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.

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.

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.

Anti-dumping duty on soda ash imports imposed; differential rates apply by origin, producer and exporter, payable in domestic currency.
Definitive anti-dumping duty is imposed on disodium carbonate (soda ash) imports from Russia and Turkey after findings of dumping and material injury, with specified differential duty rates tied to origin, export country, producer and exporter combinations. Duties are listed in the schedule in US dollars per metric ton but are payable in Indian currency; the applicable exchange rate is the rate notified under the Customs Act on the bill of entry presentation date. The notification includes an effectivity period subject to revocation and references a sunset-review and administrative abeyance.

Anti-dumping duty amendment substitutes the named exporter in the notification, updating the roster of affected entities.
The Central Government amends the earlier anti-dumping notification by substituting the Table entry at S. No. 5, column (7) with the exporter name M/s Guangzhou Chemicals Import and Export Co. Ltd, People's Republic of China, thereby updating the list of named exporters subject to the notification while leaving the underlying anti-dumping regulatory framework intact.

Tariff value fixation: substituted tariff values for specified oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, gold and silver.
The notification substitutes TABLE-1 and TABLE-2 in the existing Customs non-tariff notification to set tariff values for specified imports: TABLE-1 fixes US$ per metric tonne values for listed oils, brass scrap and poppy seeds (most unchanged), while TABLE-2 fixes US$ unit values for gold and silver in forms eligible for benefits under specified entries; issued under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Common Adjudicating Authority assignment: show cause notice transferred to Commissioner for adjudication under the Customs Act.
The Board assigns the Common Adjudicating Authority role for the Show Cause Notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (Chennai Zonal Unit) in respect of M/s Itspossible Marketing Limited to the Commissioner of Customs (Seaport-Imports), Custom House, Chennai, for the purpose of adjudication, and circulates copies to the issuing DRI unit and various Commissioners of Customs and the Board webmaster for administrative coordination.

Tariff valuation update under Customs Act replaces tariff values for specified imported goods, fixing new unit values.
Amendment substitutes the prior TABLE-1 and TABLE-2 to set fixed tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for listed commodities (various palm oils, palmolein, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds) and unit values for gold and silver when specified notification benefits are availed, exercising the Board's power under section 14(2) of the Customs Act to prescribe determinative import values for customs valuation purposes.

Anti-dumping duty imposed on plain gypsum plaster board; definitive duties apply to imports from specified foreign producers and exporters.
Imposition of a anti-dumping duty on Plain Gypsum Plaster Board (heading 6809) originating in or exported from China PR, Indonesia, Thailand and United Arab Emirates, following findings of dumping, above de-minimis dumping margins and material injury to the domestic industry. Definitive duties are specified in US dollars per cubic metre for defined country-of-origin/export and producer/exporter combinations; certain moisture-, impact- and fire-resistant gypsum boards are excluded. Duty is leviable on landed value, payable in Indian currency, and the measure is effective for the prescribed multi-year period.

Appeal Form Requirement: appeals under section 129A/129D must use Form C.A.-5 and be filed quadruplicate.
The amendment to the Customs (Appeal) Rules substitutes rule 7 and prescribes that appeals or applications under the appellate provisions must be made in Form C.A.-5, filed in quadruplicate and accompanied by an equal number of copies of the decision or order appealed against, one being a certified copy. It also substitutes Forms C.A.-3, C.A.-4 and C.A.-5 with detailed specimen forms specifying required particulars, documentary attachments, fee payment by crossed bank draft, and procedural filing requirements, and provides commencement and rule-making authority.

Exchange rate notification revises Japanese yen import and export conversion rates under Customs Act, effective from April.
Substitutes Schedule-II entry for Japanese yen to prescribe revised conversion rates for 100 units of the currency with distinct values for imports and exports, and declares the date from which those rates are effective; issued by the Central Board of Excise & Customs with accompanying administrative reference and a corrigendum correcting the rate-heading wording.

Anti-dumping duty extension on Sulphur Black pending review, maintaining the protective levy for imports from the specified origin.
The Central Government amended the original notification to insert a temporal continuation clause keeping the anti-dumping duty on Sulphur Black originating in or exported from the specified foreign origin in force for an additional period pending completion of the statutory review, thereby maintaining the levy until the review concludes or the amendment is revoked earlier.

Anti-dumping duty extension on Sodium Nitrite maintained pending review under Section 9A, effective until April 10, 2014.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub-sections (1) and (5) of Section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act read with rule 23 of the Anti-dumping Rules, amends the original notification imposing anti-dumping duty on imports of Sodium Nitrite from the European Union by inserting a clause that the notification shall remain in force up to and inclusive of the specified extended date unless revoked earlier, thereby continuing the duty pending completion of the review.

Exchange rate determination: notified conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for import and export valuation.
Statutory notification under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 prescribes conversion rates of specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for customs valuation of imported and exported goods effective 5 April 2013, superseding the earlier notification and listing separate import and export rates in Schedule I and a per 100 units entry for Japanese Yen in Schedule II, with subsequent substitution and corrigendum corrections noted.

Assignment of adjudication under Customs Act: show cause notice transferred to Commissioner of Customs (Imports) for adjudication.
The Board, invoking the Notification establishing a Common Adjudicating Authority, assigns a specified Show Cause Notice issued by a central investigative unit to the Commissioner of Customs (Imports), New Custom House, Mumbai for adjudication, and directs administrative circulation to multiple customs formations and officers to ensure receipt and follow-up.

Common adjudicating authority assignment transfers adjudication responsibility to the designated Commissioner of Customs for a show cause notice.
The Board, relying on the delegated notification under the Customs Act, assigns a Show Cause Notice issued by a revenue intelligence unit to a designated Commissioner of Customs as the Common Adjudicating Authority for adjudication, and circulates the assignment to relevant enforcement and customs offices for procedural coordination.