1. Introduction
1.1 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC or the Board), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India deals with the formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Customs, Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Central Excise duties, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Goods and Service Tax (GST), Central Excise, and Narcotics to the extent under CBIC’s purview. The Board is the administrative authority for its subordinate organizations, including Custom Houses, Customs Preventive Commissionerates, Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) Commissionerates and the Central Revenues Control Laboratory.
1.2 The important Customs related functions include the following:
(a) Collection of Customs duties on imports and exports as per the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975;
(b) Enforcement of various provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 governing imports and exports of cargo, baggage, postal articles and arrival and departure of vessels, aircrafts etc.;
(c) Discharge of agency functions and enforcing prohibitions and restrictions on imports and exports under various legal enactments;
(d) Prevention of smuggling including interdiction of narcotics drug trafficking; and
(e) International passenger clearance.
1.3 Customs functions cover substantial areas of activities involving international passengers, general public, importers, exporters, traders, custodians, manufacturers, carriers, port and airport authorities, postal authorities and various other government and semi-government agencies, banks etc.
1.4 Customs is continuously rationalizing and modernizing its procedures through adoption of EDI and global best practices. Also, as a member of the World Customs Organization, Indian Customs has adopted various International Customs Conventions and procedures including the Revised Kyoto Convention, Harmonized Classification System, GATT based valuation etc.
2. Statutory provisions for levy of Customs duty:
2.1 Entry No. 83 of List 1 to Schedule VII of the Constitution empowers the Union Government to legislate and collect duties on imports and exports. Accordingly, the Customs Act, 1962, effective from 1-2-1963 provides vide its Section 12 for the levy of duties on goods imported into or exported from India. The items and the rates of duties leviable thereon are specified in two Schedules to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The First Schedule specifies the various import items in systematic and well considered categories, in accordance with an international scheme of classification of internationally traded goods known as “Harmonized System of Commodity Classification” and specifies the rates of import duties thereon, as prescribed by the legislature. The duties on imported items are usually levied either on specific or ad- valorem basis, but in few cases specific cum-ad-valorem duties are also levied. The Second Schedule incorporates items that are subject to exports duties and the rates of duties thereof.
2.2 The predominant mode of levy of duties is on ad-valorem basis i.e., with reference to value. For this purpose, the value of the imported goods is required to be determined as per Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Imported Goods) Rules, 2007. These provisions are essentially the adoption of GATT based valuation system (now termed WTO Valuation Agreement) which is being followed globally. Likewise, the value of export goods is required to be determined as per provisions of Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Export Goods) Rules, 2007.
3 Ease of Doing Business
3.1 Board has initiated numerous measures to facilitate the Customs clearance process and reduce transaction costs. The objective is to make the Customs clearance process in India a world class experience by reducing dwell time of cargo, which in turn improves the competitiveness of businesses. Some of these measures are presently work in progress and their present importance is in the fact that these highlight the approach of the Board towards ensuring the ease of doing business.
3.2 Paperless Initiatives
1. Single Window: An Indian Customs Single Window Project has begun with the establishment of an appropriate administrative structure in the form of an inter-ministerial Steering Group that is chaired by Member (Customs), CBIC, a Project Management Group in CBIC and Project Management Units in the Ministries. With the introduction of Single Window, an electronic online message exchange between the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Department of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage (PQIS) with the Customs has started, which enables reducing the dwell time considerably. Under this online message exchange system for import goods there is seamless online exchange in real time of the Customs Bill of Entry (Import declaration) with these agencies and Release Order (RO) from both the agencies will be received by the Customs in electronic message format. The salient features of this online message exchange system are as under:
(i) Indian Customs EDI System (ICES) would transmit “BE message” to the FSSAI and PQIS on completion of assessment of the relevant Bills of Entry (Bs/E) by the Customs ICES application after entry-inward of the consignment. The BE message would be provided to FSSAI/PQIS for all Bs/E falling under the identified Custom Tariff Heads (CTHs), as per list made available by the respective agencies.
(ii) The Customs officers would be able to access the details of the Bs/E referred by the ICES to FSSAI/PQIS.
(iii) The importers would track the status of the Bs/E on ICEGAT
(iv)The receipt of the Bs/E message shall be acknowledged by the FSSAI/PQIS through a receipt message to the ICES.
