Local Office establishment expands regional investor protection and grievance redressal jurisdiction under administrative regional control.
Establishment of a Local Office at Hyderabad under the administrative control of the Southern Regional Office at Chennai pursuant to the Board's statutory power, tasked with regulatory responsibilities for investor protection, facilitating redressal of investor grievances, delivering financial and investor education, and performing other assigned functions within the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Andhra Pradesh.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment centralises adjudication of specific customs show cause notices, consolidating delegated officers' powers and duties.
The Central Board appoints the Additional Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Delhi IV as the Common Adjudicating Authority empowered to exercise the powers and duties of several named customs officers for adjudicating show cause notices issued to M/s. M.P. Lights, M/s. M.P. Manufacturing Co. and others by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Delhi Zonal Unit, limited to the matters specified in the notification.

Common adjudicating authority appointed to adjudicate DRI show cause proceedings against specified exporter entities.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under sections 4(1) and 5(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Container Freight Station, Mulund, Mumbai, as a Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and duties of specified Deputy/Assistant and Additional/Joint Commissioners of Customs for the purpose of adjudicating matters relating to the show cause notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence concerning M/s Jai Shiv Sulztex Pvt. Ltd. and others.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointed to exercise two customs officers' powers for adjudicating a show cause notice dispute.
A Common Adjudicating Authority is appointed by designating the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs at Inland Container Depot (GRFL), Sahnewal, Ludhiana to exercise the powers and duties of both that office and the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs at Custom House, Kandla for adjudication of show cause notice proceedings pertaining to M/s. Steelman Industries and others.

Common Adjudicating Authority designated to consolidate export customs adjudication for DRI-issued show cause matters.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs (Export), Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, Nhava Sheva, as the Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of four named Additional/Joint Commissioners of Customs at specified locations for adjudicating matters arising from show cause notices issued to M/s. Galundia Textiles Pvt. Ltd. and others by the Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Delhi Zonal Unit dated 21 September 2011.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointed to consolidate adjudication of Customs show-cause notices concerning specified DRI investigation.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs (Exports), Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, Nhava Sheva, as Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of three specified Additional/Joint Commissioners of Customs for adjudicating matters arising from a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence show-cause notice relating to M/s. Sarvodaya Suitings Ltd. and others.

Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority ensures centralized adjudication of specified customs show-cause notices for listed exporters.
A Common Adjudicating Authority is appointed by the Central Board to centralise and transfer adjudicatory powers to an Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner at the Inland Container Depot, Sahnewal, Ludhiana, to act in place of the originally designated customs adjudicators for adjudication of specified show-cause notices issued by the revenue intelligence unit relating to certain exporters.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment centralises adjudication of a specified show cause notice under the Customs Act.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs, Inland Container Depot (GRFL), Sahnewal, Ludhiana, as a Common Adjudicating Authority empowered to exercise the powers and duties of three specified Additional/Joint Commissioners of Customs for adjudicating the show cause notice related to M/s. Classic Spares and others issued by the regional revenue intelligence unit dated 12th October, 2012.

EPA and DHA content requirement updated: minimum threshold set, no upper limit for refined fish body oil imports.
The amendment revises the combined EPA plus DHA import quality requirement for refined Fish Body Oil (Exim Codes 1504 20 10 and 1504 20 20) to Not less than 5% by weight, eliminating any upper limit. Other compositional standards in Policy Condition 5 remain: Free Fatty Acids

Import policy amendment removes redundant EXIM code bracket, clarifying code applicability and taking immediate effect.
The notification deletes the bracketed list of EXIM codes appended to Policy Condition 1 of Chapter 40, ITC(HS) 2012, Schedule 1 (Import Policy) because applicability is already indicated against the relevant eight digit tariff codes; the deletion takes immediate effect to remove redundancy in the policy condition.

Imports of ozone-depleting substances restricted; non-ODS chemicals liberalised under Montreal Protocol licence requirements.
The Notification reclassifies specified Chapter 29 and 38 tariff items: non-ODS entries are moved from restricted to free, while identified ODS entries are moved from free to restricted. It inserts Policy Condition (3) permitting import of restricted ODS only for actual users against a licence where the exporter is a party to the Montreal Protocol and prohibiting import from non-party countries. Appendix IV is revised to list countries by Montreal Protocol status.

