COURIER IMPORTS AND EXPORTS (ELECTRONIC DECLARATION AND PROCESSING) REGULATIONS, 2010

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

INTRODUCTION:

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 157 of the Customs Act, 1962 the Central Board of Excise and Customs made regulations named as 'Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010 ('Regulations' for short) vide Notification No. 36/2010-Cus. (N.T.), dated 05.05.2010.

The regulations require that the courier shall be the authorized courier. The term 'Authorized Courier' is defined by Regulation 3(1) (b) in relation to imported or export goods as a person engaged in the international transportation of time sensitive documents or goods on door-to-door delivery basis and is registered in this behalf by a Commissioner of Customs in charge of a Customs Airport.

APPLICABILITY:

These regulations shall apply for assessment and clearance of imported or export goods, carried by an Authorized Courier by air, on behalf of a consignee or consignor at such Customs airports and in such form and to such extent, as the Board may, by Notification, declare for the purposes of these regulations in this behalf. These regulations shall not apply to-

* the following imported goods requiring testing of samples thereof or reference to the relevant statutory authorities or to experts before their clearance, namely:-

* animals and parts thereof, plants and parts thereof;

* perishables;

* publications containing maps depicting incorrect boundaries of India;

* precious and semi-precious stones, gold or silver in any form;

* import or export of goods under any export promotion scheme other than Export Oriented Unit (EOU) scheme and similar schemes referred to in Chapter 6 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2009 - 14;

* the following export goods, namely:

* the goods which are subject to levy of any duty on their exports;

* goods where the value of the consignment is above rupees twenty five thousand and transaction in foreign exchange is involved; this limit is not applicable to such export consignments where the G.R. Waiver or specific permission has been obtained from RBI.

REGISTRATION:

* Every person intending to operate as an Authorized Courier shall make an application in the Form - I to the Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the Customs airport where the goods are to be imported or exported, for registration in this behalf;

* The Commissioner of Customs may dispose of the application within forty five days of the receipt of the application;

* The conditions for registration are as follows:

* The applicant shall disclose to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs that he is financially viable and in support thereof he shall produce a certificate issued by a scheduled bank or such other proof acceptable to the Commissioner of Customs evidencing possession of assets of a value not less than twenty five lakh rupees;

* The electronic declaration for clearance shall be made by the persons who has passed the examination referred to regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004; However a transition period of six months from the date of these regulations shall be allowed for fulfillment of this condition;

* The applicant shall undertake to comply with the provisions and abide by all the provisions of the Act and rules, regulations, notifications and orders issued there under.

* On receipt of application the Commissioner may make enquiries for verification of the particulars set out in the application and also such other enquiries as may deem necessary for such registration including enquiries about the identity, bona fides and reputation of the applicant;

* On satisfaction the Commissioner of Customs registered the applicant as Authorized Courier;

* The registration granted shall be valid for an initial period of two years and it may be renewed from time to time;

* The Commissioner of Customs may, if he finds that the applicant has been convicted in any court of law, or any criminal proceedings are pending before any court of law against the applicant, reject an application filed for registration of Authorized Courier;

* The Authorised Courier shall transact business in other Customs airports within the country subject to an intimation in Form J to the Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the Customs airport where he intends to transact business.

EXISTING AUTHORISED COURIER:

An Authorized Courier who is already registered under Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 on or before the date of coming into force of these regulations in a Customs airport, shall be considered as an Authorized Courier registered for the purpose of these regulations only. He shall comply with the conditions within a period which shall not exceed a period of three months. The Commissioner of Customs may extend the said period which shall not exceed a period of nine months.

RENEWAL:

The Commissioner of Customs may, on application made before the expiry of the validity of the registration renew the registration for a period of ten years from the date of expiration of the original registration or the last renewal of such registration, as the case may be, if the performance of the authorized courier is found to be satisfactory with reference to the absence of any complaints or misconduct including non compliance of any of the obligations specified in these regulations.

