Notice for all the Authorized Couriers, Airlines, Exporters, Importers, Custodians, Trade & Industry and all other Stake Holders. - Customs - 08 /General/2015

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (GENERAL) NEW CUSTOMS HOUSE, NEAR IG AIRPORT NEW DELHI -110037 C. No. VIII (H) 13/PN/Policy/2015 Dated: 15 June 2015 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 08 /General/2015 In furtherance to the Public Notice no. 02/04 dated 08.01.2004 issued vide C.No. VIII/Air Cus/NCT/07/SO/03 and Standing Order No.27/2003 dated 17.10.2003 issued by the Commissioner of Customs (Import General), New Delhi, attention of all the Authorized Couriers, Airlines, Exporters, Importers, Custodians, Trade and Industry and all other Stake Holders is invited towards the provisions of: a) Courier Imports and Export (Clearance) Regulations, 1998 [CIER, 1998] as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 ; b) Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010 [CIEEDPR, 2010] issued vide Notification No. 80/2010-Cus. (NT) dated 09.09.2010 and as amended by Notification No. 26/2011-Cus. (NT) dated 01.04.2011 ; c) Central Board of Excise and Customs Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 and 21/2011 Cus. dated 18.04.2011 ; and d) Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulation, 2009 (HCCAR, 2009) 2. Import and export of goods through courier mode and customs clearance thereof at Delhi Customs station is subject to these Regulations. These Regulations, as amended from time to time, inter alia prescribe the procedure of assessment and clearance of specified goods imported or exported through courier mode; registration as Authorised Courier with the Commissioner of Customs for engaging in international transportation of goods on express door to door delivery basis and clearance of import and export goods through customs. 3. It may be ensured that the various provisions of these Regulations are adhered to in letter and spirit. 4. Some of the salient features of these Regulations, as amended and which need special attention are as under: (a) Regulation 2 of CIER, 1998 , details the applicability of CIER, 1998 , and lays out the categories of import or exports to which the said regulations do not apply or where the goods are not allowed to be imported or exported through the Courier mode. (b) As per Regulation 3(a) of CIER, 1998 , an Authorised Courier , in relation to import or export goods, means a person engaged in the international transportation of the goods on express door to door delivery basis and is registered in this behalf by a Commissioner of Customs. Furthermore, the Central Board of Excise and Custom's vide Para 4(i) of Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 , in context of Authorized Couriers, has laid down as under: the basic reason for expeditious clearance facilities being extended to them is that express companies have put in place verifiable and secure work processes on a global basis backed by an elaborate IT infrastructure for knowledge and information management. These companies have their own in-house mechanism to guard against use of express supply chain by unscrupulous elements. Therefore, any unauthorized sub-letting or outsourcing of any of the components in the door-to-door supply chain may defeat the very purpose behind facility of expeditious clearance. Hence, the Commissioners of Customs should review the facilities available with the Authorized Couriers appointed under their charge to ensure compliance . (c) The procedure for clearance of import goods and the clearance of export goods have been laid in Regulation 5 and 6 of CIER, 1998 . (d) As per Regulation 5(5) of CIER, 1998 Any imported goods which are not taken clearance, shall be detained by the Customs and shall be disposed of after issuing a notice to the Authorised Courier after the expiry of a period of thirty days of the arrival of the said goods and the charges payable for storage and holding of such goods shall be payable by the Authorised Courier. (e) As per Regulation 6(5) of CIER, 1998 : Any export goods brought into customs area for export purpose and have not been exported within seven days of arrival 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 courier may be detained by the proper officer and disposed of after issuing notice to the concerned courier and the charges payable, for storage and handling of such goods shall be payable by such courier. (f) The requirement of net worth or financial viability to act as an Authorised Courier has been enhanced to possession of assets of a value not less than twenty five lakh rupees. To this effect, as per Regulation 8(1) of the CIER, 1998 , as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 , The person applying for registration as an Authorised Courier shall disclose to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs that he is financially viable and in support thereof he shall produce to the said Commissioner of Customs 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. (g) The requirement for security for acting as an Authorised Courier has been enhanced to ten lakh rupees in case of Delhi . To this effect, as per Regulation 11 of the CIER, 1998 , as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 , The Commissioner of Customs shall require the applicant to enter into a bond in such form with a security of ten lakh rupees in case of major international airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai and five lakh rupees in case of other airports and land customs stations in cash or in the form of postal security or bank guarantee or National Savings Certificate in the name of the Commissioner of Customs for complying with the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and the rules and regulations made thereunder. (h) Furthermore, CBEC in its Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 in its para 2(iii), has clarified that the requirement for security for acting as an Authorized Courier has been enhanced to Rs. Ten Lacs in case of major international Airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai and five lakh rupees in case of other airports. Similarly, the requirement of net worth or financial viability to act as an Authorized Courier has been enhanced to possession of assets of a value not less than Rs. Twenty Five Lakh rupees. Further