Common adjudicating authority appointed to exercise commissioners' powers for adjudication of a show cause notice concerning M/s Navyuga.
Using powers under sub section (1) of section 4 and sub section (1) of section 5 of the Customs Act, the Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Import), Mumbai Port, New Customs House, Ballard Estate, Mumbai to act as a common adjudicating authority to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the Commissioners of Customs at Nhava Sheva and Chennai for adjudicating matters arising from the show cause notice issued to M/s Navyuga Engineering Company Limited by the Additional Director General, Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence, Mumbai Zonal Unit.

Customs offence compounding now requires prior payment of duty, penalty and interest, with revised offence-wise compounding amounts.
The Customs (Compounding of Offences) Amendment Rules, 2008 revise the compounding framework by making prior payment of duty, penalty and interest a mandatory condition for filing a compounding application. They also substitute the rule on fixation of the compounding amount by prescribing offence-wise amounts for specified customs offences, including fixed amounts for certain offences and market-value-linked amounts with minimum thresholds for others. Where multiple offences relate to the same goods on the same valuation basis, the higher prescribed compounding amount applies. The application form is amended to require particulars of such prior payment.

Designation of Inland Container Depot: Mandavariya (Kishangarh) authorised for unloading imported goods and loading export goods.
Amendment to Notification No.12/1997-CUSTOMS (N.T.) inserts Mandavariya (Kishangarh), District Ajmer as an authorised Inland Container Depot/Land Customs Station for unloading imported goods and loading export goods under the rule-making power of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs levy change: exemption condition for iron ore fines amended from specific per tonne rate to ad valorem rate.
Amendment replaces the fixed per tonne charge in Notification No. 116/2008 for iron ore fines with an ad valorem rate, changing the levy mechanism from a specific monetary amount to a value based percentage for goods classified under the relevant heading of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act.

Import duty exemption for specified small-calibre air pellets sets standard and additional duty rates to nil under amended tariff.
An amendment to the customs tariff inserts a new serial entry to Notification No.21/2002 classifying air pellets of air rifles or air pistols, of 0.177 calibre under Chapter 93 and specifying both the standard rate and additional duty rate as Nil, thereby exempting those pellets from import duty under the powers conferred by section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs tariff amendment splits iron and steel headings, imposing differential duties and a nil rate for specified goods.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 21/2002-Customs by inserting S. No. 77C to cover tariff item 2710 19 20 with "All goods" at Nil rate, and substituting S. No. 198 to treat 7202 (except 7202 70 00, 7202 92 00) as "All goods" Nil, while creating S. No. 198A for 7202 70 00 and 7202 92 00 as "All goods" attracting 5% duty, under Notification No. 119/2008-Cus dated October 31, 2008.

Anti-dumping duty on imported cable ties: reference-price based levies applied against landed value, payable in Indian currency.
Provisional anti-dumping duty is imposed on imports of cable ties (sub heading 3926 90) from the People's Republic of China and Taiwan; duty equals the difference between tabled reference prices (per kg in Indian Rupees) and the landed value of imports, applies to any size and any producer/exporter, is payable in Indian currency, and remains effective up to and including 29 April 2009. "Landed value" is defined as the assessable value under the Customs Act, 1962, including all customs duties except specified tariff levies.

Export duty on iron ore now applies irrespective of iron content; iron ore fines excluded by amendment.
An amendment to Notification No.79/2008-Customs substitutes the wording for the commodity entry so that the export tariff provision for "iron ores and concentrates, all sorts" is replaced by "iron ores and concentrates, all sorts (except iron ore fines)," thereby excluding iron ore fines from the scope of that notification under powers exercised pursuant to section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs exemption for iron ore fines: export duty limited to an ad valorem rate; later rescinded by subsequent notification.
The Central Government exempted iron ore fines under Heading No. 11 of the Second Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act from customs duty in excess of an ad valorem charge, substituting the prior per tonne levy with an ad valorem rate by notification; that exemption was later rescinded by a subsequent notification.

