Computerized Processing of Bills of Entry under the Indian Customs EDI System - Imports (ICES -1.5) at LCS, RAXAUL - Customs - 01/2014

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS CENTRAL REVENUE BUILDING BIRCHAND PATEL PATH PATNA - 800 001 C.No. VIII(48)5-10/Cus/Tech/Public Notice/2014/2025-2042 Public Notice No. 01/2014 Dated: 12-03-2014 Sub:- Computerized Processing of Bills of Entry under the Indian Customs EDI System - Imports (ICES -1.5) at LCS, RAXAUL. It is brought to the notice of all the Importers/CHAs and members of the Trade that computerized processing of Bills of Entry under EDI system will commence on 24th March, 2014 at LCS RAXAUL for all Imports through LCS Raxaul. 1. Under the EDI-System, the Bill of Entry shall be filed electronically and shall be processed online in an automated computerized environment. Certain declarations and certificates etc. in original wherever required shall continue to be attached with assessed copy of Bill of Entry when the same is presented in the Import Shed for clearance of goods. The requisite documents also can be called for by the Appraising Group if required while processing the Bills of Entry. There are certain pre-requisites for filing the electronic declarations which are required to be complied with before filing Bill of Entry. 1.1 Registration of IE-Code of the Importer (i) IE-Code is issued to the importers by DGFT, details of which are transmitted online to the Indian Customs EDI-System (ICES) on daily basis. ICES automatically registers the IE-Codes after confirming its validity to. enable the importers to file the Bill of Entry electronically. Before filing the Bill of Entry the importers are advised to check from DGFT as to whether their IE-Code has already been transmitted to ICES. If their IE-Code has not been transmitted to ICES by DGFT, they should first get the same transmitted from DGFT, failing which they shall not be able to file Bill of Entry electronically for clearance of imported goods. (ii) In case the IE-Code is registered for exports the same shall hold good for imports also. The DGFT has notified certain generic Codes for certain classes of importers in the EXIM Policy and exempted them from taking a specific IE Code. Such importers should use respective codes for filing the Bill of Entry. However, if an importer does not fall in the exempted category and also does not hold specific IE Code, he should use the Code 0100009053 for personal effects and 0100000001 for all other imports. In such cases the Bill of Entry shall automatically appear on the computer screen of the concerned Assistant/Deputy Commissioner for online approval] 1.2 Registration of Custom House Agents (CHA) in ICES Every CHA is required to register his details in ICES for enabling him to submit documents in the system. In case the Custom House from where the CHA has been granted license was not an existing EDI location in ICES 1.0, such CHAs should immediately get themselves registered at concerned Customs locations. In case the Custom House from where the CHA has been licensed is not yet brought under ICES, such CHAs should approach the Customs authorities indicated in the enclosed chart against respective Custom Houses. (List of Custom Houses for CHA registration attached as Appendix 1 and format for registration attached as Appendix 2) 1.3 Registration of Custom House Agents IGM shall be filed electronically by the CHAs at the Ports. Before filing IGM the CHAs should register themselves in the ICES at any of the Custom Stations where ICES 1.5 is operational. No re-registration is required in case the agency is already registered at any existing Customs location where ICES 1.5 is operational. 1.4 Exchange Rates of Un-notified Currencies The ICES maintains exchange rates in respect of currencies, the exchange rates for which are notified by the Ministry of Finance from time to time. However, in respect of currencies which are not covered in the notifications of the Ministry of Finance, the concerned Bank's certificate indicating the exchange rate applicable for the date on which the Bill of Entry is filed should be obtained by the CHA/Importer from any Nationalized Bank. Only this exchange rate should be entered in the system in the respective field while making entry of B/E data and should be presented along with assessed copy of B/E at the time of taking 'Out of Charge', to the Customs officer. 1.5 Currency Codes For indicating value of goods, freight, insurance, commission etc. codes specified against the respective currencies indicated in the list of currency codes appended with this Public Notice should only be used. Incorrect code will result in to incorrect conversion of Indian Rupees. List of Currency Codes is attached as Appendix 3. 1.6 Units of Measurement Codes Against any quantity of goods appropriate Code indicated against the respective measurement in the list appended with this Public Notice should only be used in the Bill of Entry and IGM as the case may be. It is further informed that if UQCs other than the Standard UQCs of the customs tariff is used, the B/E may not get any facilitation in RMS. Reference is also invited to CBEC Circular no. 26/2013 -Customs, dated 19/07/2013, where adherence to Standard Unit Quantity Codes as prescribed in the Customs Tariff Act has been prescribed. List of Measurement Codes is attached as Appendix 4. 1.7 Country Codes: Wherever in the Bill of Entry or IGM etc. reference to country name is required to be made appropriate Code of the country as indicated in the list of country codes appended to this Public Notice should only be used. However, for this port, it is Nepal (NP). 1.8 Port Codes: Appropriate port code should only be indicated wherever reference to port name is required to be made in a Bill of Entry and IGM or any other document. Here, the port of shipment is Birgunj (BRG) of Nepal. 1.9 Registration of DGFT Licences If the imports are against any of the DGFT EXIM Licenses, such licence should be first registered in the ICES and the registration No. should be indicated against each item of goods in the Bill of Entry. However, EDI messages between Customs and DGFT for licence are in the process of establishing. No separate registration shall be required for those licences which are received from DGFT online. The licences which are registered at any other ICES 1.5 location will be available online and no separate registration is required at LCS, Raxaul. 1.10 Registration at ICEGATE for Remote filing of Bill of Entry or Manifest Those who intend to file Bill of Entry or manifest from their office they should register themselves with ICEGATE. For registration at ICEGATE the detailed information may be seen at web-site htpp//:www.icegate.gov.in . For filing of Bill of Entry from remote, NIC has provided software which is free of cost and can be downloaded from NIC web-site.(http://ices.nic.in/ices/aspx) 1.11 Service Centre Charges: Facility of data entry of IGM, etc. is available at Service Centre at LCS, Raxaul on payment basis. The schedule of charges for various types of services payable at the Service Centre are indicated below: The schedule of charges for data entry in the Centre shall be as follows:- a. Entry of Bill of Entry having up to 5 items ₹ 60 b. Each additional block of 5 items ₹ 10 c. Amendment fee ₹ 20 d. Entry of IGM ₹ 60 e. Charges of additional query printing ₹ 05 f. Entry of Licence ₹ 60 g. UAB declaration ₹ 60 Note : The above charges include data entry of the documents, check list printing, three free queries and print out of the assessed document and out charge. The check list will be provided free of charge till they are certified to be free of mistake by the customer. However, in cases where the customer wants to incorporate corrections in the original declarations provided by him, check list will be provided at an additional cost of ₹ 10. Any check list in respect of remote filing of the Bill of Entry will cost ₹ 10. 2. Filing of IGM (Import Report) The CHAs or other persons as envisaged under Section 30 of the Customs Act, 1962 shall submit the Import Report through the Service Centre at LCS, Raxaul on all working days from 9.00 A.M to 05.00 P.M. However, the Import Report can also be electronically filed through ICEGATE on 24 hours basis. The Import Report should be presented at the Service Centre counter in the prescribed Performa. (Annexure B). A checklist would be generated by the Service Centre which would be verified by the authorized representative of the CHAs or other persons and given to the Service Centre operator for submission after corrections, if any. 2.1 Amendment in the Import Report after submission shall be carried out only after approval from the designated Customs authority. Amendment request shall be entered in the system at Service Centre, on submission in the system it shall appear before the designated officer for approval. If the designated officer is satisfied with the amendment requested he will approve the same in the system. 