Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : [email protected]
Vivek Johri, Chairman
DO No. 53/CH(IC)/2022 Dated: 06th December, 2022
Dear Colleague,
As the sun rose on the morning of August 15, 1947, a new nation had just been born. After a long and difficult struggle we had finally won our independence. Along with liberation and celebration came the daunting task of building a new nation, in a new context and with renewed vigour. The challenges of rapid industrialization, modernization of agriculture and rapid developments in science and technology meant administration, including that of Customs would need to be looked at anew.
Changes would need to be made to existing laws regulating cross border trade viz. the Sea Customs Act, 1878; the Inland Bonded Warehouses Act, 1896; the Land Customs Act, 1924 and the Indian Aircraft Act, 1934. With a view to consolidate provisions of the separate laws into one comprehensive act, the Customs Act, 1962 was enacted in 1962
The new law featured a number of trade facilitative provisions – such as a liberal warehousing facility and an expanded Scheme for Duty Drawback. The Act also introduced a provision for determination of the assessable value on the basis of normal price as well as provisions for search of premises and penalties for abetting smuggling and for launching of prosecutions. Although the statute has undergone several amendments in order to keep it a live document its core structure remains intact and has served us well.
As we celebrate 60 years of the Customs Act, we also look towards the future, filled with excitement and determination. Here’s to the next 60 years!
Moving on, our efforts towards trade facilitation as reflected in the National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2022 received a major global recognition with CBIC making a presentation in the Committee on Trade Facilitation meeting at the World Trade Organization (WTO) last week. Not resting on our laurels, we are getting ready for the next edition of the NTRS 2023, in which we propose to focus on newer areas for deeper analysis. In this regard, Member (Customs) would be writing to you in detail soon. We propose greater engagement with the Trade in this edition so as to get a sense of areas which are a priority for them. I will be happy to have your ideas in this regard as well.
On the Anti-evasion front, the week gone by saw officers of the Delhi Central Goods & Services Tax Zone unearth a case involving a network of entities generating, availing and passing on ineligible Input Tax Credit amounting to more than Rs. 28 Crores.
Further, officers of Jaipur Central Goods & Services Tax Zone detected a case involving non-payment of GST under the reverse charge mechanism on services received from entities located in a non-taxable territory. An amount of about Rs. 4.5 Crores has been recovered in the case.
On the Anti-Smuggling front, officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted an international passenger arriving at the Bengaluru Airport and suspected of carrying Narcotics. Further investigation led to the recovery of 2.86 kg. of Cocaine valued at more than Rs. 31 Crore. Congratulations to all the officers for their hard work.
The week gone by saw seven officers being promoted to the grade of Principal Chief Commissioners and two officers being promoted to the grade of Chief Commissioner. Congratulations and best wishes to all of them.
Before I sign off for the week, I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the entire CBIC family and on my personal behalf, to bid farewell to Ms. Hemambika R. Priya, Principal Director General and Sh. Manmohan Singh, Chief Commissioner both of whom superannuated last week. Here’s wishing them all the best for all their future endeavors.
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