(v) On processing of the Bs/E message by the FSSAI/PQIS, these agencies would electronically transmit an RO, concerning each item of the Bs/E. From the Customs side, Out of Charge (OOC) will not be allowed in the system till the RO is received from the agency concerned for all the items. There are 6 types of ROs which may be provided by the FSSAI/PQIS to the ICES, as follows:
(a) Release – goods can be released by the Customs.
(b) Destruction goods to be destructed by the Customs.
(c) Deportation goods to be exported back to the Country of Origin.
(d) No Objection Certificate (NOC) goods can be released by the Customs.
(e) NCC (Non-compliance Certificate) non-rectifiable defects observed in the goods.
(f) Product Out of scope – goods are out of scope for FSSAI/PQIS.
(vi) In case, the Release Order falls under types (b), (c) and (e) above, the OOC would not be allowed in the ICES. Details of such consignments will be entered by the Customs Assessing Officer in the closure of B/E menu after all processes are complete.
(vii) On receipt of RO online, the Customs ICES shall integrate the data in the ICES database, which shall be available to the Customs officers concerned.
(viii) The other formalities under the Customs Act, 1962 such as duty payment, goods registration, examination would continue during the time interval between transmission of Bs/E message from ICES to the receipt of RO message from FSSAI/PQIS. During this period the samples of the goods under consideration may also be taken for testing purposes.
(xi) In terms of Board’s Circular No.3/2011-Customs., dated 6-1-2011 import consignments that have been tested on previous five consecutive occasions and found in order may not be referred to FSSAI. Under single window project, the electronic monitoring and waiver of shipments which are eligible for waiver from FSSAI testing are being effected without human interference.
(x) Since the electronically received RO in regard to Bs/E referred to FSSAI/PQIS shall be accepted by the Customs for clearance of the imported foods items/plant materials, the Customs shall not insist on a physical copy of the RO from these agencies.
(xi) SWIFT in Exports have been extended on export side for online referral to WCCB to all Customs EDI locations for smooth online clearance.
[Refer Circular No.9/2015 Cus., dated 13-4-2015, Circular No.1/2017-Customs dated 04-01-2017, Circular No.31/2017-Customs dated 25-07-2017]
2. IGM /SMTP: Taking into account the requirement of Customs as well the fact that an electronic version of IGM is already available, Board has decided that the number of hard copies of IGM to be submitted by shipping lines / steamer agents at a Customs House shall be restricted to 2 (two) only. Further, the steamer agent has the option to (a) give a continuity bond and (b) merge the guarantee with the continuity bond, which would reduce the number of required documents to 1 (one) only and the periodicity (of submission) would also get reduced drastically. Also, it is decided that only 1 (one) copy of SMTP would be sufficient for the Customs at ICDs. Finally, no separate permission is required from jurisdictional Customs in case of change of mode of transshipment under the Goods Imported (Conditions of Transshipment) Regulations, 1995. However, the carrier is required to intimate the change to the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs who will ensure the bond covers both modes of transport.
[Refer Circular No. 2/2015 Cus. dated 15-1-2015]
3. Reduction of documents: The Board has decided that in case an importer/exporter submits a commercial invoice cum packing list that contain all necessary data fields / information otherwise contained separately in these documents, a separate packing list would not be insisted upon by Customs. However, the option to do so is with the importer/exporter. As a result, the documents ordinarily required by the Customs stand reduced to only 3 viz. Bill or Entry or Shipping Bill, commercial invoice cum packing list and Bill of Lading or Air Waybill.
[Refer Circular No 1/2015 Cus., dated 12-1-2015]
Mandatory uploading of specified documents in E-Sanchit: Board has decided to mandatorily require uploading on eSANCHIT, for every Bill of Entry, Invoice/ Invoice cum packing list and Transport Contract i.e. Bill of Lading/ Air Waybill etc., as the case may be. Directorate of Systems have issued Advisory No. 25/2019 dated (web link) laying down requirement of mandatory uploading on e-Sanchit, the Invoice/ Invoice cum packing list and Bill of Lading/ Air Waybill etc. for every Bill of Entry and subsequent declaration of document code and IRNs in the Bill of Entry. With effect from 02.12.2019, for every Invoice and Bill of Lading / Air Waybill declared in the Bill of Entry, the reference of IRN generated from eSANCHIT with the relevant document code as given above must be provided. The reference of the above document codes from eSanchit in the Bills of Entry has been made mandatory in System. As regards all the other supporting documents (such as Country of Origin Certificate (COO), licence/ permission from any Government Agency (PGA) in relation to the eligibility for import / clearances or claim of duty exemption), it is emphasised that to make Customs duty truly paperless, uploading of these documents through eSANCHIT either by beneficiary or by PGAs, should be ensured administratively. Therefore, the field offices must ensure that no physical copy of any supporting document is submitted and every relevant document is submitted only electronically via eSanchit either by the beneficiary or by the Participating Government Agency.