2.2 The acceptance of cancellation or otherwise, will be confirmed to the custodian as well as to the Shipping Lines electronically if filed through EDI interface or it is communicated as a printed check up cancellation message from the Service Centre and can also be checked up from the enquiry window of the Service Centre. Note: - It may be noted that in case of cancellation of IGM(Import Report), all the Bills of Entry filed against the IGY (Import Report) will get cancelled. 3. Cargo/Goods Declaration The Importer or the CHA as the case may be, can file Electronic Bill of Entry by entering data at the Service Centre or by transmitting details in specified file format through ICEGATE from his premises. Filing through Service Centre (i) The CHA/lmporter should furnish information in 'Annexure C' for filing Bill of Entry and present the same to the Service Centre operator along with copy(s) of import invoice and packing list. Details of information in 'Annexure C' should be correct, complete and legible. Incorrect and invalid entries may lead to rejection of data. The Service Centre shall accept the declarations in Annexure C during the working hours of LCS, Raxaul. The system would accept data entry of Annexure 'C' only if it finds that the Bill of Lading matches the corresponding line number of the IGM. The system will accept only one declaration against a line number. If the declaration is not accepted, the CHA/importer should verify the particulars. (ii) Once the IGM (Import Report) is filed in the Customs Computer System, whenever a Bill of Entry pertaining to any line in the said IGM(Import Report) is filed, the system will cross verify the details of IGM(Import Report), the Bill of Lading etc. and the Bill of Entry would be accepted only if the relevant particulars match with those in the IGM(Import Report) . If any Bill of Entry is not accepted by the system, the importers/CHAs should verify whether the IGM (Import Report) Nos. or the Bill of Lading Nos. have been correctly furnished in Annexure 'C' submitted by them. (iii) The claim for assessment shall be made against each item of the invoice. If there is more than one invoice, information shall be furnished for each item invoice-wise i.e. complete information of items in one invoice must precede information of items in the second invoice. (iv) If the particulars of classification are same for the next item, the word do will be accepted by the system. (v) ITC (HS) Nos., CTH and CETH shall be indicated in eight (8) digits without any decimal in between (e.g. 85011000 and not 8501.1000). Notification number shall be indicated in three (3) digits followed by a slash (/) and the issuing year (e.g. 201/81, 083/93). The notification no. indicated shall be the parent one and not the amending notification. This may be carefully noted. (vi) In respect of goods for which benefit of notification is claimed, against the entry 'Generic Description' in Annexure 'C', List No. and the Serial no. of the List shall be mentioned in addition to the generic description of the item. The Service Centre Operator will feed first the List no. and Serial no., and if there is space left, generic description of the item. (vii) For example, Nebulizers are covered by S. No. 363 of the Table of Notification No. 021/02 (list 37, Sr. No. 19). This entry would be described as: - Generic Description CTH Notfn./Year, Sr. No L37/19, Nebulizers 90189093 021/02, Sr. No. 363 (viii) The Service Centre Operator shall carefully enter the data in the system as is indicated in Annexure On completion of entry of data the system shall assign a Job No. and generate a Check List which is draft Bill of Entry. The Service Centre operator shall print a copy of Check List and hand over the same to the CHA/Importer. The CHA/Importer shall check the correctness of the data entered in the system. If any error is noticed the error shall be circled in bold ink and correct detail should be written. The corrected check list duly signed by the CHA/Importer should be handed over to the Service Centre operator for entry of corrected data. The Operator shall make corrections in the corresponding data and hand over the revised checklist to the CHA/Importer for re-confirmation. This process would be repeated till the CHA/Importer signs a clean checklist in token of correctness of the entered data. (ix) The Operator shall submit the authenticated electronic checklist to the system. The system will then generate a B/E. No., which would be endorsed on the printed checklist and returned to the CHA/Importer. The Bill of Entry No. shall be in a running serial number of all the Custom Houses operating on consolidated ICES 1.5. The CHA [Importer shall note down the Bill of Entry No. and return the check list to the Operator. The Bill of Entry Numeric No. shall be prefixed with the Port Code at which the goods are landed. Thus, Port Code combined with Numeric Number shall be a Bill of Entry Number. (x) The Operator shall retain the original Annexure 'C' declarations with copies of invoice and packing list and shall hand over all the check lists along with relevant documents to the Customs Authorities periodically. 3.1 Remote filing through ICEGATE The CHA/Importers having internet facility in their offices can file electronic Bill of Entry from their premises. For this purpose they should one time register their details with ICEGATE. Detailed procedure for registration can be seen from the website www.icegate.gov.in. They can download Remote EDI filing software from NIC website link which has been provided at ICEGATE website. Software of NIC is free of charge. On successful submission of data from their premises the ICES will generate Bill of Entry Number and return message of Bill of Entry No. If invalid data is entered an error message shall be generated and no B.E. No. shall be generated. In case of remote filing of Bill of Entry the CHA [Importer has to ensure correctness and validity of data entered failing which the data will either be rejected by the ICES or incorrect information shall be incorporated in the submitted Bill of Entry which shall lead to problems of amendments. 4 Processing of Bill of Entry for Assessment (i) Once the Bill of Entry is submitted in the system the ICES validates the details from various directories maintained in the system and calculates the value from the foreign currency to Indian Rupees applying the exchange rates as applicable on the date of submission of Bill of Entry in the system and determines the assessable value for levy of duty. Directories of the rates of duty as applicable on the goods on the relevant dates are also maintained in the system. ICES calculates the amount of duty leviable on the goods on the basis of rates of duty specified in the Customs Tariff, Central Excise Tariff, Cess Schedules, various notifications imposing rates of duty on imported goods and exemption notification as claimed by the importers in the Bill of Entry. Processing of the Bill of Entry takes place in an automated environment and workflow according to the jurisdiction of Customs Officers as provided under the law. (ii) The Appraising work is divided among Appraising Groups and sub groups, based on the Chapter/Tariff Headings of Customs Tariff Schedule. The roles of the officers for Appraising Groups are allotted by the Systems Manager (SM)/Alternate System Manager (ASM) on the basis of workload of assessment. More than one role of appraising groups can be allotted to one officer (more than one group can be allotted to one officer). Based on total assessable value of the individual items in a Bill of Entry, the Bill of Entry on its submission is automatically assigned by the system to a particular Appraising Group of which the assessable value is the highest. All the Bills of Entry assigned to a particular Appraising Group are put in a queue and are processed on first come first serve basis. In specific cases only the AC/DC of concerned Appraising Group are authorized to change priority, if circumstances so warrant. (iii) Movement of Bills of Entry from one officer to another takes place automatically in a pre determined workflow basis depending on roles and jurisdiction assigned to them. During processing of Bill of Entry the concerned officer may raise Query to the importer for further clarification/information. The Query on approval by the Group AC/DC shall be transmitted to importer for online reply. Such a Bill of Entry on which query has been raised, is automatically pulled out of assessment queue till online reply is received from the importer: 4.1 System Appraisement Facility of System Appraisal of Bills of Entry in respect of certain goods covered by some exemption notification's has been made available for faster clearance of such goods. Bills of Entry in respect of the items under System Appraisal would be assessed by the System immediately on their submission and a print out of the assessed Bill of Entry along with 3 copies of TR-6 challans will be made available to the CHAs/Importers for payment of duty and getting the goods examined if required, and for 'Out of Charge'. All the Bills of Entry which are appraised by the 'System' would be audited before being given 'Out of Charge'. Debiting in the Licence etc. would be required to be done by the Appraiser/Superintendent in the Import Shed. Examination of such goods would be carried out as per prescribed norms. The system appraisal Scheme is a Notification based Scheme and not description based. If the Appraising Officer (Audit) finds that the Bill of Entry is not fit to be cleared under System Appraisal Scheme he may forward the Bill of Entry back for regular assessment. 