The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs issued Circular No. 21/2026-Customs prescribing procedures for handling export cargo containers off-loaded at foreign ports and returned to India due to maritime disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The circular addresses operational challenges where cargo, discharged at intermediate ports such as Sri Lanka, is brought back without reaching its destination. It mandates filing of a fresh Shipping Arrival Manifest (SAM), verification of container and seal integrity, and permits offloading without filing a Bill of Entry where seals are intact. Shipping Bills are to be cancelled through the EDI system, and “back to town” procedures may be followed. In cases of tampered seals, 100% examination and re-import procedures apply. Authorities must also recover export incentives such as IGST and drawback, if already disbursed. The relaxation is temporary and valid until 30 April 2026.
No. 450/23/2026-Cus-1V
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
(Department of Revenue)
(Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs)
Circular No. 21/2026-Customs | Dated: 15th April, 2026
To,
All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive)/ Customs and Central Tax
All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive)/ Customs and Central tax
All Principal Director Generals/ Director Generals under CBIC.
Subject: Procedure to handle export cargo containers off loaded at foreign ports and subsequently returned to India, in view of disruption in maritime routes due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz- Section 143AA of the Customs Act, 1962 — reg.
Madam/Sir,
Reference is invited to Circulars No. 09/2026-Customs dated 08.03.2026, No. 10/2026-Customs dated 10.03.2026, No. 12/2026-Customs dated 17.03.2026, No. 15/2026-Customs dated 27.03.2026 and No 19/2026 dated 10.04.2026 issued by the Board in the context of disruption in maritime routes due to closure of the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in diversion/return of export cargo from international waters/Indian Waters. Representations have been received from the trade and field formations highlighting procedural and legal challenges in respect of export containers originating from India, which are off-loaded at intermediate foreign ports and are subsequently returned to India without being delivered at the final destination.
2. The matter has been examined by the Board. In order to facilitate trade and ensure expeditious handling of such cargo, where export cargo is brought back to Indian ports which are off-loaded at intermediate foreign ports at Sri Lanka due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz or similar disruptions the following procedures are hereby prescribed to be followed :-
i. SAM should be filed by the Shipping line or the authorised representative as there would be change in the vessel, consignor – consignee and the Bill of Lading details on account of discharge and return of cargo to the Indian port.
ii. The container particulars shall be verified with the corresponding details in Shipping Bills and other documents. During such verification, for factory stuffed Self Seal containers having RFID e-seal as per Circular No.26/2017-Customs dated 01.07.2017 and No.36/2027-Customs dated 28.08.2017, the integrity of seals shall be checked and matched with seal details declared in the Shipping Bills and other documents. For containers stuffed in CFS/ICD with RFID e seal or Customs bottle seal having unique number, the field formations shall coordinate with DG Systems and get details of the seal entered in ICES while entering the stuffing report for export container for the purpose of matching and verification, if it cannot be retrieved by the officer in System.
iii. The containers may be offloaded at the port terminal without filing a Bill of Entry, subject to verification of SAM and other related shipping documents. The relaxation in filing of the Bill of Entry shall be allowed only where the integrity of the container seal is found to be intact and the seal particulars are verified to be in conformity with the declared details as mentioned in para 2 (ii) above.
iv. Shipping Bills/ LEO shall be cancelled using the “Post EGM SB Cancellation” module in EDI system as per ICES Advisory 16/2026 dated 24.03.2026.
v. Back to town of such cargo shall be permitted as per the procedures in Circulars No. 09/2026-Customs dated 08.03.2026, No. 10/2026-Customs dated 10.03.2026, No. 12/2026-Customs dated 17.03.2026 , No. 15/2026-Customs dated 27.03.2026 and No 19/2026 dated 10.04.2026, as applicable.
vi. If the seal is found tampered or not intact, the container shall be subjected to 100% examination and the existing procedures for re-import have to be followed for such containers.
3. The field formations to ensure the recovery of all export incentives including IGST, Drawback etc. manually, if the same is already disbursed. Field formations are advised to handle such cases with due diligence while ensuring trade facilitation and safeguarding revenue.
4. The above relaxation shall remain in force till 30.04.2026.
5. Difficulties, if any, in implementation of this Circular may be brought to the notice of the Board immediately.
Hindi version will follow.
Yours faithfully,
(Munesh Kumar Meena)
OSD, Cus-IV,
Customs Policy Wing
