Customs duty amendment revises import duty treatment for coking coal and other tariff items, altering applicable duty rates.
Notification No. 44/2004 amends Notification No. 21/2002 by substituting the column (4) entry for S. No. 68 to "Nil," inserting S. No. 68A for tariff heading 2701 covering coking coal of ash content of 12% or more with a specified duty in column (4), substituting S. No. 70 to treat headings 2701 11 00, 2701 12 00 and 2701 19 as all goods other than coking coal with a revised duty in column (4), and substituting the column (4) entry against S. No. 197 with a revised duty rate.

Duty drawback withdrawal removes specified drawback concessions for listed steel items under customs rules.
The Central Government, under rule 3 read with rule 4 of the Drawback Rules, 1995, amends Notification No. 26/2003 Customs(N.T.) by omitting Serial/Sub serial Nos. 72.01 to 72.13 and their entries in Chapter 72, thereby withdrawing the duty drawback concessions for the specified steel items.

Effective date amendment: Customs notifications' commencement deferred to the first day of April to standardise implementation.
The Central Government directs textual amendments to specified Customs (N.T.) notifications by substituting, in paragraph 2 of each listed notification, the previously stated commencement date of the first day of March, 2004 with the first day of April, 2004. The amendment is issued under statutory power as necessary in the public interest and applies to ten notifications published in the Gazette in July and August 2003, with prior amendment histories noted; the change is effected by direct substitution of the figures, letters and words in the identified paragraph.

Commencement date amendment postpones SEZ customs procedures' operative start, altering regulatory implementation timeline for affected notifications.
Amendment substitutes the commencement date in regulation 1(3) of the Special Economic Zones (Customs Procedures) Regulations, 2003, replacing the earlier figures, letters and words specifying the operative start date with a later date; the amendment is made under the Customs Act and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Commencement date amendment delays SEZ Rules effective date under Customs Act authority, substituting the previously notified commencement date.
The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Rules, 2004 substitute the previously stated commencement date in rule 1(2) of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2003 with a new specified date; the rules are titled accordingly and come into force upon publication in the Official Gazette, made under section 156(1) read with Chapter XA of the Customs Act, 1962, by Notification No. 26/2004-Customs (N.T.).

Customs notification amendment shifts the effective date from March to April under the governing finance power.
The Central Government amended the principal customs notification by substituting the date "1st day of March, 2004" with "1st day of April, 2004". The amendment was issued under section 126 of the Finance Act, 2002 and is confined to the effective date stated in the earlier notification dated 22 July 2003.

Customs tariff amendments: Part A headings and import duty rates updated, changes take effect in March.
Government amends Notification No. 105/99 Customs by substituting and inserting entries in the Table, Part A: specific tariff headings (HS codes) are replaced or added against certain serial numbers and corresponding ad valorem import duty rates are prescribed for those entries. The notification is promulgated under statutory powers and specifies that the amendments come into force in March.

Customs exemption permits duty-free import for Divya Drishti programme subject to designated importer and dual certification.
This amendment adds an exemption allowing duty-free import of machinery, equipment, instruments, components, spares, tooling, software, raw materials and consumables for the DIVYA DRISHTI Programme, when imported by designated works centres, government agencies or public sector undertakings and accompanied at import by a goods list certified by the Director, Defence Electronics Research Laboratory or CMD of Electronics Corporation of India Limited and by an Under Secretary in the Ministry of Defence confirming programme authorization.

Debonding of capital goods allowed on payment of duty on depreciated value at the prevailing duty rate.
The notification authorises debonding as an alternative to transfer within India under the Export and Import Policy and revises the proviso so that clearance or debonding of capital goods may be allowed on payment of duty on their depreciated value at the rate in force on the date of payment; it also extends references to clearance to include debonding and permits duty-free debonding of used packing materials unsuitable for repeated use.

Customs tariff amendment revises a table entry to prescribe duty treatment for specified tariff headings and exclude seconds and defectives.
Amendment substitutes Table entry 190B in Notification No. 21/2002-Customs to list a contiguous series of tariff headings, describe the goods as all goods other than seconds and defectives, and specify the corresponding duty column entries for that row.

