Director General (Safeguards) appointment replaces prior notification, vesting safeguard duty administration in the newly designated official.
The Central Government, under sub-rule (1) of rule 3 of the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Duty) Rules, 1997, appoints Shri Lakhinder Singh, Chief Commissioner, as Director General (Safeguards). This notification supersedes the earlier Government notification No. 89/2003-CUSTOMS (N.T.), transferring the administrative authority and responsibilities for implementing safeguard duty identification and assessment to the newly appointed Director General.

Appointment of Commissioner of Customs to adjudicate show cause notices under Customs law concerning a specified import case.
The Commissioner of Customs, ICD Tughlakabad, New Delhi is appointed to act as Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex, Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, under sub section (1) of section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, for the purpose of adjudicating matters arising from a Show Cause Notice issued in relation to M/s. Ethnic by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

Adjudicating Show Cause Notices: centralising jurisdiction by appointing a designated customs adjudicating officer to hear specified notices.
The notification designates the Commissioner of Customs (Export Promotion), New Customs House, Mumbai to act also as Commissioner of Customs (Import) and Commissioner of Customs (General), Mumbai for adjudicating specified show cause notices issued to a named importer, exercising powers under section 4(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 and centralising adjudicatory competence for those referenced matters.

Jurisdiction of Customs officers: Central Excise officers designated to exercise equivalent customs authority nationwide.
Notification appoints Central Excise officers to corresponding Customs offices, converting Commissioners and subordinate Central Excise posts into Commissioners, Additional/Joint Commissioners, Deputy and Assistant Commissioners of Customs within their respective territorial jurisdictions and designating specified senior posts as having nationwide jurisdiction for customs functions under the powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Exchange Rate Determination sets revised foreign currency conversion rates for imported goods under the Customs Act notification.
The Board prescribes rupee conversion rates for listed foreign currencies under section 14(3)(a)(i) of the Customs Act, 1962, superseding the prior notification; Schedule I lists rupee equivalents per one unit for major currencies and Schedule II lists the rupee equivalent for one hundred units of Japanese Yen, to be applied for valuation and customs purposes for imported goods.

Exchange Rate Determination fixes specified foreign currency to Indian rupee rates for customs valuation from the notified date.
The Board, exercising powers under sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, determines rates of exchange for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees (and vice versa), effective from 1st July, 2004, and supersedes Notification No.71/2004-NT-Customs. Schedule I sets rates per one unit for major currencies and Schedule II sets the rate for Japanese Yen per one hundred units for the purposes of customs-related conversions.

Land Customs Station designation permits land import and export by Bhutanese, Nepalese and Indian nationals to and from Bangladesh.
Phulbari is appointed as a land customs station for import and export by nationals of Bhutan in Bhutanese vehicles, nationals of Nepal in Nepalese vehicles, and nationals of India, when transporting goods by land to or from Bangladesh; this substitutes the second proviso of the principal customs notification under powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Licensing authority power to fix amounts extended to include Export and Import Policy determinations, amending EPCG notifications.
Amendments substitute the condition wording in paragraph 2 of specified EPCG-related customs exemption notifications so that the Licensing Authority may fix either a higher amount or an amount in terms of clause (i) of Paragraph 5.4 of the Export and Import Policy, 2002-2007, replacing prior references to a "higher sum." The changes apply to Notifications Nos. 111/95, 29/97, 49/2000 and 44/2002 as listed.