[Refer Circular No 42/2019 Cus., dated 29-11-2019]
4. Dispensing with SDF: The Board has issued Notification No 46/2015-Cus (N.T.), dated 18.05.2015 to incorporate the following declaration in lieu of SDF form in the Shipping Bill.
“I/We undertake to abide by provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, as amended from time to time, including realization / repatriation of foreign exchange to / from India”
Thus, submission of SDF form along with Shipping Bill has been dispensed with provided the said declaration is furnished in the Shipping Bill.
[Refer Circular No.15/2015 Cus., dated 18-5-2015]
5. Digital Signature: The Board has decided that with effect from 1-4-2015 importers, exporters, customs brokers, shipping lines, airlines or their agents shall have the facility to use Digital Signature Certificate for filing Customs process documents viz. Bills of Entry, Shipping Bills, IGM (General Declaration and Cargo Declaration), EGM (General Declaration), CGM through Remote EDI System (RES). Besides ACP, all importers, exporters using services of Customs Brokers for formalities under Customs Act, 1962, shipping lines and air lines are required to file customs documents under digital signature certificates mandatorily with effect from 01.01.2016.
[Refer Circular No.10/2015 Cus., dated 31-3-2015 and Circular 26/2015- Customs dated 23.10.2015]
6. E-Sanchit: The CBIC has introduced ‘eSanchit’ for paperless transaction. The importers are now required to upload the required documents online through while filling the Bill of Entry instead of submitting the physical papers. Reply to queries raised by Customs Officers can be submitted online by uploading the documents. Physical presence of paper or person for assessment related works have been done away with. CBIC is embarking on a project to bring all Participating Government Agencies(PGAs) under eSanchit wherein PGAs who issues Licenses, Permits, Certificates and Other Authorizations (LPCOs) would upload the documents themselves doing away with uploading of such document by the beneficiary (importer/ exporter) themselves. Importers/ Exporters, Customs Brokers and other beneficiaries are required to register on ICEGATE for this purpose.
[Refer Circular 35/2018- Customs dated 01.10.2018]
E-Sanchit expansion: Aimed at further reducing physical interface between Customs/regulatory agencies and the trade and to increase the speed of clearance in both imports & exports, the E-Sanchit application provides a facility to upload digitally signed Licenses/Permits/Certificates/Other Authorizations (LPCOs) by Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) at all ICES locations across India. In this regard, kindly Refer to Board’s Circulars No. 44/2018-Cus. dated 13.11.2018, No.13/2019-Cus. dated 03.06.2019, No.19/2019-Cus. dated 16.07.2019, No.03/2020-Cus dated 15.01.2020, No.11/2020-Cus. dated 10.02.2020 and No.24/2020 dated 14.05.2020. With issue of Board Circular No.57/2020-Customs dated 30.12.2020, two (2) more PGAs namely Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) and Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs (EPCES) were brought on board eSANCHIT platform. With this, the total number of PGAs on Board eSANCHIT becomes 53.
7[Refer Circular No.57/2020-Customs dated 30.12.2020].
7. Electronic Closure of Manifest: With the submission of supporting documents online, the manifest department of Customs Houses will not receive hard copies of dockets. Officers shall rely on the electronic records maintained on ICES.
Request for re-testing of sample made within a specified time by the importer or agent may be granted by the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs as a trade facilitation measure. For uniformity in procedure at the various field formations, Board has issued detailed guidelines for retesting of samples.
