Consignment invoice requirement: invoices must accompany each lot during transit and be endorsed at vehicle transfers after verification.
Transfer between vehicles is permitted for multi-destination dispatches, but every independent consignment must be accompanied throughout its journey by a consignment invoice issued under the applicable rule; at any intermediate transfer the invoice must be endorsed with the new vehicle number by the jurisdictional Range Officer after verification of the goods.

Interest on arrears of confirmed customs demands requires expedited adjudication and strict monitoring to protect revenue.
Interest is leviable on delayed payment of confirmed customs demands under newly enacted provisions, with interest running from the day after a three month period following the date of determination of duty in an order confirming duty not levied, short levied, or erroneously refunded. The circular mandates expedited adjudication, maintenance and review of registers of unconfirmed demands, prompt settlement of internal audit objections within three months, and supervisory inspection and standing orders to prevent delays between decision and communication of orders.

Interest on delayed refunds: department must pay interest when refund processing exceeds statutory timeframes; procedural safeguards required.
Interest under proposed Section 11BB becomes payable where refund applications are not processed within the statutory period counted from receipt to cheque dispatch. Applications must be filed at the Assistant Collector, immediately scrutinised by an officer not below Inspector, and an acknowledgement issued within 48 hours. Deficiency letters, approved by a Superintendent, must be issued within 48 hours when applications are incomplete, and the statutory period is tolled until all requisite information is received. Named officers should be designated to carry out initial verification, and a detailed document checklist is annexed for different refund categories.

Interest on delayed drawback payments introduced, with procedural rules for filing, acknowledgments, and recovery obligations.
Amendments enlarge drawback entitlement to include processed goods, introduce entitlement to interest on delayed drawback payments and on unrepaid erroneous payments, authorize retrospective All Industry Rates by notification, and empower rule making. The 1995 Rules replace prior rules and prescribe claim procedures, deemed filing dates for postal exports, acknowledgment and deficiency memo timelines, testing time exclusions, extension for sufficient cause, provisional payment mechanisms with bonds, treatment of pending claims with interest entitlement, and recovery procedures where excess drawback was paid.

Courier import classification: goods assessed on tariff merits, replacing uniform baggage duty and enabling simplified clearance procedures.
Courier imports are removed from baggage classification and must be assessed under their proper customs tariff headings by merit assessment. The Courier Imports (Clearance) Regulations, 1995 apply to imports by an authorised courier on scheduled passenger flights at specified airports, establish registration and security requirements, divide consignments into documents, samples/gifts and dutiable goods, provide simplified Bills of Entry and a value threshold for duty free samples/gifts, and require compliance with EXIM Policy and normal Bill of Entry filing where necessary.

Assessment as complete articles for CKD/SKD imports requires normal duty and a valid import licence despite project approvals.
Unassembled or partially omitted CKD/SKD imports that when assembled retain the essential character of the finished article are to be assessed as complete articles for customs duty. Such CKD/SKD imports require a specific import licence under EXIM policy even if project approvals exist; inadvertent non-possession of a licence should be remedied by allowing licence procurement and, in genuine cases, provisional clearance under ITC bonds pending licence production.

Delegation of recovery powers: customs may attach and sell property when other recovery routes fail, with procedural safeguards.
Amendments empower customs officers to attach and sell movable and immovable property to recover government dues under rules notified by the Central Government, while preserving recovery through district authorities and prohibiting simultaneous district and customs action. Proper officers must follow a threshold-based sequence: attempt certificate recovery through district authorities for smaller claims, notify the district authority by registered communication if recovery fails within the specified notice period and then initiate recovery via the Commissioner of Customs/Excise with jurisdiction over the defaulter's property, residence, business or bank accounts; larger claims permit direct commissioner-led recovery. Maintain records of customs-led recoveries.

Input stage rebate for excise duty: manufacturers may claim rebate on duty paid inputs used in exports subject to verification and procedural requirements.
Rule 12(1)(b) grants an input stage rebate of Central Excise duty on duty paid excisable materials used in manufacture and packing of exported goods under Notification 42/94, subject to exclusions (energy, capital goods, certain export schemes), manufacturer only exports, prescribed declaration with consumption ratios, Collector verification and permission, maintenance of prescribed registers, submission of AR5 for removals, Customs endorsement of sealed consignments, and rebate claims to the Assistant Collector with documentary proof and FIFO based computation where duties/values vary.

Clearance of duty free materials under the DEEC Scheme permitted from alternate ports when goods are bulk and easily identifiable.
Clearance of duty free imports and exports under the DEEC Scheme may be allowed from ports other than those specified when the goods are bulk, easily identifiable, non sensitive and not difficult to assess; such relaxation may be granted per Advance Licence/DEEC by Collectors. Administration at the permitting port or land customs station must be entrusted to the Assistant Collector of Customs, who shall supervise through officers not below the rank of Superintendent. The facility is not available where the port or station is manned only by Inspectors.