Customs notification amendment adds Bhadohi District as authorised site for unloading imported and loading export goods.
Amendment to Notification No.12/97 CUSTOMS (N.T.) inserts, against serial number 12 for Uttar Pradesh, entry (x) adding Bhadohi District Sant Ravidas Nagar as authorised for "Unloading of Imported goods and loading of export goods," effected by Notification No.79/2004 Customs (N.T.) under the powers of clause (aa) of sub section (1) of section 7 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Appointment of Adjudicating Officer: Deputy Commissioner designated to hear a specified customs show cause notice.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under authority of the Customs Act, appointed the Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Export), Customs House, Tuticorin to act as Deputy Commissioner of Customs for specified seaport, airport and ICD jurisdictions to adjudicate the show cause notice issued against M/s. First Garment Manufacturing Company (India) Pvt. Ltd., identifying the relevant file reference and date and formally conferring adjudicatory responsibility by government notification.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority assigns a Mumbai commissioner to adjudicate specified show-cause notices concerning importers.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, invoking section 4(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Imports), Air Cargo Complex, Mumbai to act as Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex, Kolkata for the purpose of adjudicating show-cause notices issued by the Additional Director General, Mumbai Zonal Unit dated 4 June 2003, limited to matters concerning M/s M. B. Electronics, M/s Kaiser Electronics and M/s Navkar Electro System at the Mumbai address specified.

Courier clearance coverage extends to Trivandrum and Cochin through amendment of the specified regulation.
Courier import and export clearance regulation 7 is amended to replace the reference to Ahmedabad with "Ahmedabad or Trivandrum or Cochin", extending the specified coverage to Trivandrum and Cochin. The amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Anti-dumping duty rescission on metallurgical coke withdraws prior notification and ends provisional duties under tariff rules.
The Central Government has withdrawn the prior anti-dumping duty notification on metallurgical coke, rescinding the earlier Ministry of Finance customs notification that imposed anti-dumping measures, and thereby terminating the previously notified anti-dumping obligation under the customs tariff and anti-dumping rules.

Jurisdiction of customs appeals amended to assign appellate oversight for aircargo import and export authorities.
Amendment substitutes the Table entry in Notification No. 16/2002 to designate Commissioner of Customs (Appeals), Delhi-I as the appellate authority for the Commissioners handling aircargo import (general) and aircargo export, effected under powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment assigning a commissioner to adjudicate a specified customs show cause notice.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under the Customs Act, appointed the Commissioner of Customs (Imports), Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Nhava Sheva, Mumbai to act as Commissioner of Customs (Imports), Chennai Seaport for the purpose of adjudicating the show cause notice issued against M/s. I.G. International, thereby effecting a jurisdictional assignment of that specific adjudicatory matter to the designated commissioner.

Drawback claim extension: exporters may obtain a further period on supplementary claims when prevented by sufficient cause.
The amendment substitutes the proviso to rule 15(1) to allow the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs to extend the initial three month period for filing a supplementary drawback claim by a further nine months if satisfied that the exporter was prevented by sufficient cause from filing within the initial period.

Tariff values updated for imported goods: customs notification substitutes valuation table and fixes oil and scrap rates.
The Board, exercising statutory power under the Customs Act, amends a prior customs notification by substituting the tariff value table to set per metric tonne tariff values for various vegetable oils and related products, and specifically fixes values for Crude Soyabean Oil and Brass Scrap (all grades); the amendment references the principal gazetted notification and its recent amendment history.

Exchange rate determination for export valuation sets specified foreign currency conversion rates for calculating export transaction values.
The Board, under section 14(3)(a)(i) of the Customs Act, determines specified exchange rates for conversion of listed foreign currencies into Indian rupees (and vice versa) for export valuation, effective 1st June, 2004, superseding the prior notification; Schedule I lists per unit rates for major currencies and Schedule II lists the rate for 100 Japanese Yen.

Exchange rate determination sets import valuation rates under Customs Act, updating prescribed currency conversion rates by notification.
Determination of exchange rates for import valuation under the Customs Act, superseding a prior notification and prescribing, by attached schedules, the conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for the purposes of assessing imported goods.

Customs notification amendment: Tourist chartered flight baggage permissions expanded to additional airports and unloading permitted.
The notification amends the list of designated airports to add Tiruchirapalli and Varanasi and revises customs permissions: Tiruchirapalli is amended to permit baggage brought in tourist chartered flights and to allow loading of goods of Indian origin (excluding diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones) and such baggage; Varanasi is amended to permit unloading of baggage brought in tourist chartered flights.