Appellate authority designation authorizes specified officers to hear appeals against adjudicating authority orders under foreign trade law.
Central Government authorizes specified officers to act as Appellate Authority against orders of Adjudicating Authorities under the Foreign Trade Act, mapping each adjudicating designation to its appellate officer; Additional Director General appeals heard by a Bench of two Additional Director General officers constituted by the Director General; the notification supersedes earlier notifications.

Delegation of powers under foreign trade law: specified officers authorised to issue import/export permissions subject to assigned limits.
Delegation of powers under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 authorises specified officers to exercise powers under Section 13 read with Section 11, with designated officers assigned limits on the value of goods, services or technology covered by authorisations, registration certificates or permits; certain officer roles are authorised without limit for specified categories of units, and the notification supersedes earlier related notifications.

Authorized laboratory additions expand approved certification network for cut and polished diamonds, enabling export for grading and re import.
The amendment adds two International Gemological Institute offices to the list of authorized laboratories for certification/grading, thereby expanding the approved entities whose grading reports permit export of cut and polished diamonds for certification and their subsequent re import under the Foreign Trade Policy.

Sanitary import permit requirement imposed for all live stock products, requiring Department of Animal Husbandry clearance.
Amendments require a health certificate from an official veterinarian or authorized exporter veterinarian at customs; importers of horses to furnish age, sex, breed and purpose to DGFT; bovine embryos to comply with Department of Animal Husbandry guidelines; and a sanitary import permit issued by the Department of Animal Husbandry under Section 3A of the Live stock Importation Act is required for live stock products, including items under ITC (HS) code 2309, with relevant imports also subject to Notification S.O. 794(E).

Notification under foreign trade policy: permits rupee payments for certain exports to Iran subject to a value addition requirement.
Iran is notified as eligible under Para 2.35(b) of the Foreign Trade Policy, permitting exports to Iran imported against payment in freely convertible currency to be settled in Indian Rupees, subject to at least 15% value addition.

Export proceeds realized in Indian rupees allowed for notified countries subject to value addition requirement.
Amendment to paragraph 2.35(b) permits exports of goods imported against payment in freely convertible currency to be realised in Indian rupees for countries notified by DGFT, provided exporters achieve at least 15% value addition; otherwise the general requirement of realisation in freely convertible currency continues to apply.

Sugar export registration requirement governs shipments, with exemptions and APEDA conditions for organic and specialty sugars.
Export of sugar requires prior registration of quantities with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, though pharmaceutical grade and listed specialty sugars are exempt. Preferential quota exports must be routed through M/s. Indian Sugar Exim Corporation Limited and remain subject to DGFT quantitative ceilings. Organic sugar exports are allowed subject to APEDA organic certification, prior registration of export contracts with APEDA, and shipment from Customs EDI ports. Exports under Advance Authorization do not require a Release Order from the Directorate of Sugar; other export conditions remain unchanged.

Prohibition on trade with DPRK bars direct or indirect import and export of WMD-related items and luxury goods.
Direct or indirect import and export to or from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is prohibited for all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology that could contribute to DPRK's nuclear, ballistic missile or other weapons-of-mass-destruction programmes, as identified in updated IAEA control lists and UN Security Council documents, and for luxury goods specified in the UN Security Council annex.

Due diligence certification: EPCH authorized to issue certificates confirming legal sourcing of wood for handicraft manufacture.
The Central Government adds Note 3 to Chapter 44 of Schedule 2 of the ITC(HS) Classification, authorizing the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts to issue certificates on the due diligence adopted by exporters in procuring wood from legal sources for manufacture of handicraft articles; upon request by a foreign buyer or other agency, the designated nodal agency will provide documentary assurance of legal sourcing.

Import price threshold for areca nuts raised, affecting free import eligibility where CIF meets the revised minimum.
The import policy for areca nuts in Chapter 8 of ITC (HS) 2012 is amended: tariff subheadings 0802 80 10, 0802 80 20, 0802 80 30 and 0802 80 90 are subject to a Free import policy only when the CIF value meets or exceeds the revised minimum threshold; the notification raises the prior CIF minimum to a higher fixed minimum applicable for eligibility.

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.

EPCG scheme restriction: imports of capital goods for production, supply or transmission of electrical energy are disallowed under the policy.
Amendment inserts Para 5.1(g) prohibiting EPCG authorizations for import of any Capital Goods, including captive plants and power generator sets, when intended for export of electrical energy, supply under deemed exports, internal use of power in the unit, or supply/export of electricity transmission services.

Import of new vehicles now authorised through additional designated customs ports expanding permitted entry points.
The Central Government amends Policy Condition 2 of Chapter 87 in ITC (HS) Schedule 1 (Import Policy) to add ICD Faridabad and Ennore Port to the enumerated list of customs ports through which import of new vehicles is permitted, stating that importation of new vehicles is allowed only through the specified ports including Nhava Sheva, Kolkata, Chennai, Chennai Airport, Cochin, ICD Tughlakabad, Delhi Air Cargo, Mumbai Port, Mumbai Air Cargo Complex, ICD Talegaon Pune, ICD Faridabad and Ennore Port.

Import policy for pre-war vintage cars now free for actual users, subject to motor vehicle regulatory compliance.
Import policy for cars manufactured prior to 1st January, 1950 is revised from restricted to free for import by Actual Users; a new paragraph (III) under Policy Condition 1 excludes Policy Conditions (I) and (II) for these cars, while vehicles plying on public roads remain subject to the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Rules, 1989, with immediate effect.

Deemed exports terminal excise duty treatment: ab initio exemptions bar TED refunds, with refunds limited where no exemption exists.
The amendments clarify that refund of terminal excise duty is available only if exemption is not available, and that exemption ab initio applies to supplies against ICB, intermediate supplies between Advance Authorisation holders made against an invalidation letter, and supplies from DTA units to EOU/EHTP/STP/BTP units; supplies exempt ab initio will not be eligible for TED refund. The amended table in paragraph 8.4 specifies which deemed export sub categories attract exemption or refund under paragraphs 8.3(a)-(c).

Incremental exports incentivisation: duty credit scrip for year on year export growth, transferable and usable for domestic sourcing and service tax.
A new Incremental Exports Incentivisation Scheme (IEIS) (para 3.14.5) grants a duty credit scrip on an IEC holder's incremental FOB export growth year on year, personal to the IEC holder and excluding group aggregation. The scheme lists specific exclusions from export performance, is region specific, operates alongside other Chapter 3 benefits, and allows freely transferable duty credit scrips usable for domestic sourcing and Service Tax payment under FTP rules.

Antidumping duty exemption removed when DFIA is made transferable; bonded warehouse value addition requirement limited to DTA units.
Exemption from Antidumping Duty and Safeguard Duty is limited to actual users and is disallowed once a DFIA is made transferable; imports against transferred DFIAs will attract antidumping and safeguard levies. The word "energy" is deleted from the cited provision, removing advance authorisations for energy. The minimum value addition requirement for Private/Public Bonded Warehouses applies only to DTA units, not SEZ units, with SEZ value addition to follow the SEZ Act.