4.2 Second Check Appraisement The electronic B/E will be assessed on the basis of the claims made in Annexure In case the Assessing officer does not agree with the claim regarding tariff classification, notifications, declared value etc., he shall raise a query in the system. On approval by the AC (Group), the query will be printed in the Service Centre for being passed on to the CHA/Importer. Replies to the queries will be submitted in the Service Centre which will be fed in the system. In case the importer agrees with the classification/valuation proposed by the assessing officer, the B/E would be assessed accordingly. The Assessing Officer can change Tariff classification, deny exemption incorrectly claimed, change unit price of goods in the system. In case Assessing officer and AC/DC, as the case may be, agrees, ab-initio or on receipt of the reply, with the claim made by the importer, they shall assess the Bill of Entry in the system. After assessing the Bill of Entry, the system will generate one assessed copy of Bill of Entry. The CHA/lmporter shall take print of the assessed copy of B/E along with three copies of TR-6 challans. Before presenting the Bill of Entry for examination and delivery of goods, the CHA/Importer should deposit duty assessed, with the designated bank. 4.3 First Check Appraisement (i) Where the CHA/Importer has opted for First check assessment or the Assessing Officer feels it necessary to examine the goods prior to assessment, he shall order first check examination of goods in the system. For seeking first check examination order, the CHA/Importer shall exercise the relevant option at data entry stage, the appropriate column of Annexure C format should be flagged 'Y'. The assessing officer shall accordingly give examination order on the system which shall be approved by the Group AC/DC. On approval by AC/DC a first check Bill of Entry copy shall be printed. CHA/importer gets a copy of First Check B/E printed with 'Examination Order' at the 'Service Centre' or in his office, as the case may be. (ii) After the examination is completed, the Import Shed Examiner/lnspector and Appraiser/Superintendent shall write the examination report on the first check copy of Bill of Entry (Hard Copy of B/E) and enter the examination report in the system. The Shed Appraiser/Superintendent shall transfer the B/E to Appraising Group. The CHA/Importer shall present the first check copy of the Bill of Entry on which examination report has been written along with original invoice and other import documents necessary for assessment to the concerned Group Appraiser/Superintendent. The Assessing Officer, if satisfied, shall complete the assessment of B/E in the system. After assessment the Bill of Entry shall move in the system as in the case of second check assessment. The CHA/Importer shall take print of assessed copy of Bill of Entry and TR-6 challan and shall deposit duty amount with the designated bank. 4.4 Audit After completion of assessment from the Assessing Officer, the B/E will be moved to the Auditors screen electronically for doing concurrent audit. The audit officer will check all the details in the B/E and the assessment done by the Appraiser/Superintendent. If the Audit Officer is in agreement with the assessment, the audit is completed and the B/E shall automatically move to the AC/DC screen. If the Audit Officer is not in agreement with the assessment then he shall indicate his objection online and forward the document back electronically in the system to Assessing Officer for consideration of the audit objection. The Audit Officer has the facility to view all the details in the B/E but has no authority to make any change in the data declared by the importer on the Bill of Entry. After the dispute is settled the Auditor shall clear the Bill of Entry in Audit. 4.5 Printing of Assessed copy of Bill of Entry: After completion of assessment and audit, print out of one assessed copy of Bill of Entry and 3 copies of TR-6 Challan shall be generated by the system. The print of the same can be obtained from Service Centre or at the premises of the CHA/Importer from where the Bill of Entry has been submitted to Customs system. 4. Payment of Duty After the assessment is completed and the print of the assessed Customs copy of the B/E and TR-6 Challans are obtained by the CHA/Importer, copies of the TR-6 challans shall be presented to the designated bank for payment of duty. The Bank shall verify the particulars in the TR-6 challans from the system and enter the particulars of receipt of amount in the system and return two copies of challan duly stamped and signed, to the CHA.4hebank will retain one copy. The Challan shall also indicate the interest amount for seven days period after expiry of interest free period. If interest free period of seven days has expired, fresh challan with revised amount of interest should be obtained and should be paid accordingly. Duty and Interest can also be paid through e banking system. In terms of Notification No. 83/2012-Customs (NT) dated 17.09.2012 read with CBEC Circular No. 24/2012-Customs dated 05.09.2012 e-payment of customs duty has been made mandatory for importers registered under Accredited Clients Programme and importers paying customs duty of one lakh rupees or more per Bill of Entry, w.e.f. 17.09.2012. 6. Examination of Goods 6.1 After examination order in the case of First Check Bill of Entry, after assessment in the case of duty free import where duty assessed is zero and after payment of duty assessed with interest(if any) in case of second check Bill of Entry, the Bill of Entry shall move to the Examination section for goods registration. (a) The CHA shall present documents, as per the list below (the documents should be arranged in a file cover in the following order):- i. Assessed copy of ii. Duty paid challan in original iii. Copy of Delivery order iv. Copy of Bill of Lading v. Invoice in original vi Packing List in original vii Certificate of Origin in original viii Exemption Certificate in original, if the notification so requires. ix Copy of the Bond or undertaking executed, if any. x GATT declaration duly signed by the importer. xi Technical literature, xii Licence in original and a photocopy of licence. xiii Any other document/certificate necessary for clearance of goods. (b) The Inspector/Examiner will complete the goods registration. and examine the goods, wherever prescribed. After the examination report is submitted in the system, as well as on the hard copy of the assessed Bill of Entry (Customs Copy), the Bill of Entry shall move to Appraiser/Supdt. screen for 'Out of Charge'. The signature of the CHA/Importer shall be obtained on the report, in token of that the good have been examined in their presence. Name of the CHA/Importer should also be recorded along with his I-Card No. In case of first check Bill of Entry where examination has already taken place, the Bill of Entry shall move to the Appraiser/Supdt. directly for 'Out of Charge' after payment of duty. 6.2 All the above documents, except original Licence, will be retained by Customs at the time of giving 'Out of Charge'. Hence, only the certified photo copies of Delivery Order, Master Bill of Lading, House Bill of Lading should be attached instead of originals.. 6.3 On the basis of the examination report, the Appraising Group may revise the assessment or raise a further query to the importer, if necessary. 6.4 After completion of the examination of the goods, if the Shed Appraiser/Supdt.. is satisfied that the requirement of Section 47 of the Custom Act, 1962 have been complied with, he shall give Out of Charge for the Bill of Entry on system. 