Tariff value amendment under Customs Act updates import valuation, adding explicit entries for poppy seeds and brass scrap.
Amendment of tariff values under the Customs Act, 1962 by exercise of powers conferred by section 14(2): Notification No.116/2008 substitutes the Table in Notification No.36/2001-Cus (N.T.) to replace the existing tariff-value schedule with a new table specifying revised tariff values for listed goods, including explicit entries for Brass Scrap (all grades) and Poppy seeds, thereby updating benchmark US dollar per metric tonne values used for customs import valuation.

Export tariff exemption: substitution of 'nil' rates for specified customs entries, extending duty-free export treatment.
The notification dated 31 October 2008 amends Notification No. 66/2008 by substituting the entry "nil" in column (4) of the tariff table against S. Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, thereby providing duty-free export treatment for the specified items under powers conferred by section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Anti-dumping duty on phenol continued to prevent injury to domestic industry; definitive duties imposed on imports from specified countries.
Definitive anti-dumping duties on phenol from Singapore, South Africa and the European Union are imposed to remove injury to the domestic industry following a review which found dumped imports and likely recurrence of injury. The notification prescribes differential duty rates by origin, export routing and specified producers/exporters, expressed in foreign currency per metric tonne, effective for five years and payable in Indian currency. The applicable rate of exchange is that notified under the Customs Act, with the relevant date for exchange determination being the date of presentation of the bill of entry.

Duty concession on imports extended to Least Developed Countries: inclusion of Uganda, Rwanda and Madagascar under amended notification.
The Central Government amended Notification No.96/2008 to insert three additional entries in the Schedule, thereby extending a duty concession on specified imports to Uganda, the Republic of Rwanda and Madagascar; the change is effected by an administrative notification issued by the Department of Revenue.

Exchange Rate Determination sets official currency conversion rates for import and export valuation under Customs Act.
Determination under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 prescribing official rupee conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for valuation of imported and exported goods, effective 1st November, 2008, set out in two schedules distinguishing import and export rates, and superseding the earlier notification of 26th September, 2008.

Exchange rate notification updates foreign currency conversion rates for imports and exports, modifying Customs valuation and compliance calculations.
Amendment replaces specified entries in the exchange-rate schedules for Customs conversion of foreign currencies into Indian rupees, substituting revised rates in Schedule I for unit based import and export conversion and in Schedule II for the Japanese Yen, thereby updating the numerical bases used for Customs valuation and related procedural calculations.

Rescission of Anti-dumping Notification withdraws an earlier customs notification under the Customs Tariff Act and rules.
The Central Government, exercising statutory powers under the Customs Tariff framework and related anti dumping rules, has rescinded notification No.69/2008 Customs dated 15 May 2008, withdrawing that anti dumping customs instrument, subject to a savings clause preserving actions or omissions done before such rescission.

Anti-dumping duty on non-cooperating exporter leads to definitive levy on certain polyester yarn imports from a retrospective effective date.
The Central Government amends Notification No.15/2007 to omit S. No.5 in Table I and inserts a paragraph that the anti-dumping duty on specified polyester yarns produced and exported by M/s H.K. Corporation, treated as a non-cooperating exporter for violating a price undertaking, shall be levied with effect from the 15th November, 2007, implementing the definitive duty recommended by the designated authority.

Customs tariff amendment: concessional duty for specified newspaper-grade uncoated paper subject to RNI-registered importer eligibility.
Creates a tariff entry for uncoated newspaper-printing paper meeting specified fibre, sizing, surface roughness and weight criteria with concessional duty treatment, and substitutes Annexure Condition No.20A to require that the importer be registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India at the time of import to qualify for the concessional treatment.

Anti-dumping duty continuation on Vitamin C extended under statutory review, preserving import measures through a renewed expiry.
The Central Government amended the principal customs notification imposing anti-dumping duty on Vitamin C originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China by inserting a paragraph that the notification shall remain in force up to and inclusive of a renewed expiry date unless revoked earlier, exercising powers under the Customs Tariff Act and applicable anti-dumping rules following a statutory review and request for extension.

Tariff value amendment: substituted notification fixes tariff values and updates entries for poppy seeds and brass scrap.
The Board substitutes the Table in Notification No.36/2001-Cus (N.T.) to fix tariff values for listed goods, preserving existing values for various palm oil and palmolein headings and specifying tariff values for brass scrap (all grades) and poppy seeds; the substituted table becomes the operative reference for customs valuation and fixation of tariff values under the notification framework.