it is clarified that the requirement for enhanced Bond and Bank Guarantees applies to existing Authorised Couriers as well (i) All the declarations before Customs by an Authorised Courier, for clearance of imported or export goods, shall be filed through a person who has passed the examination referred to in Regulation 8 / 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulation, 2004 . To this effect, as per Regulation 5 (3) of the CIER, 1998 , as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 , The Authorised Courier or his agent who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 shall make entry of goods imported by him by presenting to the proper officer a bill of entry in Form Courier Bill of Entry-III (CBE-III), Form Courier Bill of Entry-IV (CBE-IV), Form Courier Bill of Entry-V (CBE-V), Form Courier Bill of Entry-VIII (CBE-VIII), Form Courier Bill of Entry-IX (CBE-IX) or as the case may be in Form Courier Bill of Entry-X (CBE-X) appended to these regulations: Provided that the Authorised Courier, or his agent who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 or the consignee or a Customs House Agent on behalf of the consignee, may file a bill of entry in the form prescribed in the Bill of Entry (Forms) Regulations, 1976 for clearance of any of the imported goods. Furthermore, as per Regulation 6(3) of the CIER, 1998 as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 , The Authorised Courier or his agent who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 shall make entry of goods for export in shipping bill in Form Courier Shipping Bill-I (CSB-I), Form Courier Shipping Bill - II (CSB-II), Form Courier bill of Export-I (CBEx-I)or as the case may be in Form Courier bill of Export-II (CBEx-II) as the case may be, appended to these regulations before presenting it to the proper officer: Furthermore, as per Regulation 8(2) of the CIER, 1998 as amended vide Notification No. 75/2010-Customs (NT) dated 12.08.2010 , The declarations for clearance of imported or export goods shall be made by the persons who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 Provided that a transition period of six months from the date of publication of these regulations shall be allowed for fulfillment of the condition mentioned in sub-regulation (2) by an Authorised Courier (j) Furthermore, CBEC in its Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 in its para 2(i), has clarified that; It has been provided in the Courier Regulations that declarations before Customs, for clearance of imported or export goods, shall be filed 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 is duly authorised under Section 146 of the Act. Further, keeping in view the difficulties that may be faced by the trade in complying with these new requirements, a transition period of six months has been provided from the date of coming into effect of the respective notifications. (k) Regulation 13 of CIER, 1998 lays out the obligations casted on an Authorised Courier while transacting their business at any Customs station. (I) As per Regulation 13(a) of CIER, 1998 , An Authorised Courier shall obtain an authorisation, from each of the consignees of the import goods for whom such courier has imported such goods or consigners of such export goods which such courier propose to export, to the effect that the Authorised Courier may act as agent of such consignee or consigner, as the case may be for clearance of such import or export goods by the proper officer; Provided that for import consignments having a declared value of then thousand rupees or less, the authorization may be obtained at the time of delivery of the consignments to consignee Furthermore, CBEC in its Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 in its para 4(ii), has clarified that In case of import consignments having a declared value of ten thousand rupees or less, the authorization may be obtained at the time of delivery of the consignments to consignee. Such authorizations shall be retained for record by an Authorised Courier for a period of one year or date of inspection by Customs whichever is later. (m) As per Regulation 13(g) of CIER, 1998 , An Authorised Courier shall maintain records and accounts in such form and manner as maybe directed from time to time by an Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs and submit them for inspection to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or an officer authorized by him, wherever required. Furthermore, CBEC in its Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 in its para 4(ii), has clarified that Such inspection be done on periodical basis, at least once a year, and during inspection it should be invariably seen, inter-alia, if the Authorized Courier is obtaining these authorizations. (n) As per Regulation 13(i) of CIER, 1998 , An Authorised Courier shall verify the antecedent, correctness of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) Number, identity of his client and the functioning of his client in the declared address by using reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information; Furthermore, CBEC in its Circular No.33/2010-Customs dated 07.09.2010 in its para 2(ii), has clarified that In this regard, the detailed guideline on the list of documents to be verified and obtained from the client/customer laid down as per the annexure to the Board's Circular No. 09/2010 dated 8 th April, 2010 , maybe adhered to. It would be obligatory for the client/customer to furnish to the Authorised Courier any of the listed documents in the annexure. However, it is clarified that there is no requirement for the client/ customer to furnish a photograph separately to the Authorised Courier. (o) As per Regulation 13(j) of CIER, 1998, An Authorised Courier shall not sub-contract or outsource functions permitted or required to be carried out by him in terms of these regulations to any other person, without the written permission of the Commissioner of Customs. This provision read with Regulation 3(a) of CIER, 1998 implies that the Authorized Courier should be engaged in the international transportation of the goods on door-to-door delivery basis. Therefore, they should have the door-to-door supply chain clearly, including having their offices in the various countries/cities to which/from which they have been exporting/importing