[Refer Circular No. 30/2017-Customs dated 18.07.2017]
3.3 Other Initiatives
1. Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations (SCMTR): Vide Notification No.38/2018-Customs (N.T.) dated 11.05.2018 the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations (SCMTR), 2018, were notified. The SCMTR seek to bring about transparency, predictability of movement, advance collection of information for expeditious clearance and supersedes the earlier regulations viz. Import Manifest (Vessels) Regulations, 1971 and Export Manifest (Vessels) Regulation, 1976 and Transportation of Goods (Through Foreign Territory) Regulations, 1965. The new Regulations stipulate for advance notice by authorized carriers for goods arriving in or being exported out of India through gateway seaports and further movement between Customs stations. They stipulate the obligations, roles and responsibilities for the various stakeholders involved in movement of imported/export goods. The implementation plan and timelines for mandatory compliance pertaining to stakeholders such as ASC/ASA (Authorized Sea Carriers/Sea Agents), ANC (Other Notified Carriers- like Freight forwarders, NVOCCs etc) and ATP (Authorized Transhippers), and the documents to be filed by them have been laid down in annexure to Circular No.43/2020-Customs dated 30th September, 2020.
[Refer Circular No. 43/2020 Cus. dated 30-09-2020]
2. Mandatory filing of documents in SCMTR by Custodians: Board has decided that messages by the Custodian i.e., Stuffing Message (SF), ASR Filing, DP Filing and AR filing by the Custodians and VCN message by the Terminal Operators mandatorily required to be filed w.e.f. 20th July 2021.
[Refer Circular No. 12/2021 Cus.. dated 30-06-2021]
3. Re-export permission: With a view to expedite decision-making in respect of re-export of when the said goods are destined elsewhere but which are inadvertently imported at a particular Customs station, the Board has decided that the permission for re-export may be granted on merit by the officer concerned as per the adjudication powers as per Section 122 of the Customs Act, 1962.
[Refer Circulars No.24/2011-Cus., dated 31-5-2011 and
4. CRCL Module – Forwarding of samples using electronic Test Memo to CRCL and other Revenue Laboratories: As detailed in circular No. 46/2020-Customs dated 15.10.2021, CRCL and other Revenue Laboratories have been upgraded with several new, state of the art equipment, thereby enabling the testing of a wider variety of commodities in lesser time, with greater accuracy. For details, the CRCL brochure available at may be perused. In order to further ease the testing process, DG Systems has enabled a ‘CRCL module’ in ICES with the objective of automating all paperwork related to sampling, forwarding of test memos to CRCL and other Revenue Laboratories, and electronic receipt of test reports, instantly by the Customs Officers. The officials of CRCL and other Revenue Laboratories have been provided access for both import and export functionalities in the CRCL module. The CRCL module is also seamlessly integrated with current modules of ICES.
[Refer Circular No.46/2020-Customs dated 15.10.2020 and Instruction No.14/2021-Customs dated 21.06.2021]
5. CCFC: Board has set up a Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee (CCFC) at every major Customs seaport, airport, Customs Preventive Commissionerates (Land Customs Stations) and Commissionerates having jurisdiction over Inland Container Depot, which is chaired by the Principal Commissioner of Customs/Commissioner of Customs concerned Its membership includes the senior-most functionary of the departments/agencies/ stakeholder at the particular seaport/airport namely, (i) Food Safety Standards Authority of India/Port Health Officer (PHO), (ii) Plant Quarantine Authorities, (iii) Animal Quarantine Authorities, (iv) Drug Controller of India (CDSO), (v) Textile Committee,
(i) Port Trust / Airport Authority of India / Land Ports Authority of India (for CCFC in LCSs),(vii) Custodians, (viii) Forest and Wild Life Authorities, (ix) Railways/CONCOR, (x) Border Security Agencies (for CCFC in LCSs), (xi) Pollution Control Board and (xii) any other Department / Agency / stakeholder to be co-opted on need basis. The CCFC is required to meet once a week or more frequently, if needed, as per the following mandate:
(ii) Ensuring and monitoring expeditious clearance of imported and export goods in accordance with the timeline specified by the parent ministry/Department concerned;
(iii) Identifying and resolving bottlenecks, if any, in the clearance procedure of imported and export goods;
(iv) Initiating Time Release Studies for improvement in the clearance time of imported and export goods;
(v) Having internal consultations to speed up the clearance process of imported and export goods and recommending best practices thereto for consideration of CBIC / Departments / Agencies concerned; and
(vi) Resolving grievances of members of the trade and industry in regard to clearance process of imported and export goods.
[Refer Circular No. 13/2015 Customs, dated 13-4-2015; Circular No. 44/2016-Cus dated 22.09.2016. For more details of CCFC, please refer Chapter 32.]
