardless of the method of drying; this administrative clarification directs importers and customs officials to apply the relevant tariff classification when that moisture criterion is satisfied.

Warehousing interest clarified: graded interest applies to previously warehoused goods from later of six-month expiry or notification.
The revised graded interest rates introduced by Notification No. 30/99, effective 12.5.1999, apply to goods warehoused before that date only from the later of the expiry of the six-month warehousing period or 12.5.1999; cases where goods were removed on or after 12.5.1999 should be reviewed accordingly.

Advertising agency classification: printing and publishing directories not taxable unless they prepare or design advertisements.
Compilation, printing and publishing of telephone directories, Yellow Pages and business directories that consists of printing and publishing readymade advertisements supplied by advertisers is analogous to newspapers and periodicals and does not constitute an advertising agency service for service tax purposes. Charges for services that involve making, preparation or creative development of advertisements, including designing, visualising or conceptualising, are taxable as advertising agency services.