6.5 After the 'Out of Charge' order, the system will generate print of Importer's copy and Exchange Control copy of the Bill of Entry along with 3 copies of Order of Clearance/'Out of Charge'. Print of the same shall be obtained from the designated computer terminal. The print copies of the Bill of Entry shall bear the Order of Clearance number and name of the examining Appraiser/Supt. The importer's copy and Exchange Control copy of the Bill of Entry along with one copy of the order of clearance/'Out of Charge' will be attached to the Customs copy of the Bill of Entry retained by the Shed Appraiser/Supdt. The importer shall present the remaining two copies of the order of clearance to the Custodian along with the importer's copy of the Bill of Entry. 6.6 The Customs copies of the Bills of entry shall be arranged in the order of Serial Number of the order of clearance and shall be preserved in the Import Shed for 7 days to take care of part deliveries. After seven days, the Bill of Entry will be kept at the designated place for CRA Audit and record purposes. 7. Section 48 Cases Where the Bill of Entry has not been filed within 30 days from the date of arrival of goods at the port, on completion of data entry and submission, the Job No and details of the Job shall automatically move to the screen of the concerned group AC/DC for online approval. Concerned AC/DC shall open the Section 48 approval form from the menu and after verification shall approve filing of Bill of Entry. Only on approval of AC/DC the Bill of Entry will get accepted by system and B/E No. will be generated. The Bill of Entry thereafter will be processed in the same manner as the normal Bill of Entry. 8. Amendment of Bill of Entry 8.1 In case of any errors noticed after submission of Bill of Entry, but before examination of goods the CHA/importer may seek amendment of the Bill of Entry through the Service Centre after obtaining the approval of the concerned group AC. The required amendment shall be entered into the system by the operator of the Service Centre. Only after acceptance by the group Appraiser/Supdt. and AC/DC the amendment will get incorporated in the Bill of Entry. After amendment the Bill of Entry shall be assessed as usual. If the duty was paid prior to amendment a differential duty challan will be printed along with the revised assessed Bill of Entry. 8.2 After 'Out of Charge' Order no amendment shall be allowed in the Bill of Entry. However, in case amendment is warranted after 'Out of Charge' Order but before delivery of goods, the System Manager can cancel the 'Out of Charge' Order in the system. The original prints of the Importer's and Exchange Control copies of Bill of Entry shall be retained by the System Manager in a file. After fresh 'Out of Charge' Order new prints of the copies of Bill of Entry shall be given. 9. Re-assessment Any time after assessment and before 'Out of Charge Order', a Bill of Entry can be recalled and reassessed and put to reassessment by the AC/DC concerned, if it is so warranted for any reason. 10 Advance/Prior Noting 10.1 Advance/Prior B/E can also be filed in the ICES before the arrival of the Truck/Vehicle/Rail. In such cases, a B/E may be presented before the delivery of the IGM (Import Report), if the vessel by which the goods have been shipped is expected to arrive within 30 days from the date of presentation. The CHA/Importer may file an Advance B/E if he has the copies of the Bill of Lading and the invoice. The B/E would be filed and assessed in the same manner as indicated above. On grant of Entry Inwards, the Bill of Entry shall be regularized and shall be reassessed if the duty rates have undergone any change. If there is a delay of more than 30 days in the arrival of the vessel, a fresh B/E would have to be filed and the B/E already filed will automatically get cancelled by the system. Note: Bill of Entry filing stage:- i) Normal BE - after filing of IGM (Import Report) and after entry inward ii) Prior BE - after filing of IGM (Import Report) and before entry inward iii) Advance BE - filed before filing of IGM (Import Report) and before entry inward. 11 Processing of B/E under Other Export Promotion Schemes Requiring Import Licence Bills of Entry relating to Export Promotion Schemes like DEEC/ADVANCE AUTHORISATION, DFRC/DFIA, EPCG and REP etc which require import licence for availing benefits of exemption notifications will be processed under ICES 1.5. The procedure mentioned below will be followed: 11.1 Registration of Licence (i) Before filing of a B/E under any of such Export Promotion Schemes the related import licence will be required to be registered in the system. Data entry of the licence details will be made by registration clerk. Details of the licence will be furnished by the licence holder in the form as per Annexure- A. The form is common for all types of licences, some of the fields may not be applicable to a category of licence, and therefore, only relevant details should be filled. It will be a pre-condition of registration of licence that the IE Code of the licence holder is received by the Customs system from DGFT system. If any information which is necessary for a particular type of licence is not furnished, system will not accept such incomplete information for registration of licence. The system will maintain ledger in respect of total face value, item wise quantity and value and credit for the same will automatically be created on registration of licence and debits will be made by system when electronic B/E is processed, RA is issued, manual B/E is debited or reduction is made by amendments. To avoid any inconsistency and invalidity, the system will sum the value of all items and compare with the face value of the licence. If the sum is greater than face value of licence, the system will not permit registration. The value will always be CIF for imports and FOB in respect of exports. Where the value is in foreign currency it should be only one currency and not in multi-currency. The licence holders therefore, should check these details in their licences and ensure that the same are corrected before presenting the licence for registration. The licences with incorrect details will be rejected by the system and cannot be used for availing exemption from duty and clearance of goods. Such licences should be corrected from concerned DGFT office before presenting to Customs. (ii) The licences, which have already been partially utilized, will be registered in the system only for the balances available. (iii) After successful entry of details, a check list will be printed by registration clerk and given to the licence holder for confirming correctness of the data entered. Registration clerk will make correction, if any and will return the same to the licence holder. It is the sole responsibility of the licence holder to verify and confirm the correctness of the data entered before proceeding further. License should not be sent by post or through a letter to custom house but should be presented by a person who shall get the data entry done, verify the correctness of data on the check list and shall present the licence to the Appraiser for registration and take possession of the same after registration. 11.2 Acceptance Debit of Bonds (i) Where the export obligation has not been fulfilled and option 'N' has been entered in the field 'Exp. Oblg:' the system will ask for entry of Bond number. Therefore, if export obligation has not been fulfilled the respective category of Bond should be registered before registration of licence/RA. (ii) The Bond registered against a licence/RA will be utilized only in respect of clearances against that licence and at the time of filing B/E electronically the Bond will automatically be debited by system for the amount of duty foregone. Bond types for export promotion schemes are as under: Scheme Bond type EPCG EC DEEC/Advance Authorisation DE DFRC/DFIA DE REPL DE 11.3 Registration of incoming Transfer Release Advice (TRA) (i) If both sender and receiving Customs location are operating on centralized ICES Version 1.5, no TRA need to be issued. A common centralized licence ledger shall be maintained by the system for utilization of licence for value and quantity. (ii) TRAs received from non-ICES location shall be registered like a licence for the portion of value and quantity covered in a TRA. Only fresh TRAs will be registered in the EDI System. Partially utilized TRAs will continue to be handled manually. (iii) After successful entry of details a checklist will be printed by the Service Centre operator and given to the RA hold for Confirming correctness of the data entered in the system. Service Centre operator will make correction if any and will return the same to the RA holder. 