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Voluntary revision of entry, post clearance – New Section 18A of The Customs Act,1962
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....oluntary revision of entry, post clearance – New Section 18A of The Customs Act,1962<br>By: - JM Kishore<br>Customs - Import - Export - SEZ<br>Dated:- 3-2-2025<br><br>One of the new provisions in the Finance Bill 2025 mentioned in the Budget 2025 is the Voluntary Revision of Entry Post-Clearance by importers/exporters. This provision alters the assessment process by allowing importers/exporters ....
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....to revise declarations after clearance. Since post-clearance revision is not currently defined in existing regulations, a new regulation under Section 157 may be required to address: Scope * Define who is eligible to file a voluntary revision (e.g., only importers/exporters with a clean compliance history? Or all can do that?). Sub-section (5) provides a few cases where revision of entry is not....
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.... permitted. * Specify types of errors that can be corrected (e.g., clerical errors, HS code misclassification, value misdeclaration?). Eligibility Criteria * What are the conditions under which voluntary revision can be made need to be notified vide Regulations. * Should revision be allowed only once per Bill of Entry? Clarity may be needed. * What level of misdeclaration (e.g., % of vari....
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....ation in value/duty) qualifies for voluntary correction of entry? Verification & Compliance Mechanism * Officers will need a clear process to verify the correctness of revised declarations. * Should revisions be automatically accepted if within a certain threshold, or should every case be manually verified? * If revised entry reduces duty payable, how will Customs prevent misuse? Does the ....
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....provision impact the work load for Customs officers? Likely. It may increase the assessment work load on officers . Allowing post-clearance revision means officers may need to reopen and reassess documents after clearance, leading to higher workload. It is not clear how systems can integrate this aspect. Teething issues likely to arise. Possible Misuse? Some traders may use the revision proces....
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....s strategically to reduce declared value after clearance, impacting revenue. In terms of Section 18A(4)(a), bills when opted for revision may be selected primarily on the basis of risk evaluation through appropriate selection criteria. It indicates that not all revisions need to be verified by Customs. It may be better that such cases which are not picked up for revision may atleast be allotted t....
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....o Post-clearance Audit. Issues in revenue collection : * If revisions lead to refund claims due to corrections, the customs department might face higher refund processing workload. * Revenue collection could become more uncertain as the final duty payable may change even after clearance. * Regulations may also to specify that an automated AI-based risk-assessment tool could be integrated i....
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....nto ICEGATE to flag genuine revisions vs. fraudulent ones. Balancing the Benefits vs. Increased Workload Possible solutions to reduce assessment burden: * Restrict eligibility: Allow revisions only for genuine clerical errors, not major duty reductions. * Time limit for revisions: Set a deadline (e.g., 15 days from clearance) to avoid indefinite re-assessments. * Threshold-based auto-appro....
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....val: There may be a stipulation of quantum , either the duty amount or a condition that If a revision affects duty by less than 5% so as to be automatically approved without officer intervention or otherwise. * Introduce an AI-driven review mechanism: Use risk assessment algorithms to flag high-risk revisions for manual review. Will new Regulations Under Section 157 be needed? Yes, because the....
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.... voluntary revision of entry is likely to create a new procedural right for importers /exporters and needs structured eligibility, verification, and compliance mechanisms. Reply By YAGAY andSUN as = Amenable with you views that AI should be used by Customs Department in their reviews/RMS etc. The Smart Customs Project (WCO) will soon releases a case study on the adoption of AI and ML in China ....
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....Customs and an AI/ML Readiness Self-Assessment Tool. The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) currently has 62 smart models at various stages of implementation, including 22 that are in the pilot phase and two that are fully operational. The case study provides details of several use cases, including the Intelligent Control Model (TianXuan), Smart Image ....
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....Analysis and other intelligent models under development. In addition to the case study, the WCO Smart Customs Project has released the AI/ML Readiness Self-Assessment Tool. It is designed to help Customs administrations evaluate their readiness for AI/ML adoption, identify weaknesses, explore potential use case and improvement opportunities, and build internal capacities to strategically leverag....
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....e AI and ML technologies. Both this tool and the case study are available on the Members' website. WCO: Smart Customs Community Portal Dated: 3-2-2025 Reply By JM Kishore as = Thanks for the information.Appreciate that. Dated: 6-2-2025<br> Scholarly articles for knowledge sharing by authors, experts, professionals ....