Appointment of Adjudicating Authority: Commissioner of Customs designated to adjudicate Show Cause Notice against Bata India Limited.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under the Customs Act, appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata (Airport), to act as Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata (Port), Commissioner of Customs, Chennai (Airport and Air Cargo) and Commissioner of Customs, Bangalore, for the purpose of adjudicating matters relating to the Show Cause Notice issued to M/s. Bata India Limited under F. No. 75/KOL/APP/2003 dated 7th July, 2003 by the Assistant Director, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Kolkata Zone Unit.

Designation of Adjudicating Authority updated to Commissioner of Customs (Import and General) for show cause notices at IGI Airport.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, amends a prior notification to substitute the designation "Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex, IGI Airport, New Delhi" with "Commissioner of Customs (Import and General), New Custom House, IGI Airport, New Delhi" as the proper officer responsible for adjudicating show cause proceedings related to M/s. Bata India Limited.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authorities to adjudicate Show Cause Notice against Adani Exports under the Customs Act.
The CBEC, under the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, to act as Commissioner of Customs (Export Promotion), Mumbai, and as Commissioner of Customs, Mangalore and Ahmedabad, for adjudicating the Show Cause Notice issued to M/s. Adani Exports Limited and others by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, delegating adjudicatory responsibility to those commissioners.

Customs designation of ICD/LCS: Ankleshwar authorised for unloading imported goods and loading export goods under notification.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs amends Notification No.12/97-CUSTOMS (N.T.) to insert Ankleshwar in the Table for Gujarat, authorising Ankleshwar for the unloading of imported goods and the loading of export goods, under the statutory powers conferred by clause (aa) of sub section (1) of section 7 of the Customs Act, 1962, as an addition to the list of authorised ICDs/LCS/ports.

Courier clearance eligibility expands to include authorised couriers, while a definition-related sub-clause is omitted from the regulations.
Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 are amended by omitting sub-clause (v) from regulation 2(2)(d). Regulation 5(1)(a) is also revised to include an Authorised Courier alongside an on-board courier for appointment eligibility. The amendments take effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Anti-dumping duty withdrawal on X-ray baggage inspection systems rescinds prior notification while preserving past actions.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act and the Anti-dumping Rules, rescinds the prior notification imposing anti-dumping duty on X-ray baggage inspection systems, while preserving effect for actions already done or omitted before the rescission.

Customs Tariff Amendment increases duty on membrane electrolysers and replacement membranes for caustic soda units, clarifying coverage.
Amendment to notification No. 21/2002 substitutes the S.No. 285 entry to list: mono or bi polar membrane electrolysers and parts (including secondary brine purification components, jumper switches, hydrogen filter elements and other machinery) for modernization, capacity expansion or establishing caustic soda units using membrane cell technology; and membranes and parts for replacement of worn out membranes in industrial plants using membrane cell technology.

Exemption for humanitarian imports: CARE and approved distributors granted customs relief subject to undertaking and export obligations.
The amendment substitutes the notification entry to provide customs exemptions for CARE and its approved distributing organisations in three categories: gift commodities for free distribution (requiring an undertaking at import that goods are for free distribution); supplies and equipment that must be exported when no longer required and not used personally or transferred contrary to the governing agreement (undertaking required at import); and supplies and equipment for official use of CARE officers.

Drawback schedule amendment clarifies silk content classification and prescribes differentiated drawback rates for natural silk and noil silk.
Substitutes in the Customs drawback Table for Chapters 50 and 62 distinguish goods made of natural silk from those made of Noil silk/Noil silk yarn and prescribe per kilogram drawback rates computed on silk content for fabrics, readymade garments (including high-fashioned), lungies, and made-up articles; each substituted entry applies under "All Customs" and replaces the corresponding Serial/Sub-serial entries in the prior notification.

Tariff value fixation establishes revised customs valuation for palm and soybean oils via substitution of the tariff table.
Pursuant to powers under Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Board amends notification No. 36/2001-Cus. (N.T.) by substituting the existing Table with a new Table that sets revised tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for specified palm oil products and for crude soybean oil, thereby establishing the customs valuation reference for those imports.