Handicrafts classification: zari made from duty-paid metallised polyester film treated as handicrafts eligible for exemption.
Imitation or real zari-including Kasab, Kalabatu, tilla, wire thread, zari thread and metallic yarn-made from duty-paid metallised/lacquered polyester film are classified by the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) as handicrafts, and consequently are to be treated as handicrafts for the purposes of the exemption notification despite withdrawal of exemption for metallised polyester yarn.

Bank guarantee requirements secure duty exemption and EPCG obligations with category-based quantum and discretionary enhancement.
Surety under the Duty Exemption and EPCG Schemes must ordinarily be a Bank Guarantee covering the difference between duties leviable on merits and duties actually paid; prescribed category-based guarantee amounts apply, with Collector discretion to demand higher guarantees for revenue risk, and EPCG bonds and guarantees must remain valid for the full export obligation period plus one year.

Telegraphic Release Advices under DEEC scheme now issued on prima facie licence validation; Port of Clearance performs full verification.
TRAs under the DEEC scheme may be issued by Customs Houses at the Port of Registration only after confirming the Advance Licence is valid and prima facie covers the imported goods; all detailed examinations, assessment under the relevant Exemption Notification and admissibility checks must be performed by the Port of Clearance at the time of physical clearance. Licences under the DEEC Book continue to be debited and logged at the Port of Registration, while the Port of Clearance will debit the TRA after clearance for duty concession.

Filing of declaration requirement: exempt small-scale units must submit prescribed declaration and obtain dated acknowledgement from jurisdictional officer.
Units exempted from registration under Notification No.13/92-C.E.(N.T.) must file the required declaration in the prescribed format with the jurisdictional Assistant Collector and obtain a dated acknowledgement; this replaces reliance on a plain registered-post letter, prompted by instances where registered letters contained blank papers.

Raw material accountal for cigarette manufacture: designate specified inputs as principal and require detailed accounts and quarterly returns.
Collectors must treat cigarette tissue paper, filter rods, PCT, CFCS, shells and slides as principal raw materials in addition to cut tobacco, and require manufacturers to maintain detailed raw material accounts showing opening balances, receipts, usage, disposals, wastage and closing balances. Manufacturers must submit a quarterly consolidated return in the prescribed format to the jurisdictional range superintendent by the seventh day of the month following the quarter, maintain registers of weights and quantities, verify input-output declarations as previously guided, and present unfit or damaged materials for verification before destruction.

Import of personal and household effects under T.R. facility with doubts must be referred to senior customs officials for examination.
When doubts arise about the bona fide nature of unaccompanied passenger baggage imported under the T.R. facility, the case must be referred to the Addl./Dy. Collector of Customs for examination and an appropriate decision to prevent harassment while guarding against misuse.

Monitoring of co located EOU and DTA units to prevent diversion of duty free imports and misuse of shared facilities.
Monitoring of co located EOU and debonded/partially converted DTA units is required to prevent diversion of duty free imports and transfer of production between units. Authorities must ensure physical segregation where possible, conduct regular preventive checks to detect misuse of EOU facilities by DTA units, and maintain separate, accurate records reflecting goods manufactured by each unit. Monitoring should address shared utilities and equipment to safeguard revenue.

Payment in Indian currency bars duty-free export under bond; excise and customs duties must be collected on Nepal shipments.
Exports from 100% EOU/EPZ units to Nepal paid in Indian currency cannot be exported under bond duty-free; payment into a rupee account triggers applicable excise duty liability under Rules 13 and 14, and non-excisable goods must bear customs duty as if imported. Exports may follow the Nepal invoice procedure with collection of relevant duties where payment is in Indian currency.

Exemption from excise duty remains available for goods made from inputs even when those inputs were themselves exempt.
Exemption on finished goods conditioned on manufacture from duty-paid inputs applies even where the inputs had availed full exemption; Board instructions and Ministry of Law advice confirm that the exemption on specified finished products should not be denied solely because inputs were exempt from excise.

Customs exemption for electronic inputs clarified: licence issue date irrelevant; apply licence description and single serial number at import.
Exemption under Notification No. 203/92-Cus for inputs for manufacture of electronic goods depends on the description of goods in the licence and DEEC book and on whether, at importation, the goods are covered by a single serial number for the concession; the licence issue date is not material. Broad bonding for the electronic sector is permitted and pending consignments may be cleared accordingly.

Declaration under Rule 173B requires manufacturers to file detailed product, classification and process disclosures, subject to verification and assessment.
Filing of a statutory declaration under Rule 173B requires assessees to submit a prescribed proforma to the Range Superintendent listing all goods produced or warehoused with full descriptions, tariff headings, specifications and annexed raw materials and manufacturing processes; declarations must be certified, filed initially and annually or when classifications change, and are subject to verification, inspection (with a specific verification certificate for Non-SSI units), scrutiny by the Assistant/Divisional Assistant Collector, possible provisional assessment, and finalisation of assessment by the Range Superintendent in RT-12 following Collectorate instructions.