The Director General of Foreign Trade has issued 2 trade notices providing clarification in relation to mis-classification of goods under ‘Others’ category at the time of import.
We have encapsulated both the trade notices for your quick reference.
Trade Notice No. 46/2019-20 dated 17 January 2020
It has come to the notice of departmental authorities that importers are not doing due diligence in mentioning correct HS Code at 8 digit level at the time of import are are casually using HS Codes for “Others” Category, which is a residual code category.
It has been notified that this matter will be reviewed shortly and in the event of non-compliance and continued mis-classification by the importers, Government may consider bringing a licensing regime for all items imported under the ‘Others’ category by shifting these items from “Free” to “Restricted” category. Also, it has been clarified that if members of trade and industry are of the view that the existing HS Codes are not sufficient to cover the goods that they are importing, they should immediately suggest appropriate HS Codes at 8 digit level for such goods.
Trade Notice No. 47/2019-20 dated 29 January 2020
In line of Trade notice no. 46 above, to facilitate data collection and for quick analysis it is advised to submit the data online, in addition to any representation, in the form available at http://bit.do/dgfttn46. Also, the Companies who have already submitted suggestions regarding ‘others’ are also requested to fill the information in the given form. Deadline for submitting data is 16 February 2020.