Amendment in Circular No. 38/2016-Customs with the insertion of a new entry 5(d) to enable Pr. Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs to decide the amount of security required in certain cases of provisional assessments

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....neral under CBIC Sir/Madam, Subject: Amendment in Circular No. 38/2016-Customs with the insertion of a new entry 5(d) to enable Pr. Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs to decide the amount of security required in certain cases of provisional assessments - reg. Reference is drawn to Board's Circular no. 38/2016-Customs dated 22.08.2016. which provides guidelines for provisional assessment under section 18 of the Customs Act 1962. 2. Reference is also drawn to Circular no. 18/2020-Customs dated 11.04.2020. which allows provisional clearance of goods imported under India's Trade Agreements without original Certificate of Origin (CoO) in certain situations. The said Circular 18/2020-Customs was issued to mitigate the difficulties....

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....ntries in the Circular No. 38/2016-Customs were substituted with new entries primarily to reflect and align the requirements of the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR) issued on 21.08.2020. In the amended Circular 38/2016-Customs. as it exists today, there is requirement of 100% security at serial no. 5(c) and no flexibility is available with Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner. 5. The above amendment dated 29.09.2020 in Circular no. 38/2016-Customs effectively nullified powers of field officers in exercising discretion on the subject matter as the entry 5 (c) now stood irrevocably linked to the provisions of Rule 6(1)(a) of CAROTAR 2020 which is reproduced below for ease of reference -....

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....ial no. 5(c) of Table at paragraph 3 of the said Circular 38/2016-Customs, a new entry 5(d) is inserted as below: 5(d) Cases covered under Circular no. 18/2020-Customs dated 11.04.2020 where original hard copy of certificate of origin (COO) under FTA has not been submitted or only digitally signed copy or unsigned copy of COO is submitted 100% (i) Where there is a reasonable belief that the case involves misdeclaration of origin or value addition. (ii) In other cases, the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs, after considering the facts and circumstances of the case and for reasons to be recorded in writing, may reduce the amount of security or remove it completely, as deemed fit, for such provisional assessment....