11.4 Submission of Licence/TRA in the system The license/TRA holder will present the check list of the licence/TRA along with original documents to the proper officer. The officer will compare the details entered in the system with the original licence/TRA. After satisfying himself with correctness, will submit the licence in the system on the basis of the job number of the check list. The system will generate a Licence Regn. No. This registration number and date should be endorsed in bold on the original licence/TRA. After registration, the documents may be returned to the Importer and copies thereof may be kept in the office file for record. TRA will be registered only on the basis of Customs copy of the TRA. After registration, Customs copy and importer's copy of TRA will be defaced by the Officer. 11.5 Issuing TRAs Transfer Release Advice will be issued for utilization of a licence at any other Customs station. No TRA needs to be issued for Customs location operating of ICES Version 1.5. TRA shall be issued only for ICES 1.0 and non-ICES locations. All TRAs against the licences registered in the system shall only be generated from system. Details for obtaining Release Advice shall be furnished in the Format given at Annexure-'D'. Data entry will be done by the registration clerk. A check list will be printed for verifying the correctness by the applicant and for his signatures. Correction if any will be carried out by the registration clerk. The authorized Appraiser will thereafter verify the details from the original licence and satisfy himself about admissibility of issue of TRA. The system will generate TRA No. and three copies of the TRA will be available for print. The check list signed by the licence holder and the office copy of the TRA will be retained by the Appraiser for record. No amendment of TRA will be permitted after it has been issued by system. Fresh TRA can be obtained for any further quantity/value or the licence can be re-credited by entering unutilized TRA. No TRA will be issued manually. 11.6 Debiting Of Licence Licence will be automatically debited in respect of Electronic B/E and Electronic Transfer Release Advice and for debiting manual B/E. For debits of licence value and quantity, in the case of electronic Bill of Entry the system shall make debits automatically on the basis of value and quantity of item in the Bill of Entry. For debiting against manual B/E the figures of value and quantity will be entered by the Appraiser in the system through a Menu for this purpose. Entries of debits on the hard copy of the licence will be made by the importers and certified by the Appraiser as usual. 11.7 Exemption for Spare Parts under EPCG Scheme (i) The system will create a ledger of face value and item wise value quantity item S. No. '0' has been created for spare parts against EPCG licence. 20% of the CIF of the goods debited to a licence will be credited by the system as value permissible for import of spares under exemption notification against EPCG licence. This value of spares will be within the total face value of the licence i.e. the sum of value of all items including value of spares imported against EPCG licence will not exceed the total face value of licence. (ii) No credit of value will be given for spares in case of imports against TRA. It may be noted that TRA is required to be obtained for spare parts also. In case of first import, no TRA will be admissible for spares. 11.8 Amendment of licence after registration Amendment in the licence data after registration can only be made by the authorized officer. If the amount of value and quantity sought to be reduced is less than the unutilized balance available in the licence amendments for reduction of value and quantity will not be permitted by the system. The system will give credit to quantity or, value in the case of increase and will debit the quantity or value in the case of reduction. Therefore, only incremental or decremented quantity or value should be entered in respect of increase or reduction. Licence status code at the time of registration will be '0'. The licence if suspended or cancelled after registration, the officer shall amend the status code to '2', '3' and '4' for cancellation, suspension and reinstatement respectively. 11.9 Filing of Bill of Entry (i) Licence Regn. No., Regn. Date details, value and the quantity should be furnished in respective column at S. No. 19.Totthe Annexure 'C'. (ii) Unit of measurement of qty. will be same as per the licence. In case the unit of measurement in the invoice is different than the one in the license, for the purpose of debit in the licence the qty should be converted in to same unit of measurement as in the licence. For spare parts against EPCG licence S. No. of item will be '0' therefore, for availing benefits of exemption notification in respect of spares Item S. No. '0' should be indicated in column 9 of the Format indicated above. Against one item in the B/E only one licence will be debited. If the Qty /or value in the licence is not sufficient to cover whole qty /or value of an item in the invoice, the invoice qty should be split in to a separate item in the B/E for debit against another license or for normal assessment. Bond/BG details should also be provided wherever so required. (iii) After successful entry of data of the B/E in the system, a check list will be printed by the Service Centre operator and given to the importer/CHA. The importer/CHA will check the details entered in the system and errors if any pointed out to the Service Centre operator for carrying out corrections in the system. The CHA/importers before returning the check list to the operator for submission of B/E in the system should ensure that licence details are also correct. The operator will exercise option of submission of B/E in the system. After submission of the B/E in the system a check list of submitted B/E should be obtained by the CHA/importer from the Service Centre operator. This check list will incorporate B/E number and item/licence wise details of debit of qty., value and duty forgone for debit in the Bond etc. 11.10 Assessment of B/E (i) For ease of distribution of various category of documents among the officers the provision has been made in the system to create any one or more of sub-groups in respect of the following Exim Scheme Codes:. Group Name Exim Scheme Codes Schemes 7A 13,14,20 7B DEBP 7D DEEC Advance authorisation 7G EPCG 7H 22 to 28 7I DFIA (26) 7N 08-09 7R 7U (ii) All the B/Es in respect of schemes for which no sub-group is created will be dealt by Group 7. (iii) The CHA/importer should present the check list obtained after submission of the B/E to the Appraiser along with all the required documents and the related licence and Advance Authorization schemes. The Appraiser will check the correctness of details of licence/Scheme etc. and also ensure that any amendments made in the licences/Schemes, subsequent to registration of licence, have also been entered in the system. If the Assessing officer is satisfied about the eligibility of exemption under related notification and the licence is otherwise valid to cover the goods in question, he may assess the B/E on system. The Assessing officer can remove the notification and deny the benefits of exemption. The debits of licence will automatically reverse when exemption notification is denied. The B/E after assessment will be audited by the Auditor and finally approved by the AC/DC. The procedure of assessment will be similar to DEPB imports. (iv) In respect of a manually assessed Bill of Entry details of value and quantity will be debited in the system by the Appraiser at the time of assessing a B/E a print of details of debit will be taken for records. 11.11 Printing of the Assessed B/E After assessment, the printout of assessed copy of the B/E will be taken by the importer/CHA from Service Centre. The printout of B/E will contain duty-paying challan if duty is payable and statement of debit of licence for value/qty and debit of Bond for duty foregone in respect of each item. The figures of these debits should be endorsed on the hard copy of the licence. 11.12 Examination/Out of Charge Procedure for goods registration, examination, 'Out of Charge' and printing of B/E after 'Out of Charge' will remain the same as mentioned above in Para 6. 12. Imports by 100% EOUs: 12 .1 Registration of EOU. All the 100% Export Oriented Units including STP/EHTP etc. will be required to be registered as EOU in the System before filing of a Bill of Entry. The designated officer shall make data entry for registration of an EOU. All verifications and authentications including all checks to determine the eligibility of the importer to be registered as an EOU and for exemption from duties shall be carried out before a unit is registered in the System as an EOU. Following details should be furnished by the EOU for registration. I. EOU type: I. A - EOU - General I. B - EOU - Aquaculture I. C - EOU - Agriculture/Floriculture I. D - EOU - Granite I. E - EOU - gems and jewellery I. F - EOU - Others (specify) II - STP III - EHTP 2. EOU Approval No. 3. Approving Authority 4. Approval date 5. Valid till 6. Importer Exporter Code (IEC) 7. IEC Branch Code. 8. ECC (Assessee's Excise Control Code) 9. Central Excise office location code Commissionerate Division Range Separate Registration would need to be made for each factory (based on the various branch codes of the IEC) in case a 100% EOU has more than one factory. 