4. Control and regulatory provisions:
4.1 The Customs Act, 1962 is the basic statute which regulates the entry/exit of different categories of vessels/crafts/goods/passengers etc., into or outside the country. Various allied laws and regulations also apply. It is the responsibility of Customs to handle international traffic speedily and effectively while ensuring that all the goods/passengers etc., imported/coming into the country or exported/going out of the country by sea, air, land or rail routes are in conformity with the laws of the land.
4.2 In terms of the Customs Act, 1962, the Board is given the powers to appoint Customs ports, airports and Inland Container Depots (ICD) where alone the imported goods can be unloaded or export goods loaded. Similar powers have been given to the Board to notify places as Land Customs Stations (LCS) for clearance of goods imported or exported by land or by inland water.
Thus, various airports, ports, ICDs and LCSs have been notified across the country and also routes have been specified for carrying out trade with neighbouring countries like Nepal.
4.3 Once a particular Customs port or airport is notified, the Customs Act, 1962 empowers the jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs to approve specific places therein where only loading and unloading can take place and also to specify the limits of the Customs area where the imported goods or the export goods are ordinarily to be kept before clearance by Customs authorities.
4.4 Essentially all goods brought into the country or meant for export must pass through authorized points, be reported to Customs, and the importers/exporters must fulfil the prescribed legal and procedural requirements laid down under Customs Act, 1962 and allied laws including payment of the duties leviable, if any. The legal provisions allow Customs to regulate the outflow of the goods (and persons) out of the country and subject them to proper checks before allowing final exit out of the country by sea/ air/land/rail routes. Customs also detect legal infringements and foil any attempts of smuggling or commercial frauds by unscrupulous parties.
5. Role of Custodians:
5.1 In regard to all imported goods unloaded in a Customs area, the Commissioner of Customs is required to appoint a custodian under whose custody the imported goods shall remain till these are cleared for home consumption, or are warehoused or transshipped as provided in the law. With the growth of containerized traffic the facility of Customs clearances in the interiors of the country has also been provided by opening various ICDs, which are actually dry ports and here too the goods remain with the appointed custodian till these are cleared by the Customs. In addition to custodians appointed by the Commissioner of Customs, the Customs Act, 1962 recognizes other custodians as provided under any other law. For instance, the Mumbai Port Trust is a legal custodian under the Major Ports Trust Act, 1963. The custodian is essentially required to take charge of the imported goods from the carrier, arrange its proper storage and safety and allow clearance to the importers only after they fulfill all Customs formalities, pay requisite duties and other charges/fees and discharge various other obligations. No goods can be cleared from a Customs area without the express permission of Customs. Moreover, since the Customs Act, 1962 obliges the custodians to ensure safe custody of the imported goods till delivery, in case these goods are pilfered while in custody, the custodian is required to pay duty on such goods.
5.2 Various port trusts and other authorities in the public and private sectors handle the import and export cargo when kept in their custody at various ports, international airports/ ICDs. The cargo handling and custody at the international airports is generally entrusted to International Airport Authority of India (IAAI), but there is an increasing trend of the IAAI leasing such facility to private sector or even of direct entry of private sector in this area. Also, new ICDs are being opened at various places in the interior of the country as a facilitation measure with the result that Customs clearances of both imported and export cargo from these places has expanded substantially in recent years.
5.3 Maximum import and export cargo is handled at different sea ports and there is a trend towards containerized cargo movement; increasing part of import cargo landed at some ports like Nhava Sheva is also transshipped to interior ICDs for final clearance by importers at their door steps. Security arrangements ensure there is no pilferage/ theft of the cargo and arrangements of loading and unloading of cargo at different berths in various docks, their movement to different places including container yards/ storage godowns etc., are arranged by the port authorities.
5.4 Customs authorities are given appropriate office place and requisite facilities in the dock area as well as in international cargo complexes/ICDs etc., to discharge their functions in relation to imports and exports such as supervision of loading/unloading of goods from vessels/crafts etc., supervision of stuffing or de-stuffing of containers, inspection and examination of goods which are imported/presented for exportation before Customs clearance formalities etc. For this purpose and in order to provide comprehensive guidelines for custodians / Cargo Service Providers (CCSP) for handling, receipt, storage and transportation of cargo in a Customs area, the Board has framed the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009.