various consignments in the courier, in place and in case, any of the components in this chain are required to be out-sourced/sub-letted, the Authorised Courier shall take express prior permission of the Commissioner of Customs. These provisions shall also imply that the Authorised Courier should not act as a service provider for clearing the consignments sourced by the Forwarding and Transporting agencies through IATA approved agencies overseas, which is even beyond the scope of import export of parcels under the CIER, 1998 and therefore cannot be cleared under the Courier mode at New Courier terminal, New Delhi. Custodians at New Courier Terminal: 5. The Commissioner of Customs (Import General), New Delhi vide Public Notice No.46/2003 dated 13.10.2003 has appointed M/s DHL Worldwide Express and M/s Express Industries Council of India (EICI) as custodian of imported goods through courier mode at New Courier Terminal, New Delhi. In addition, to the obligations and duties chalked out in the Public Notice No. 02/04 dated 08.01.2004, the Custodians shall: (a) Put in place a mechanism to check if they have all MAWB numbers of the courier goods offloaded from a plane, or for that matter any MAWB of a flight. (b) Ensure that Form 1 i.e. MAWB specific form should contain consolidated details of all courier MAWB booked in a flight and off loaded at the port, since this forms the basis of updation of the database regarding the parcels having been off-loaded. (c) Maintain proper record of the unit load device (ULD) lying at the tarmac and present the same before the Customs authorities as and when asked to do so; (d) Ensure that the Authorised Courier brings the Form 1, complete in all respects within 24 hours of the landing of the goods; (e) Move the goods lying at the bay/tarmac to the shed, within 12 hours of receiving 'Form 1' from the airlines/Authorised Courier; (f) Put in place an automated systematic mechanism to check status of goods which have arrived on a particular flight/courier in order to enable the customs officers to check the status of goods having arrived on a particular day. (g) Ensure that Unit Load Device (ULD) in the bay area are parked in a systematic manner. (h) Ensure that whenever there is any change/ amendments in statutory records/registers (eg. Import Register), the same should be done only after prior approval of the Customs Officer and it should bear the counter signatures of such Officer. (i) Maintain the Register in manner that the Originating Country as well as the Country of Transit for the goods are clearly reflected. (j) Henceforth, maintain an IGM wise Register, with complete information about the status of consignments with reference to whether bill of entry has been filed or otherwise, goods cleared or otherwise, present location of the goods etc. (k) Ensure proper stacking/tagging of the goods lying in their custody/in the shed. (I) maintain an electronic database, which records the entire movement of the goods and ensure that crucial details like the country of origin, status of goods etc are recorded and indexed. (m) With regard to the goods being transhipped to the Import shed, devise a Mechanism to ensure reconciliation of data with import shed to verify if the said goods are finally cleared. (n) Restrain the entry/movement of un-authorised persons in the Customs area. To this effect, they should put in place a mechanism through maintenance of data base of employees of all the Authorised Couriers. They should also make arrangements for access of the Courier company employees through biometric cards issued by the Custodians and also have extensive CCTV coverage, with access to the Customs. (o) Not accept any form of amendment made in the Import manifest/Export manifest, in any manner without written approval of the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner of Customs, concerned. 6. All the Custodians shall follow the Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulation, 2009 (HCCAR, 2009) introduced vide Notification No. 26/2009 -Customs (N.T.) dated 17.03.2009 in letter and spirit. The salient features of HCCAR, 2009 are as under: (a) As per Regulation 2(1) (b) of HCCAR, 2009: Customs Cargo Services provider means any person responsible for receipt, storage, delivery, dispatch or otherwise handling of imported goods and export goods and includes a custodian as referred to in section 45 of the Act and persons as referred to in sub-section (2) of section 141 of the said Act; (b) As per Regulation 5 of HCCAR, 2009 which deals with the conditions to be fulfilled by Customs Cargo Service Provider: The Customs Cargo Service provider for custody of imported goods or export goods and for handling of such goods, in a customs area shall fulfil the following conditions, namely:- (1) Provide the following to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs, namely: (i) Infrastructure, equipment and adequate manpower for loading, unloading, stacking, handling, stuffing and de-stuffing of containers, storage, dispatch and delivery of containers and cargo etc., including: . (c) As per Regulation 6 (2) of said HCCAR, 2009 : The Customs Cargo Service provider approved for custody of imported or export goods and for handling of such goods shall not lease, gift, sell or sublet or in any other manner transfer any of the premises in a customs area; or sub contract or outsource functions permitted or required to be carried out by him in terms of these regulations to any other person, without the written permission of the Commissioner of Customs. Furthermore, the Central Board of Excise and Customs in Para 3 of Circular No. 45/2013 Customs dated 31.12.2013 reiterated that under no circumstances, Customs Cargo Service Providers approved for custody of imported or export goods and for handling of such goods shall lease, gift, sell or sublet or in any other manner transfer any premises in a customs area; or subcontract or outsource functions permitted or required to be carried out by him in terms of these regulations without written approval of the 1urisdictional commissioner of Customs All these Regulations/ instructions shall be adhered to and suitable mechanisms put in place by all the Authorized Couriers, Airlines, Exporters, Importers, Custodians, Trade and Industry with immediate effect. (NEERAJ KANSAL) Commissioner of Customs (General) New Delhi