12.2 Filing of Bill of Entry Entry of Bond details (i) In the Annexure 'C' format for declaration for data entry, S. No. 15 has been added to capture the details of registration of various Bonds including the Bond for 100% EOUs. (ii) For a Bill of Entry for imports by 100% EOU indicate: - Y for Bond No if Bond is already executed with Customs at the point of import; 'C' Cex. Certificate No .... . .... . ..DT .. where the Bond is executed with Central Excise authorities; and a procurement certificate has been issued by them. 'N' where neither Bond is executed nor Central Excise Certificate is obtained before presenting the Bill of Entry. Where the option given is 'N' the system shall require the Bond to be executed after assessment but before registration of B/E for examination 'Out of Charge'. Procedure for registration of Bond/B.G. has been separately indicated in this Public Notice. The importer should indicate in the format the type of Bond as EO for 100% EOUs and indicate details of the Bond No. or the Central Excise certificate as the case may be. If Bond or Central Excise Certificate are not indicated it would be 'N' i.e. NONE. The data entry operator shall enter the related option Y or C and enter the details of the Bond or the certificate as the case may be in the respective field in the system. (iii) In the field of claim of assessment normal details shall be indicated. However, in the fields of Additional information for claiming benefits under specified exemption schemes in Col.(l) the prescribed Exim code for the relevant scheme related to imports like EOU/STP/EHTP would be required to be indicated. The Exim codes for the various schemes have already been notified in the Handbook of Procedures issued by DGFT. In column No. 2 the relevant applicable exemption notification No.... ...../Year. .........with S.No. of item in the notifications is required to be indicated against the respective item. The data entry operator shall enter the code of EOU against the field Exim code .... .... ... .after entry of Exim code enter notification no. ../yr S. No. After completion of entry of all the items of the Bill of Entry, a check list will be printed. In the check list against an item where EOU exemption is claimed the words (EOU) notification no./yr S.No. will be printed. At the end of the check list details of Bond indicating the Bond no. Bond code, amount debited, Bank Guarantee debited or the details of certificate for central excise will be printed. (iv) The importer/CHA shall check the correctness of the details in the check list return it to data entry operator for submission of the same in the system. On submission, the Bill of Entry shall be directed to Group V Il for assessment. An un-assessed copy of the Bill of Entry after submission shall be taken by the importers. 12.3 Appraising of EOU B/E. (i) The importer/CHA shall present the un-assessed Bill of Entry along with the Bonds/certificate and other documents supporting the claims of assessment under EOU to the designated Appraiser/Supdt. for making assessment. The Appraiser shall recall the relevant Bill of Entry on the screen and complete the assessment on the system after scrutiny of the documents. The system will display EOU Bond details or Central Excise certificate. The appraiser will also be able to view the details of EOU approvals. (ii) In case the importer has already executed the Bond and it is registered in the system, the system will display the amount debited in the Bond which is equal to the duty foregone. If the appraiser desires to change the amount for debiting the Bond he can select through change option and change the amount for the Bond debit BG. Where the BG is not required the amount in the field of BG should be entered as 0(Zero). The appraiser has the option of removing EOU notification where the importer is not found to be eligible for the exemption. (iii) Where the importer has not furnished Bond or central excise certificate, the system will require the assessing officer to specify the Bond amount/BG amount. The Appraiser shall specify the Bond Bank Guarantee amount in system. After processing by the Appraiser the B/E will be audited by the Auditor and thereafter processed by the AC/DC. After the assessment print of the Bill of Entry can be obtained. The details of the Bond/BG shall be printed on the Bill of Entry where neither Bond is debited nor is a central excise certificate indicated, the system will print the Bond/BG requirements as specified by the Appraiser. (iv) In case the importer has executed the Bond with the central excise authorities, he shall produce the procurement certificate issued by the central excise officer to assessing officer along with the un-assessed copy of the Bill of Entry. Assessment of Bill of Entry would be done after due verification of all the concerned documents. System would generate a communication letter to CEX Authorities for consignment and requesting for confirmation about re-warehousing. System would enable monitoring of the movement of the goods through appropriate MIS reports. (v) After completion of the assessment the Bill of Entry shall be put to Bond queue for execution/debiting of Bond. Where any duty amount has been assessed, the duty shall be deposited in the bank as usual. Unless the Bond Officer completes the action of debiting Bond in the system, the B/E will not be available for registration for examination and 'Out of Charge'. Procedure for registration of Bond/BG has been explained earlier in this Public Notice. 13. Availing Exemption under JOBBING Scheme Notification No.32/97-Cus exempts goods imported for carrying out any job work and re-export subject to conditions specified in the said notification. Importers claiming the said exemption would be required to indicate the relevant Exim code and Notification in the columns Additional information for claiming benefit under specified exemptions schemes . The Bond type JO will be indicated in the format for data entry, the Scheme code will be 20 and the exemption notification will be 032/97 item S.NO. 1. On submission print of an un-assessed copy of the B/E will be taken and presented to the designated Appraiser along with all the requisite documents. The Appraiser will recall the B/E on screen for assessment. Appraiser will be able to delete the notification to deny the exemption if so warranted, specify the Bond/BG requirements and modify the Bond/BG amounts. The B/E will be audited by the Auditor and processed by the AC/DC. Details of notification, Bond/BG debits will be printed on respective copies of the B/E. The procedure for execution and maintenance of Bond/BG in the system will be like any other Bond. 14. EX-BOND , Bill of Entry 14.1 This procedure will apply only to those ex-Bond Bills of Entry in respect of which the related warehousing Bill of Entry (Into Bond Bill of Entry) has been processed under ICES (Import) at the same Customs station. In the Format of Declaration at Service Centre for data entry, the following details will undergo a change. Types of Bill of Entry (H) For Home Consumption (W) For Warehousing (X)For Ex-Bond: Warehouse B/E No ----, DT--- and Warehouse Code (i) Warehouse Code consists of 4-digit location code; I-digit warehouse type; and 3-digit serial number of warehouse, e.g. WFD61001. If no code is assigned 'other' to be used as code - WFD60001). INVOICE PARTICULARS For Ex-Bond B/EN0----Invoice S.No. -- In Warehouse B/E Item of Import intended to be Ex-Bonded Item Quantity of item intended for ex-Bond S. No. in invoice (ii) On 'Out of Charge' of a Warehouse B/E the system will create a ledger of quantity in respect of all the items included in Warehousing B/E. For the purpose of filing Ex-Bond B/E in the system details of CHA the Importer will be entered as usual. In the field of Type of B/E 'X' will enable for entry of Ex-Bond B/E. A window will pop up for Warehouse B/E. No. date. On entry of Warehousing B/E No date, the system will capture all other details from the Warehousing Bill of Entry. Invoice S.No. as in the Warehousing B/E and against this invoice item S.No. and quantity will be entered. The system will proportionately determine the assessable value. All other details of item like the CTH, Customs Notification, CET, Excise Notification etc. as in the Warehousing B/E will be displayed by the system. Tariff Headings and the Notifications can be changed if, so required. On completion of data entry a check list will be generated by the system against the respective Job No. The importers should ensure that the details of invoice S.No, item S.No. and the quantity of the goods under ex-Bonding are correct. The check list after corrections will be returned to the Service Centre operator for submission of the Ex-Bond B/E. On submission the system will generate the B/E No. 14.2 Assessment The B/E will be allocated by the system to the Assessing Groups on the basis of same parameters as are applicable to all other types of Bs/E. Assessment will also be made by the officers in the same manner as in the case of any other type of Bs/E. Where a Warehouse B/E has been assessed provisionally the Ex-Bond B/E will also be assessed provisionally and no separate PD Bond will be required. However, in case of availing of exemption requiring Bond, same would need to be debited as in the case of any Home Consumption WE. 14.3 Debiting of Bond After obtaining the print out from Service Centre the importer/CHA will get the Bond debited from Bond Section .and get suitable endorsement on B/E with respect to debit of Bond amount and other details. 