- Notification : Customs:
Amendment in Notification dealing with exemption to specified goods imported into India for display or for use at specified event
The Central Board of Excise and Customs vide Notification No. 58/2016 dated October 5, 2016 has amended the Notification No. 157/1990-Customs dated March 28, 1990 dealing with exemption to specified goods imported for display or use at any event specified in Schedule II or Schedule III, from the whole of the duty of Customs leviable thereon which is specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and from the whole of the additional duty leviable thereon under section 3 of the said Customs Tariff Act, subject to the conditions prescribed. The amendments made are as follows-
- In the first paragraph of the Notification, in the opening portion, the words “or Schedule III” has been omitted. Further condition no. (1) & (5) for availing exemption has also been omitted.
- Insertion of following words and figure, after the first paragraph, namely-
“1A. In the event of failure to export the goods within the period specified in condition (4) of paragraph 1, the Federation and the importer shall, jointly and severally be liable to pay the duties of customs leviable on the goods as on the date of import, along with applicable interest:
Provided that the liability of the Federation shall not exceed the amount of the duties of customs by more than ten per cent:
Provided further that the Federation shall not be liable to pay the customs duty in cases where the said goods are sold in exhibitions or fairs or otherwise disposed of in India in accordance with any law for the time being in force applicable to such goods and on payment of the duties of customs which are payable as on the date of import in respect of such goods, along with applicable interest.”
- Substitution of “an official or” for the words, “an official of” in serial number 5 of Schedule No. II.
- Insertion of serial no. 6 & 7 after serial no. 5 in Schedule No. II namely;
“6. Display or demonstration before any Department of the Central Government or a State Government or a Union territory Administration.
7.Meeting, conference or congress, by whatever name called, organised by any company or organisation.”
- Omission of Schedule No. III and the entries relating thereto in notification.
Read more at: www.cbec.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/customs/cs-act/notifications/notfns-2016/cs-tarr2016/cs58-2016.pdf
- Draft Circular: Customs:
Delayed, incomplete or incorrect filing of Import Manifest or Import Report
In Circular No. 13/2005-Customs dated March 11, 2005, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (“the Board”) had categorised the amendments carried out in the Import General Manifest (IGM) as Major and Minor respectively. Further in the amending Circular No. 44/2005-Customs dated November 24, 2005, it was provided that need for adjudication will arise only in cases of major amendment involving fraudulent intention or substantial revenue implication. It was the view of the Board that the penal action is not initiated mechanically in all cases of IGM amendment and that due consideration may be given to the circumstances of amendment.
Now, the Board vide Draft Circular F.No.450/198/2015-CusIV has in lieu of representations from trade regarding reluctance to avail the facility of advance/ Prior Bill of Entry, owing to tedious process of Import General Manifest (IGM) amendment, has examined the issues in detail and prescribed the procedure for IGM amendment in the Circular.
Further, the responsibility of amendment in the IGM rests solely with the Shipping Line/Agent, as they file IGM with Customs under section 30 of Customs Act, 1962. It is, therefore, clarified that the fine/penalty imposed, if any, upon adjudication in such cases, shall be payable by the Shipping Line only. No fine/penalty is required to be imposed on the consignee or others. No request for any amendment in the IGM from Custom Broker/Importer will be entertained.
While accepting requests for amendments, due precaution should be taken that requests for amendment to manifested items are accepted within the period stipulated in the Section 48 of the Customs Act, 1962.
The Board has invited comments/suggestions in this regard till October 14, 2016.
Read more at: http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/draft-circ/IGM-amendment-for-comments.pdf
- Draft Circular: Central Excise:
Guidelines for determination of maximum packing speed of FFS pouch packing machine
The Pan Masala Packing Machine (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2008 and Chewing Tobacco and Unmanufactured Tobacco Packing Machine (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2010 were amended in the budget 2015-16 and the maximum packing speed at which a packing machine can be operated for packing of notified goods of various retail sale prices was made a factor relevant for determining deemed production.
Now, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (“the Board”) vide Draft Circular F. No. 81/03/2016-CX.3 dated October 5, 2016 has in regard to representations regarding lack of guidelines to verify the maximum speed of packing machines leading to disputes and litigation, clarified the following-
“A study was conducted by DGCEI in collaboration with IIT, Delhi to examine the methodology for determination of maximum packing speed. The study has established that through the use of automation software consisting of PLC (Programme Logic Controller) and Human Machine Interface, the speed of the Rotary Servo Motors installed in the said machines could be synchronised which in turn would control and determine the maximum speed of the pouch making machines. Through the study, it has been concluded that theoretical maximum speed of the pouch packing machine can be determined based on the principle of kinematics, after taking an efficiency factor of 80%. The efficiency factor takes into consideration various other limiting factors, such as, various design parameters of the mechanical and electrical parts, the product to be manufactured, the volume/ size of the pouches and the type of packaging materials used etc.”
Further, based on the above study, the following formula is proposed in the draft circular to derive the maximum speed of the pouch packing machine:
Maximum Packing Speed = RPM of the rotary motor X No. of funnels X 0.80
Overall Gear Box Ratio
The Board has invited comments/suggestions in this regard by October 20, 2016.
Read more at: http://www.cbec.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/draft-circ/guidelines-packgspeed-ffs.pdf