OBLIGATIONS OF AUTHORISED COURIER:

An Authorized Courier shall-

* obtain an authorization, from each of the consignees or consignors of the imported goods for whom or from whom such Courier has imported such goods; or consignees or consignors of such export goods which such Courier proposes to export, to the effect that the Authorized Courier may act as agent of such consignee or consignor, as the case may be, for clearance of such imported or export goods by the proper officer;

* file electronic declarations, for clearance of imported or export goods, through a person who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations,2004 and who are duly authorized under Section 146 of the Act. A transition period of six months from the date of publication of these regulations shall be allowed to the Authorized Courier for fulfillment of the obligation;

* advise his consignor or consignee to comply with the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations made there under and in case of non compliance thereof, he shall bring the matter to the notice of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs;

* verify the antecedent, correctness of Importer Exporter Code Number, identity of his client and the functioning of his client in the declared address by using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information;

* exercise due diligence to ascertain the correctness and completeness of any information which he submits to the proper officer with reference to any work related to the clearance of imported goods or of export goods;

* not withhold information communicated to him by an officer of customs, relating to assessment and clearance of imported goods as well as inspection, examination and clearance of export goods, from a consignor or consignee who is entitled to such information;

* not withhold any information relating to assessment and clearance of imported goods or of export goods, from the Assessing Officer;

* not attempt to influence the conduct of any officer of Customs in any matter pending before such officer or his subordinates by the use of threat, false accusation, duress or offer or any special inducement or promise of advantage or by the bestowing of any gift or favor or other thing or value;

* maintain records and accounts in such form and manner as may be directed from time to time by an Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs for a period of five years and submit them for inspection to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or an officer authorized by him, wherever required; and

* abide by all the provisions of the Act and the rules, regulations, notifications and orders issued there under.

SECURITY REQUIREMENTS:

The Commissioner of Customs shall require the applicant to enter into a bond with a security of Rs.10 lakhs in case of major international airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai and Rs.5 lakhs in case of other airports in the form of cash deposit or bank guarantee in the name of the Commissioner of customs for complying with the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations. The condition of the said bond shall also be that the applicant shall agree to pay the duty, if any, not levied or short levied or with interest if in the opinion of the Asst. Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs the same cannot be recovered from the importer or exporter.

The Authorised Courier shall furnish the bond and security as specified for each of the Customs airports.

SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION:

The Commissioner of Customs may revoke the registration of an Authorised Courier and also pass an order for forfeiture of security on any of the following grounds:

* failure of the Authorised Courier to comply with any of the conditions of the bond executed by him;

* failure to comply with any of the provisions of these regulations;

* misconduct whether within the jurisdiction of the said Commissioner or anywhere else, which in the opinion of the Commissioner renders him unfit to transact any business in the Customs Airport.

The revocation shall be after giving a notice to the Authorised Courier informing him the grounds on which it is proposed to revoke the registration and giving reasonable opportunity of making a representation in writing and a further opportunity of being heard in the matter, if so desired. In case the Commissioner considers that any of such grounds against an Authorised Courier shall not be established prima facie without an inquiry in the matter, he may conduct an inquiry to determine the ground and in the meanwhile pending the completion of such inquiry, may suspend the registration of the Authorised Courier. If no ground is established against the Authorised Courier the registration so suspended shall be restored.

Appeal:

Any Authorised Courier or the Officer of the Customs authorized by the Chief Commissioner of Customs in this behalf, if aggrieved by the order of Commissioner of Customs may represent to the Chief Commissioner of Customs in writing against such order within sixty days of communication of the order to the Authorised Courier, and the Chief Commissioner of Customs shall, after providing the opportunity of being heard to the parties concerned, dispose of the representation as expeditiously as may be possible.