14.4 Warehousing Bill of Entry (a) For Warehousing Bill of Entry, the type of Bill of Entry should be indicated as 'W'. The importer may indicate the Bond details if a continuity Bond has already been executed in the same manner as has been explained in respect of 100% EOU. The processing of warehousing Bill of Entry shall continue to be as at present in the respective groups on first come first serve basis. (b) The system at the time of assessment of a Warehousing B/E shall display before the Appraiser the requirement of Bond equal to double the amount of duty payable. The appraiser at the time of the assessment can change the Bend/BG amounts. Where the Bond details have been entered at the time of data entry the same shall be displayed by the system debit details will be printed on the Bill of Entry. Where Bond has not been debited at the time of data entry of B/E, Bond requirement shall be on the Bill of Entry. (c) The Bond shall be registered with the designated Bond Officer and debited in respect of a B/E. Unless the Bond is debited in the system, Bill of Entry cannot be registered for examination 'Out of Charge' at the shed/docks. 14.5 Printing of Assessed B/E and Duty Paying Challan After the B/E has been assessed by the Appraising Officer, the Assessed copy of the B/E and duty paying challan will be available for printing at Service Centre the same should be obtained by the importers/CHAs from the Service Centre operator. 14.6 Payment of Duty Duty will be paid at the designated bank against a challan of Ex-Bond B/E in the same manner as in the case of a Home consumption B/E. 14.7 Order of Clearance of Goods for Home Consumption (i) After payment of duty and completing any other requirement of debiting of Bond, license etc. the assessed Ex-Bond B/E along with all other documents should be presented to the Superintendent authorized to give 'Out of Charge' of the Ex-Bond B/E. The Superintendent shall verify that:- a) The particulars in the Ex-Bond B/E correspond to the Bond register maintained in the Bond Section; b) The goods are being cleared within the validity period of Bond, interest (system calculates the ex bond BE interest based on the date of warehousing entered in the system by the Supdt. Bond and allowing 90 days interest free after the said date till the date of assessment/payment. Interest applicable till the actual date of clearance from warehouse should be matched with the interest paid) if any on the Warehoused goods as chargeable under Section 610f the Custom Act 1962 as per the rates specified under Section 47(2) of the Act ibid and/or any charges including fine/penalty payable as provided under Chapter IX of the Customs Act, 1962 have been paid; c) The rate of duty has not undergone any change after assessment and the 'Out of Charge'. In case any change has taken place after assessment in the tariff or exemption structure having bearing on assessment the B/E will be referred to the concerned Appraiser/Superintendent for re-confirming correctness of assessment. The Appraiser/Superintendent will re-assess the B/E, if so required. The system after re-assessment will generate duty challan for differential amount which will be printed at the Service Centre and duty will be paid at the designated bank. (ii) After satisfying the requirements relating to clearance of the goods the Superintendent will give 'Out of Charge' on the system. After 'Out of Charge' the system will generate two copies of the Ex. Bond B/E. One copy is for the importer and the other copy will be for the Bond Section. No exchange control copy will be generated for EX-Bond B/E. The system will also print along with B/E three copies of Order of Clearance (O/C). One copy of the O/C will be retained by the Bond Section, one copy will be retained by the officer controlling the Warehouse and the last copy will be for the Warehouse Keeper. Column for number of packages in the O/C will be blank. The Superintendent giving 'Out of Charge' will endorse on the hard copies of the O/C package serial numbers and number of packages to be cleared against the respective Ex-Bond B/E and will put his signature with his office seal on the copies of O/C and also on the copies of Ex-Bond B/E. 15. Bonds/Undertaking/Re-Export Bond for Conditional Exemptions Where the benefits of exemption under a notification is subject to execution of End use Bond, Undertaking or Re-export Bond, it would be necessary to register the respective type of Bond in the system before filing of the B/E. The Bond will be registered by the importers specifically for a notification. Details of the Bond in respect of each notification should be furnished at S. No. 18 in the Format for declaration at Service Centre for data entry of B/E. The system will automatically debit the respective Bond for amount of duty foregone on the basis of claim of exemption made for items in the B/E under a notification. For this purpose a directory has been created in the system for the notification and S.No. of item in the notification which require execution of end use Bond, undertaking or re-export Bond for availing exemption. Exemption under such notification will not be permitted by the system if respective Bond/undertaking number has not been entered at the time of data entry of B/E. Therefore, all the importers who are claiming benefits of such exemption notifications should get respective Bond accepted and registered in the system as continuity Bond of that category in respeet of each notification separately. The Bond registered for one notification cannot be utilized for another notification. Bond Codes for the types Bond are as under Bond type Bond code End use Bond EU Undertaking UT Re-export Bond RE 16. Certificate from CEX Authorities (i) Where the exemption notification provides for production of a certificate from the jurisdictional Central Excise authorities in terms of Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996, the same should also be registered in the system. For this purpose, the certificate obtained from the central excise office shall be produced to the Appraising Officer, before filing the B/E. The Appraiser/Superintendent shall register the same in the system in the same manner as the Bonds are registered. The system will generate the registration number. This registration number should be communicated to the importer and the original certificate shall be retained in the Assessing Group. Registration number shall be indicated at S.No. 16 (a) in the Format for B/E data entry. (ii) Against one B/E only one certificate should be used. The certificate shall be utilized against all such notifications requiring Central Excise certificate. At the time of assessment the officer may verify details of goods covered by the certificate and B/E on the basis of original certificate retained in the group. A print out of statement of items assessed on the basis of certificate can be obtained for reference to concerned Central Excise authority. 17. Certificates from Other Authorities Certain notifications require certificates for eligibility of exemption from various other organizations like Ministry of External Affairs, Defense etc. Such certificates can be entered in the system under the category of Misc. Certificates = 'MC'. The following details will be entered; MC number and date. Issuing authority and address. Such certificates can be viewed by Assessing Officer and also will be printed on the B/E for verification in the Shed/Docks. 