6. Obligations of carriers:
6.1 To regulate and have effective control on imports and exports the Customs Act, 1962 enjoins certain liabilities on the carriers. Thus, they have to bring in the cargo imported into the country for unloading only at notified ports/airports/Land Customs Stations; furnish detailed information to Customs about goods brought in for unloading at that particular port/international airport as also those which would be carried further to other ports/airports. Declaration of such cargo has to be made in an Import General Manifest(IGM) prior to arrival of the vessel/aircraft at the Customs station. In the case of imports through Land Customs Stations the person in charge of the vehicle has to give similar import report within 12 hours of its arrival. Since the cargo clearance formalities are linked generally with the availability of information about cargo being brought by a vessel for unloading at any port, provisions are also made for prior filing of an IGM if all details of relevant cargo for any port are available even before the vessel arrives. The final IGM can be filed after arrival of the vessel.
6.2 Unless, the IGM is furnished in the prescribed form, no unloading of cargo can be undertaken from any vessels/aircrafts/vehicles in normal circumstances. After the IGM is duly delivered the unloading takes place under the supervision of the Preventive Officers of Customs. The law prohibits unloading of any goods at a Customs station, which are not mentioned in the IGM/import report. Similarly, there are restrictions on loading for export such that no vessel/aircraft can begin loading goods for export unless intimation is given to Customs and its permission for loading obtained – Outward what is also called “Entry of the vessel”. Loading of cargo on vessels, aircrafts etc. is checked and supervised by Preventive Customs Officers who ensure that cargo loaded has discharged the prescribed Customs formalities such as payment of duties or cess, where leviable, any other formalities enjoined by the law, and authorization for exports is duly given by the proper officer as a part of Customs clearance formalities.
6.3 The person in charge of the vessel/aircraft is required to furnish details of all the goods loaded on a vessel/aircraft in a prescribed form, which is termed ‘Export General Manifest” (EGM). The person in charge of a vehicle must furnish a similar report called “Export Report”. The EGM/Export Report is to be furnished before the vessel/aircraft/ vehicle departs and is essentially taken as the proof of shipment/export.
7. Customs preventive control:
7.1 No vessel/aircraft can leave a Customs station unless a written order for port clearance is given by the proper officer of Customs. This permission for departure is given subject to the satisfaction of the proper officer that all the prescribed formalities have been fulfilled, duties/penalties etc., have been paid or secured.
7.2 The Preventive Officers of Customs are authorized to board the vessels/aircrafts to take suitable declarations, crew property list etc., and to check whether there are any goods which are not declared for unloading at a particular Customs station in the IGM with intention to smuggle them without following the prescribed formalities and payment of duties. A thorough examination and checking of the vessels/aircrafts – known as rummaging – is also undertaken on selective basis taking due note of the past history of the vessels, the port/airport from which these are arriving, the intelligence report etc.
7.3 The Preventive Officers of Customs also keep a very careful vigil for checking any illegal activities and develop intelligence to guard against any possible attempts of unauthorized removals from the docks, unloading of un-manifested cargo etc.
8. Customs clearance of cargo:
8.1 Before any imported goods can be cleared for home consumption in the country or for warehousing for subsequent Customs clearances as and when needed etc., the importers have to comply with prescribed Customs clearance formalities. Essentially, these involve presentation of certain documents along with a prescribed application normally termed “Bill of Entry”, which gives essential particulars in relation to imported goods, country of origin, particulars of vessel/aircraft etc. seeking clearance of goods for home consumption/warehousing etc. The importer either himself handles the import clearance documents or appoints Customs Brokers who are trained and experienced in Customs clearance work and are licensed by Customs for such work in terms of the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations, 2018.
8.2 The import clearance documentation, presentation, and processing are handled in the Custom Houses by Appraising staff trained in assessment matters. After a tally has been made with related IGM to ensure the goods sought for clearance have arrived and declared in the particular IGM of the vessel/aircraft mentioned in the Bill of Entry (or even where the prior manifest is filed) the scrutiny of documents – manually or through EDI system is taken up. The main function of the Appraising staff in the Custom Houses is the careful scrutiny of the Bill of Entry and related particulars / information with a view to checking the import permissibility in terms of the Foreign Trade Policy and any other laws regulating import and to determine value, classification and duties leviable on the goods on import – (Basic, Additional, Anti-dumping, Safeguards etc.). Permissibility of various benefits of duty free clearances under different schemes or applicability of any exemption notification benefits is also checked and decided.