CLEARANCE OF IMPORTED GOODS:

The following are the procedures involved in clearance of imported goods:

* The Authorised Courier or his agent shall file, in an electronic form, a manifest for imported goods prior to the arrival, with the proper officer the Express Cargo Manifest - Import (ECM-I) in Form -A;

* The Courier packages containing the imported goods shall not be dealt with in any manner except as may be directed by the Commissioner of Customs;

* No person except with the permission of proper officer, open any packages of imported goods;

* The Authorised Courier or his agent shall make entry of goods imported by him in an electronic declaration, by presenting to the proper officer the Courier Bill of Entry -XI (CBE-XI) for documents in Form B or the Courier Bill of Entry - XII (CBE-XII) for free gifts and samples in Form C or the Courier Bill of Entry - XIII (CBE-XIII) for low value dutiable consignments in Form D or the Courier Bill of Entry - XIV (CBE - XIV) for other dutiable consignments in Form E;

* The Authorised Courier shall present imported goods brought by him or by his agent, in such manner as to the satisfaction of the proper officer or as per instructions issued by the Board or Public Notice issued by Commissioner of Customs, from time to time, for inspection, screening, examination and assessment thereof;

* Any imported goods which are not taken clearance after the expiry of a period of thirty days of its arrival, shall be detained by proper officer and shall be sold or disposed of by the person having custody thereof, after issuing a notice to the Authorised Courier and to the declared importer, if any, and the charges payable for storage and holding of such goods shall be payable by the Authorised Courier;

CLEARANCE OF EXPORT GOODS:

The following is the procedure involved in clearance of export goods:

* The Authorised Courier or his agent shall, on or after such date as the Board may specify, by notification in the Official Gazette, file in an electronic form, a manifest for export goods before its export with the proper officer the Courier Export Manifest (CEM) in Form F;

* The courier packages containing the export goods shall not be dealt with after presentation of documents to the proper officer in any manner except as may be directed by the Commissioner of Customs;

* No person shall, except with the permission of proper officer, open any package of export goods, brought into the Customs area, to be loaded on a flight;

* The Authorised Courier or his agent shall make entry of goods for export, in Courier Shipping Bill-III (CSB-III) for documents in Form G or, as the case may be, in the Courier Shipping Bill-IV (CSB-IV) for goods in Form H, before presenting it to the proper officer;

* The Authorised Courier shall present the export goods to the proper officer, in such manner as to the satisfaction of the proper office or as per instructions from time to time, for inspection, screening, examination and assessment thereof;

* Any export goods brought into customs area for export purpose and have not been exported within seven days of such goods into such area or within such extended period as permitted by the proper officer in case of delay due to such reasons which the proper officer considers to be beyond the control of the concerned of the Authorised Courier and declared exporter, may be detained by the proper officer and sold or disposed off by the person having custody thereof, after issuing notice to the concerned Authorised Courier and declared exporter provided the charges payable, for storage and handling of such goods are paid by such Authorised Courier.

PENALTY:

An Authorised courier, who contravenes any of the provisions of these regulations or abets such contravention or who fails to comply with any provision of these regulations with which it was his obligation to comply, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.

FORMS:

Form A - Express Cargo Manifest - Import (ECM - I) - electronic filing;

Form B - Courier Bill of Entry - XI (CBE - XI ) for documents - electronic filing;

Form C - Courier Bill of Entry - XII (CBE - XII) for samples and gifts - electronic filing;

Form D - Courier Bill of Entry - XIII (CEB-XIII) for non documents (Low value Dutiable shipments) - electronic filing;

Form E - Courier Bill of Entry - XIV (CBE - XIV) for dutiable goods - electronic filing;

Form F - Courier Export Manifest (CEM - I) - electronic filing;

Form G - Courier Shipping Bill - III (CSB - III) for Documents - electronic filing;

Form H - Courier Shipping Bill - IV (CSB - IV) for Goods - electronic filing;

Form I - Application for registration;

Form J - Form for intimation of Authorised Courier;