Exchange Rate Determination fixes official currency conversion rates for export goods, superseding the prior customs notification and taking effect immediately.
Determination fixes official conversion rates between listed foreign currencies and Indian rupees for export goods, superseding the prior customs exchange rate notification. Schedule I prescribes per-unit rates for specified currencies and Schedule II prescribes the rate per one hundred units for the Japanese Yen, these rates to be used for export-related customs calculations under the authority of the Customs Act.

Exchange Rate Determination sets customs conversion rates for specified foreign currencies, effective from 1 November 2003.
Determination fixes exchange rates for converting specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for customs valuation of imported goods, effective 1 November 2003, superseding the prior September 2003 notification. Two schedules accompany the determination: Schedule I lists unit conversion rates for major currencies, and Schedule II provides the rate per 100 units for Japanese Yen; those schedule entries are the operative rates for import-related customs calculations.

Customs exemption amendment adds three pharmaceutical drugs to the exempted list under Customs Act authority, changing tariff applicability.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Act, amends Notification No. 21/2002-Customs by inserting Capecitabine, Daclizumab and Ganciclovir into List 3 of the Annexure, thus including these pharmaceutical products within the notification's exemption regime.

Anti-dumping duty on Vitamin C enforces margin-based charges to prevent dumped imports causing injury to domestic industry.
Imposition of a definitive anti dumping duty on Vitamin C addresses findings that imports from the People's Republic of China were dumped below normal value and caused cumulative material injury to the domestic industry. The duty is calculated as the difference between a specified reference amount per kilogram (in U.S. dollars) and the landed value of the imported goods, is payable in Indian currency, and applies to goods under tariff item 2936 27 00 described as Vitamin C or its synonyms, with specified origin/export combinations captured.

Safeguard Director General appointment: new Director General designated under Customs Tariff safeguard duty rules, superseding prior notification.
Appointment of Director General (Safeguard) under sub rule (1) of rule 3 of the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Duty) Rules, 1997: Shri Sri Krishna, Chief Commissioner, is designated as Director General (Safeguard). The notification supersedes earlier notification No. 72/2002 CUSTOMS (N.T.) for the purposes of those rules.

Anti-dumping duty extension on acrylic fibre maintained pending completion of review, preserving the existing import duty regime.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act read with the anti dumping rules, amended the principal notification to extend the anti dumping duty on acrylic fibre originating in or exported from Japan, Spain, Portugal and Italy, so that the notification remains in force up to and inclusive of 16th November, 2004, unless revoked earlier, pending completion of the review initiated by the designated authority.

Anti-dumping duty on methylene chloride imposed covering imports from EU, South Africa and Singapore; definitive duties apply.
Anti-dumping duties are imposed on Methylene Chloride (tariff item 2903 12 00) after findings that exports from the European Union, South Africa and Singapore were dumped and caused material injury. The Central Government, invoking section 9A and relevant rules, prescribes definitive duty rates in a Table distinguishing form (bulk/packed), origin and export permutations, with duties stated in foreign currency per metric tonne. Duties are effective from the provisional duty date, payable in Indian currency, and converted using the exchange rate applicable on the bill-of-entry date.

Customs tariff amendment adds integrated receiver decoders to the tariff table, altering duty and exemption entries.
Amendment to Notification No. 21/2002-Customs substitutes clause (c) in the proviso to defer a Table entry and alters the Table by omitting S. No. 316A, inserting a new S. No. 316C for tariff heading 8528 described as Integrated Receiver Decoder (Set-top Box), and specifying the corresponding duty and column entries as provided.

Import duty on set-top boxes: new tariff entry added, changing exemption status and imposing customs duty.
The notification amends the customs exemption table by omitting former serial No. 316A and inserting serial No. 316C classifying Integrated Receiver Decoder (Set-top Box) under heading 8528, thereby assigning a specific customs duty rate and altering the exemption status of set-top boxes under the principal notification.

Customs exemption: Avgas now expressly exempted from basic customs duty following amendment to tariff notification.
Amendment to Notification No. 21/2002 Customs inserts a new table entry specifying Avgas under the customs tariff heading and declares its basic customs duty rate as Nil, effected under the powers conferred by the Customs Act, 1962 and recorded as a further amendment to the principal notification.