8.3 Normally, the import declarations made are scrutinized without prior examination of the goods with reference to documents made available and other information about the values/classification available with Customs and duties chargeable on the goods are assessed and paid up by the importer or his authorized representative. It is only at the time of clearance of the goods from the custody of the port trusts/international airport authority or other custodians that these are examined on percentage basis by separate staff posted in the premises where the goods are stored pending Customs clearance. These officers undertake checking of nature of goods, valuation and other part of declaration, or draw samples as may be ordered by the Appraising officers of the Custom House/Air Cargo Complexes/ICDs. If no discrepancies in relation to the nature of goods, quantity, value etc., are observed at the time of examination of the cargo, ‘Out of Customs Charge’ orders are issued, and thereafter goods can be cleared after discharging any other fees/charges etc., of the custodians.
8.4 At times, for determining the duty liability and permissibility of import it may become necessary to examine the goods. Such goods are examined after filing of Bill of Entry and other documents and based upon the report of the examining staff, duties etc. are assessed and if there is no prohibition etc., the goods are taken clearance from the custodian without the need for further examination.
8.5 Where disputes arise in the matter of classification/valuation or any violations of any provisions of law are observed, where the goods cannot be allowed clearance finally without further investigations and following adjudication proceedings, the law provide for provisional clearances subject to suitable bond/security. Only where the goods are of prohibited nature or in certain other exceptional cases, where provisional release is not considered advisable, the final decision may be taken after results of enquiries etc. are known and adjudication proceedings completed, where necessary.
8.6 Customs clearance formalities for goods meant for export have to be fulfilled by presenting a “Shipping Bill” and other related documents to the Export Section of the Custom Houses or EDI Service Centres. The Appraising staff checks the declarations to assess the duties/cess, if leviable, propriety of export incentives, where claimed under different schemes like Duty Drawback or duty free exemption schemes etc. Appropriate orders for examination before shipments are allowed export are given on the Shipping Bill. The Customs staff in the docks/cargo complexes/ICDs examines the goods meant for export on percentage basis, and allows shipment if there are no discrepancies misdeclarations etc., and no prohibitions/violations come to light. Appropriate penal action as per law is initiated where any fraudulent practices get detected during initial stage of scrutiny or at the time of examination etc.
9. Turant Customs-Next Generation reforms:
9.1 The next generation reforms in the Customs clearance process under the umbrella of Turant Customs are with the objectives of speedy clearance, transparency in decision making, and ease of doing business. Board rolled out numerous changes to the Customs clearance process, which combine together support Turant Customs. These initiatives include the self-registration of goods by importers, automated clearances of bills of entry, digitisation of customs documents, paperless clearance, etc. The Turant Customs is primarily based on Faceless, Contactless and Paperless Customs processes.
9.2 Faceless Customs : Indian Customs has initiated Faceless Assessment on imports from June 2020 (Reference Circular No.28/2020-Customs and Instruction No.09/2020 both dated 5th June 2020). The first phase began by linking Chennai and Bengaluru which was gradually expanded to other geographical locations till eventual all India coverage by 31.10.2020. Briefly put, Faceless Assessment uses a technology platform to separate the Customs assessment process from the physical location of a Customs officer at the port of arrival. This measure is with the intent of bolstering efforts to ensure an objective, free, fair and just assessment. Key objectives of Faceless Assessment include:
(i) Anonymity in assessment for reduced physical interface between trade and Customs Speedier Customs clearances through efficient utilisation of manpower
(ii) Greater uniformity of assessment across locations
(iii) Promoting sector specific and functional specialisation in assessment. Refer to Chapter 3 Para 4.1 for more details on Faceless Customs
9.3 Contactless Customs: In recent years, CBIC has initiated reforms such as online registration of goods, automated queuing and automated clearances of Bills of Entry, simplified online registration in ICEGATE, auto debit of bonds, setting up of Turant Suvidha Kendras (TSKs) etc. All these have enabled an environment which has done away with the requirement of members of the trade to physically interact with Customs in the goods clearances process and has fostered a `Contactless Customs` environment. Refer to Chapter 3 Para 4.2 for more details on Contactless Customs.
9.4 Paperless Customs: CBIC has taken initiatives to enable digital submission and transmission of both Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills in 2020. Besides saving time, the cost of printing paper documents has also been substantially reduced. Refer to Chapter 3 Para 4.3 for more details on Faceless Customs.