Tariff values amended for palm oils, soybean oil and brass scrap; substituted table sets updated unit rates.
The Board amends the principal customs non-tariff notification by substituting a Table that prescribes tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for specified tariff headings and goods, namely crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, other palm oils, crude palmolein, RBD palmolein, other palmolein, crude soybean oil and brass scrap (all grades), thereby fixing unit tariff values for import valuation purposes under the customs authority.

Customs duty reduction on steel items updates tariff entries and inserts new headings, altering applicable duties and exclusions.
Amendments to Notification No. 21/2002 Customs revise tariff entries for steel items: substituted lower duty rates at specified serial numbers; insertion of new sub entries 190A and 190B covering goods other than pig iron and goods under headings 7203-7217 with assigned customs duty; and substitution of S. No. 207's description to exclude goods under heading 7202, listed serial numbers including 190A/190B, and seconds and defectives under Chapter 72, effected under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Exchange rate determination for exported goods under the Customs Act sets specified currency conversion rates for export valuation.
The Board, under section 14(3)(a)(i) of the Customs Act, determines exchange rates for conversion between specified foreign currencies and Indian rupees for export goods valuation, superseding the prior notification; Schedule I prescribes per-unit rates for listed currencies and Schedule II prescribes the rupee equivalent for one hundred units of Japanese Yen, effective from the stated implementation date.

Rate of exchange for import valuation established under Customs Act, affecting conversion of specified foreign currencies into rupees.
The Board, under section 14(3)(a)(i) of the Customs Act, 1962, fixes official rate of exchange for conversion between Indian rupees and specified foreign currencies for import valuation, effective 1 March 2004, superseding the earlier January notification; Schedule I lists per-unit rupee equivalents for major currencies and Schedule II lists the rupee equivalent for 100 Japanese Yen.

Customs House Agent licensing requires qualifying exams, security and compliance, with suspension and revocation procedures following inquiry.
Customs House Agents must hold a licence to transact import/export or conveyance clearance at Customs Stations, obtained by application in Form A, meeting prescribed educational, professional or experience and financial criteria, passing written and oral examinations administered by the Director General of Inspection, executing bonds or surety and furnishing security. Licences, granted on payment of the prescribed fee, are valid for ten years and renewable subject to performance and compliance; they are non-transferable. The regulations impose obligations on CHAs regarding client authorisations, recordkeeping, prompt payment of dues, employee qualifications and identity cards, and provide procedures for suspension, revocation and appeal.

Anti-dumping duty on Potassium Carbonate: country- and producer-specific rates assigned to counteract dumped imports and injury.
Anti-dumping duties are imposed on Potassium Carbonate (tariff item 2836 40 00) following findings of dumping and cumulative material injury from exports originating in the European Union, China PR, Korea RP and Taiwan; definitive, producer- and country-specific duty rates per metric tonne in US Dollars are set in a tariff table, duties are payable in Indian currency from specified effective dates, and conversion uses the official exchange rate on the bill of entry date.

Provisional release: seized goods subject to removal if provisional release not taken within specified period under customs amendment.
Amendment to Notification No. 31/86-Customs adds two schedule entries: Software, recognising susceptibility to depreciation and storage constraints, and seized goods for which an order for provisional release was passed but not availed by the concerned person within a prescribed short period from communication of that order, effected under powers of section 110(1A) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Appointment of adjudicating officer to adjudicate a show cause notice concerning specified imports cleared through designated customs locations.
The Central Board appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Import), New Customs House, Mumbai, to act as Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai for imports cleared through Container Freight Station, Mulund, and the Commissioner of Customs (Import), Jawahar Custom House, Nhava Sheva, to adjudicate matters arising from a show cause notice issued in respect of M/s. Kamala Mehta Charitable Trust; the appointment is limited to adjudication of that referenced notice and specified import locations.

Customs notification amendment updates the designated commissioner title to reflect the import and general office designation.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, amends a prior notification by substituting the office designation "Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo), New Delhi" with "Commissioner of Customs (Import and General), New Customs House, New Delhi"; the change is a nomenclature update within the notification text.

Notification amendment: substitution of operative date postpones earlier effective date to first day of May.
Central Government, under sub section (1) of section 30 of the Customs Act, 1962, amends notification No. 111/2003 CUSTOMS (N.T) dated 19th December, 2003 by substituting the figures, letters and words "18th February, 2004" with the figures, letters and words "1st day of May, 2004", thereby changing the operative date of the principal notification as published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3, sub section (i) vide G.S.R. 956(E).