Personal hearing in trade disputes: DG may grant final binding hearings after committee review to redress grievances.
Establishes Personal Hearing as a last-resort remedy allowing an aggrieved importer or exporter to seek a hearing before the Director General after filing and exhausting a review with the relevant Committee or authority; the DG may consult relevant committees for relief. The decision after the Personal Hearing is final and binding. The Personal Hearing does not apply to decisions arising from adjudication proceedings under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act.

Exchange rate determination fixes conversion rates for customs valuation, effective from the prescribed date for imports and exports.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs prescribes fixed foreign currency conversion rates for customs valuation with effect from 19 April 2013, listing separate rates for imported and export goods in Schedule I and rates for the Japanese yen in Schedule II; the notification supersedes an earlier April 4, 2013 notification and notes corrigenda correcting Kenya shilling entries and subsequent supersession by a May 2, 2013 notification.

Disclosure of taxpayer information to specified officers enables information sharing with officials enforcing foreign exchange and anti money laundering laws.
Pursuant to sub clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub section (1) of section 138 of the Income tax Act, the Central Government notifies, in the public interest, officers of the rank of Joint Director and above serving in the Directorate of Enforcement who are performing functions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, as specified officers authorised to receive disclosure of information respecting assessees.

Deduction under section 80-IA narrowed: amendment removes requirement for maintenance and operation, retaining only development.
The Government amends Notification No. 01/2013 under clause (iii) of sub-section (4) of section 80-IA by substituting in paragraph 5 the words "being developed and being maintained and operated" with "being developed" and by omitting item number 7 from the Annexure to the principal notification.

Customs exemption transferability and endorsement rules impose endorsement, actual-user undertakings and duty liability on noncompliance.
Amendments permit service providers who also manufacture to import capital goods and spares under duty credit scrips if the Regional Authority endorses the manufacturing sector on the scrip during its validity; such imports remain subject to the scrip's validity and an actual user condition. Importers must give an undertaking at clearance that failure to comply will require payment of duty otherwise leviable together with interest. The amendments also allow specified transfers of scrips to supporting manufacturers and within group companies subject to Regional Authority endorsement, and exclude exemption from safeguard and anti-dumping duties where scrips are transferable.

Post Export EPCG duty credit scrip: conditional customs duty exemption tied to proportionate export obligation fulfilment.
Goods imported against a Post Export EPCG duty credit scrip are exempted from basic customs duty and specified additional duties, subject to conditions: a valid authorisation under the Handbook of Procedures; import of capital goods and permitted spares on payment of duties in cash; registration and endorsement at specified ports; installation and use certified by customs/excise officers or independent engineers; fulfilment of export obligations computed as a proportion of duties paid with defined exceptions; specified procedural filings for issuance and registration of the scrip; and rules on transferability, validity, re-export, and interaction with Cenvat credit and drawback.

EPCG Scheme exemption: zero customs duty allowed for capital goods, conditioned on nexus, bond and export obligation compliance.
Specified capital goods imported under a valid EPCG authorisation may be imported at zero customs duty (and exempted from additional duty when claimed) subject to conditions including registration at port, import within eighteen months, submission of a Nexus Certificate from an independent Chartered Engineer, non disposal until export obligation completion, execution of a bond or bank guarantee (CSPs requiring full bank guarantee), and fulfillment of an export obligation normally fixed at six times the duty saved on an FOB basis within six years, with prescribed blockwise proportions, reductions, and compliance, reporting and enforcement mechanisms.

Customs exemption amendments expand exempt inputs for textiles and sports goods, updating items for inflatable balls and gloves.
The government amends Notification No. 12/2012-Customs to add exempt inputs against entry 284 (embroidery threads, sewing threads, poly wadding, quilted wadding, printed bags) and to substitute and insert items against entry 521, replacing one entry with PVC/synthetic rubber bladders for inflatable balls, substituting TPU/PU leather cloth or TPU/PU laminated with cotton for inflatable balls, and adding exempt inputs for sports articles (PVC leather cloth, latex foam, PEVA/EVA foil, stitching thread, printing ink) for inflatable balls and sports gloves.

Exemption transferability and conditional import relief expanded, allowing endorsed scrip transfers and actual-user undertakings for capital goods.
Amendments clarify exemptible capital goods and consumables for hotels, service providers and service providers with manufacturing activity, require Regional Authority endorsement of manufacturing on scrips to preserve scrip validity, impose an actual user undertaking and liability with interest for manufacturing-related capital goods and spares, restrict vehicle clearances while permitting professional-use vehicles subject to endorsement and registration, and expand transferable scrip rules to allow endorsed transfers to supporting manufacturers and intra-group manufacturer transferees with specified sector endorsements.