10. Smuggling and other violations and penal provisions:
10.1 Unscrupulous elements do attempt to evade the duties leviable and bypass various prohibitions/restrictions in relation to imports by attempting to bring the goods into the country from places other than the notified ports/airports/Land Customs Stations without reporting or presenting the goods to customs. Similar attempts are made to unauthorizedly Take goods out of the country. This is essentially termed as “smuggling” and Customs officers have very important role in ensuring that they detect any such attempts of smuggling into or out of the country and take appropriate action both against the goods as well as against the persons involved.
1.02 The Customs Act, 1962 provides for strict penalties in relation to the goods/persons involved in smuggling and other violations of the legal provisions. These include seizure/ confiscation (including absolute confiscation) of the offending goods and fines and penalties on the persons involved in the offence as well as those abetting the offence. The law also empowers Customs officers to carry out searches, arrests and prosecution of persons involved in smuggling and serious commercial frauds and evasion of duties or misuse of export incentives by fraudulent practices (mis-declaration of nature, and value of the goods or suppression of quantities etc.).
10.3 Whereas the Customs Act, 1962 provides for deterrent penal provisions for violations, due process of law has to be followed before action is taken against offending goods or persons/conveyance etc. involved. The Customs officers act as quasi-judicial authorities and the liabilities for duty evaded or sought to be evaded, fines, penalties etc., are adjudged by giving the persons concerned due notice (or Show Cause Notice) of contemplated action against including the gist of the charges and their basis and providing opportunity for representation as well as personal hearing.
10.4 In grave offence cases, the Customs Act, 1962 provides for prosecution with imprisonment upto maximum of 7 years. This involves criminal proceedings in a Court of law, after sanction for prosecution is given by the competent Customs officer.
10.5 Guidelines for launching of prosecution in relation to offences punishable under the Customs Act, 1962 has been prescribed in Circular No.27/2015-Customs dated 23.10.2015 amended by Circulars No.46/2016-Customs dated 04.10.2016, No.07/2017-Customs dated 06.03.2017, No.12/2019-Customs dated 24.05.2019 and No.12/2022-Customs dated 16.08.2022.
11. Appellate remedies:
11.1 Any concerned person aggrieved with the departmental adjudication is given the right to appeal against the said order. The first level of appeal is to Commissioner (Appeal) and thereafter to an independent Tribunal (CESTAT) unless the adjudication order is originally passed by the Commissioner of Customs in which case the first level of appeal is to the CESTAT. On questions of law, the orders of CESTAT could also be considered for reference to the High Court and certain categories of decisions involving classification or valuation can be appealed even before the Supreme Court.
12. Passenger processing:
12.1 All incoming international passengers after immigration clearance have to pass through Customs who ensure their facilitation and speedy clearance. However, at time unscrupulous passengers may try to smuggle goods into the country which are sensitive and otherwise prohibited/restricted or evade duties by non-declaration/mis-declaration to Customs. Similarly, the Customs have to ensure that these passengers do not smuggle out foreign currency, antiques or other wildlife and prohibited items or narcotics drugs or psychotropic substances. The Customs have also to ensure enforcement of various other allied laws before any goods carried by the passengers on person, in hand bag or accompanied baggage enter into the country or get out of the country.
13. Import/Export by post/courier:
13.1 Customs is charged with coordination with Postal authorities for giving Customs clearances after appropriate checks on selective basis of various goods coming as post parcels, etc. Customs also ensure that these postal mail/packets/parcels enter into the country in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. Unless the goods brought by post are within the value limits prescribed for free gift or free samples these have to be assessed to duties by Customs and the same indicated to Postal authorities. The duties are collected before the Postal authorities deliver the goods to addressees.
13.2 Imports/exports through couriers are governed by the Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 and the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010. These Regulations facilitate such goods in terms of quick Customs clearance, after discharge of duties, if any, for delivery to the consignees. At few places dedicated Courier terminals manned by Customs officers (akin to Air Cargo Complexes) are established to handle courier cargo.
14. Citizen Charter:
14.1 Customs has committed in its Citizen Charter to provide to trade and industry time bound and speedy cargo clearance facility, quick redressal of grievances, and inculcating in its officers’ a sense of service with courtesy, understanding, integrity, objectivity and transparency. Customs is committed to render professional, efficient and prompt service to all stakeholders.
Source – Custom Duty Manual 2023
