Export controls on PUSA-1121 rice permit shipments only with registration, quality thresholds and port restrictions.
Amendment permits export of PUSA-1121 non-basmati rice despite general prohibition, subject to grain size and length-to-breadth ratio thresholds, prior APEDA contract registration, a prescribed minimum FOB price, and shipment only through specified ports; exports from paddy procured in KMS 2008-09 allowed immediately. Basmati rice exports are free subject to grain dimension requirements, pre-shipment quality certification for the Russian Federation by listed laboratories or other notified agencies, a prescribed minimum FOB price, restriction to the same ports, and an operative date for certain provisions, with all other notification terms unchanged.

Special Economic Zone notification: land designated for IT and ITES under the SEZ Act, approved for development.
Notification designates land measuring 10.1769 hectares at Plot No. 3, Sector 140A as a sector specific Special Economic Zone for information technology and information technology enabled services. The designation follows a proposal by M/s. Jubilant Infracon Private Limited under Section 3 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, receipt of a letter of approval under sub section (10) of Section 3 after satisfaction of sub section (8) requirements, and is effected under Section 4(1) of the Act and rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, 2006.

Approval Committee constitution for IT/ITES Special Economic Zone establishes ex officio membership and developer special invitee.
Central Government constitutes an Approval Committee for an information technology and information technology enabled services Special Economic Zone developed by a private developer, specifying its composition. The Committee is chaired ex officio by the Development Commissioner and includes ex officio members: a Ministry of Commerce and Industry representative, the Zonal Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, the Commissioner of Customs (Airport) or nominee, the Commissioner of Income Tax or nominee, the Director (Banking) in the Ministry of Finance, the Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of the concerned Industrial Development Authority, and the State Secretary (Industry); the developer is a special invitee.

Deeming of SEZ as Inland Container Depot under Customs Act appointed, facilitating customs treatment and regulatory status.
The Central Government declares that the information technology and information technology enabled services Special Economic Zone developed by M/s. Jubilant Infracon Private Limited at Plot No. 3, Sector-140A, Noida is deemed to be an Inland Container Depot for the purposes of the Customs legislation, specifying the effective date and attaching customs status and regulatory treatment to the specified SEZ site.

Excise duty exemption for flood relief: donated goods exempt from excise subject to manufacturer certification and delivery conditions.
Goods in the Central Excise Tariff Schedule donated or purchased from cash donations for Bihar flood relief are exempt from excise duty subject to: manufacturer certification on clearance documents that goods are donated without charge; direct dispatch from factory or warehouse to the Central or State government or approved relief agencies; and production within six months (or extended period allowed) of a District Magistrate's certificate to the jurisdictional Deputy/Assistant Commissioner confirming donation and use for relief and rehabilitation.

Financial assistance for legal expenses: exporters may obtain support for statutory trade compliance litigation under the MAI scheme.
The Department of Commerce will provide financial assistance to deserving exporters, on Export Promotion Council recommendation, to meet legal expenses for trade-related matters, restricted to statutory compliances such as registration charges and litigation in anti-dumping and countervailing cases, in accordance with the Market Access Initiative scheme.

Service tax reporting: ST-3 now requires disclosure of advance payments and Cenvat payment adjustments in returns.
The ST-3 return is amended to require a schedule for advance service tax deposits and their adjustment, to add election and reporting lines for Cenvat obligations for exempted outputs including a new table (5AA) capturing values of exempted goods and services and amounts paid by credit or cash with challan references, and to expand the credit-utilisation calculation to include payments under the Cenvat option; the Annexure of services is also extended to include specified service categories.

Appointment of Director General Specific Safeguard - new appointee tasked to administer product specific safeguard duties under customs rules.
Designation of Shri S.S. Rana-I, Chief Commissioner, as Director General (Specific Safeguard) under the Customs Tariff (Transitional Product Specific Safeguard Duty) Rules, 2002, effected by exercise of powers under the applicable sub rule to confer authority to implement and oversee product specific safeguard duties; this notification supersedes the earlier notification appointing the post for the purposes of those Rules.

Appointment of Director General (Safeguard) under Customs Tariff Rules, designating Chief Commissioner and superseding earlier notification.
Appointment of a senior official as Director General (Safeguard) under the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Duty) Rules, 1997, designating Shri S.S. Rana-I, Chief Commissioner, to perform the functions of Director General (Safeguard). The notification supersedes an earlier Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue notification and assigns responsibility for administration and assessment matters relating to safeguard duties under the Rules.

Customs duty exemption for imported goods donated for Bihar flood relief, subject to importer certification and district magistrate confirmation.
Exempts from customs duty and additional duty all goods under the Customs Tariff Schedule imported for donation for relief and rehabilitation of flood affected persons in Bihar, subject to certification by the importer on clearance documents that the goods are for donation without charge, delivery to the Central Government, the Government of Bihar or approved relief agencies, and production within six months (or extended period) of a District Magistrate's certificate confirming donation.

Special Economic Zone designation for IT/ITES enables notified 10-hectare SEZ at Rai, Sonepat under SEZ Act.
The Central Government, having recorded that the requirements under sub section (8) of Section 3 were satisfied and having granted a letter of approval under sub section (10) of Section 3 to M/s. Anant Raj Industries Limited, notifies under Section 4(1) of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, 2006 an area of 10 hectares at Plot No. TP 1, Rai, Sonepat District, Haryana as a Special Economic Zone for information technology and information technology enabled services.

Inland Container Depot designation: SEZ for IT and ITES at Rai deemed an ICD under the Customs Act, enabling customs recognition.
Central Government declared the SEZ for the IT and ITES sector at Plot No. TP-1, Rai, Sonepat District, Haryana, developed by M/s. Anant Raj Industries Limited, to be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act, 1962, with effect from the date specified in the notification, thereby conferring customs recognition and related statutory status on the SEZ site.

Constitution of Approval Committee for an IT/ITES Special Economic Zone establishes ex officio membership and developer invitee.
Constitutes an Approval Committee for the IT/ITES Special Economic Zone at Plot No. TP 1, Rai, Sonepat, under sub section (1) of Section 13 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, for the SEZ developed by the specified developer. The Committee's Chairperson is the Development Commissioner (ex officio) and membership consists of specified ex officio officers from Commerce, Foreign Trade, Customs/Central Excise, Income Tax, Finance (Banking), State Industries & Commerce, State Industrial Development Corporation, with a developer representative as special invitee.

Exemption for branded packing materials now subject to an overall cap for the remainder of the financial year.
Amends Notification No. 8/2003 to include specified branded packing materials - printed cartons of paper or paper board, metal containers, HDPE woven sacks, adhesive tapes, stickers, PP caps, crown corks and metal labels - within the small scale exemption, and adds paragraph 4B restricting the exemption for those goods to an overall cap for the remaining part of the financial year 2008-09.

Tariff value fixation updated: substituted table sets values for palm oils, soyabean oil, brass scrap and poppy seeds.
Substitutes the Table in Notification No. 36/2001 Cus (N.T.) by prescribing tariff values in US$ per metric tonne for specified imported goods under the authority of sub section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, listing itemised headings and tariff values for categories of palm oil and palmolein, crude soyabean oil, brass scrap (all grades) and poppy seeds.

Duty drawback rates set for exports, subject to procedural conditions and exclusions including Cenvat and special schemes.
The notification fixes all industry duty drawback rates and caps for exports, aligning tariff descriptions to the Customs Tariff Schedule at the four digit level, and distinguishes total drawback where Cenvat has not been availed from the customs component where it has. Drawback is payable only upon satisfaction of procedural requirements under the Drawback Rules; specific exclusions apply to goods from bonded manufacture, Advance Licence or duty exemption schemes, EOUs, FTZ/EPZ/SEZ units, and goods benefiting from specified rebate schemes. Composite articles may use constituent material rates on exporter declaration, subject to verification.

Anti-dumping duty continuation extended pending review, notification remains in force until the specified expiry date.
The Central Government amended the existing notification to insert a new paragraph providing that the notification imposing anti-dumping duty on Sun and/or Dust Control Polyester Film originating in or exported from Chinese Taipei and the United Arab Emirates shall remain in force upto and inclusive of the 25th August, 2009, unless revoked earlier, thereby extending the duty pending completion of a designated authority review under the Customs Tariff Act and rule 23 of the Customs Tariff Rules.

Deeming of Special Economic Zone as Inland Container Depot enables SEZ to be treated as ICD under Customs law.
The Central Government appoints an operative date for the sector specific multi services SEZ at Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai proposed by M/s. Navi Mumbai SEZ Private Limited and, by statutory deeming provision, declares that from that date the SEZ shall be deemed to be an Inland Container Depot for the purposes of the Customs Act, 1962, thereby subjecting the zone to the customs regime applicable to ICDs.

Approval Committee constitution under SEZ Act sets membership and governance for Kalamboli multi services SEZ with developer nominee.
Constitution of an Approval Committee for the multi services SEZ at Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai by Central Government notification, specifying the Development Commissioner as Chairperson and listing specified ex officio members from commerce, foreign trade, customs or central excise, income tax, finance (banking), and state industry departments, with the developer's representative as special invitee.

Special Economic Zone designation converts a sector-specific SEZ into a multi-services SEZ under the SEZ Act.
Notification designates specified parcels at Kalamboli as a Special Economic Zone initially for light engineering and subsequently converted to a multi services SEZ, following a private proposal, satisfaction of statutory prerequisites and grant of a letter of approval; it lists pocket and sector identifiers with total land area and notes that the notification was later rescinded by a subsequent government notification.