18. Closure of Bond/Undertaking The Bond or undertaking would be closed by the AC/DC. When the conditions of the Bond/undertaking are complied with, the AC/DC will enter the Bond No., the system will display all the Bs/E and related Item S.Nos. in respect of which the Bond has been debited. If the conditions of the Bond have been satisfied, the option to close the Bond may be exercised item by item. When all the items against which respective Bond has been debited are closed, the Bond can be cancelled. However, if the Sr No. of items are closed and the Bond is not cancelled the same will continue to be used if there is a balance in Bond amount and validity period has not expired. All the documents on the basis of which the items are closed and the Bond is cancelled will be kept in the related Bond file for the purposes of record. 19. Assessment of Goods under Chapter 55 of Customs Tariff (i) In case of goods of aforesaid Chapter, under certain sub-headings where the duty of Customs under the First Schedule to Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is chargeable on the basis of value or weight in Kgs. or area in SQM of the textile fabrics covered under the said sub-headings and the duty chargeable will be the highest among the duties so determined on the basis of above mentioned three parameters. It is therefore, necessary to capture qty. in Kgs. and also the qty. in SQM in addition to the value of such goods. Provisions have been made in the system to enter qty in Kgs. and qty in SQM in respect of above sub-headings. The system will calculate duty on value, on Kgs. on SQM and will determine the highest among the three amounts. The highest amount will be taken for levy of duty. 19 B. 1 of Annexure C may be filled up accordingly. (ii) In case quantity of goods in the invoice is in Kgs. as declared in Table 'A' under 'Details of Description of Items', col. (3) in the table B.l of Annexure C should be left blank and indicate only qty in SQM in col. (4) above. Similarly, if the invoice qty. is SQM then indicate only qty. in Kgs. in col. (3) and col. (4) be left blank. (iii) However, if the qty. in the invoice is in units of measurement other than Kgs. or SQM, in that case the qty. in Kgs. and SQM should be indicated in columns (3) (4) respectively. 20. Bond Management System and Processing of Bills Of Entry Relating To Goods 20.1 Bond Management System. (i) ICES contain Centralized Bond Section, which will be responsible for maintenance of documents related to Bonds, Bank Guarantees and Undertakings. Concerned AC/DC shall handle the Bonds. The Bond section will be responsible for the following: -Registration of Bonds/undertakings, Bank Guarantees, Sureties -Debit and Credit of Bonds for EDI B/Es and Manual B/Es 2. Date 3. Amount 4. Date of Deposit (ii) The Bond detail shall be entered in the Bond Section. On entry system will assign a job no. and check list is generated. The importers/CHA shall satisfy himself with the correctness of details. The corrections if any shall be made and job shall be submitted. After submission the job shall be forwarded to designated AC IDC to accept the Bond. The importer shall present the original Bond documents to the respective designated AC/DC for acceptance. (iii) The AC IDC shall observe all the instructions regarding acceptance of Bond issued by the Board/Commissionerate from time to time after satisfying that the documents submitted are in order acceptable. The AC/DC shall retrieve the Bond details on screen by entering the job no., view the entries made in the system. If the information in the system match with the documents conditions for acceptance of the Bonds are satisfied, the AC/DC may accept the Bond in the system. The AC/DC can also make corrections in the system if so required. After acceptance of the Bond by AC/DC the Bond documents shall be taken by the Bond officer/Bond clerk. The Bond officer/Bond clerk after receipt of the Bond/BG/Security etc. shall enter in the system location of Bond storage where the Bond documents have to be physically stored. At this stage, the system will generate the Bond registration number. This registration number has to be endorsed on the original documents and also communicated to the importer for their future reference. Bond Registration Number System would maintain a single running Serial No. for all types of Bonds. The Bond No. need not be initialized every year. Bond No. to start with Serial No. 100001. 20.3 Processing of Bill of Entry (with Bond) (i) Declaration in the Service Centre (a) In case the importer has already registered a Continuity Bond with the Bond Cell, he has to specify the type of Bond and Registration Number in the Service Centre declaration. However, the Bond value and BG amount is determined by the Appraising Officer. If Continuity Bond is not there, no declaration (Bond) needs to be given in the Service Centre. Bond details will be printed on the Checklist. (b) In case of EOU Bond already submitted at the Central Excise Commissionerate/Office, the Certificate Number has to be provided. If Certificate Number is declared, EOU Bond is not required. (ii) Appraising The Appraising Officer has the option to ask for Bond as condition of assessment. The following type of Bonds can be opted: Provisional Duty Bond - General Test Bond End Use Bond/Undertaking Transit Provisional Duty Bond - Project Imports Extra Duty Deposit EOU Bond Warehouse Bond B/E Type N W': Warehouse Bond is mandatory. EOU Bond: In case of items, where EOU Notification is claimed, EOU Bond or a procurement Certificate from Central Excise authorities is mandatory. (iii) Provisional Assessment: If any of the item is assessed provisionally, the Bond (Provisional or Test) is mandatory. The Appraising Officer has to specify Type of Bond, Bond Amount, BG %, BG amount, basis for Bond amount at the BE level. AC/DC has to confirm the action of Appraising Officer. Auditor has no option w.r.t. Bonds. However, he can view the Bonds requirements. (iv) Bond Requirement Details On completion of assessment, the Bond requirement details will be printed on the Assessed Copy of the BE. Where the Bond has not been executed before assessment, on completion of assessment and payment of duty (wherever required) the importer is required to execute the Bond in respect of the Bill of Entry in question before goods registration in the Shed. If the Bond has not been executed against the Bill of Entry the goods registration cannot be done. The Importer has to give a written request to AC/DC for debiting the Bond against a B/E. The importer shall specify the Bond Registration No. B/E No. and Date. The AC (Bond) has to retrieve the Bond and debit the Bond and BG. AC/DC Bond has the option to view the B/E. Before debiting, the system will pose the query Whether the language of the Bond meets the legal requirement of the assessment of the B/E. If the amount to be debited is more than the credit balance in the Bond and BG Ledgers, the system will not allow debit and the AC/DC has to raise a query to the Importer for filing fresh Bond/BG. The system will not allow goods registration and 'Out of Charge', if the debit entries not made against the B/E in the Bond and BG Ledgers. Bond re-credits AC/DC has the option to re-credit value after finalization of assessment. Following entries will be made in the Bond and BG ledgers; -Date of credit -B/E No. and Date -Amount credited -Reasons for credit (a) Assessment finalized no recovery (b) Assessment finalized and differential deposited separately. (c) Necessary end use certificate submitted. (d) Re-warehousing certificate submitted. (e) Test results received confirming the goods as declared by the importer in the B/E. (f) Others. (Specify) Bond Ledger Format B/E No. B/E Date Type of Document (manual or EDI) Debit Amount (Specified by AO) Credit amount Date of debit/credit Officer Id. (v) Debiting of the Bond for manual Bill of Entry: (a) Continuity or a specific Bond shall be accepted registered in the system. A continuity Bond registered in the system can be utilized in respect of electronic as well as manual bills of entry. For debiting manual Bill of Entry, the Bond officer shall select the option of MBE-debit and enter the details of the manual Bill of Entry and amount of Bond/BG etc. After debiting, a debit slip will be generated which can be printed, one copy of slip should be attached with the B/E and other copy given to the importer. In respect of Bills of Entry where processing has not yet been automated, it would still be possible under the aforesaid Bond Management System to register the Bond in the system and utilize it against a manually processed Bill of entry as per procedure indicated above in respect of a continuity/revolving Bond. (b) Consequent upon the introduction of the Bond Management System, changes are being proposed in the processing of Bills of Entry for Warehousing of Imported goods and goods assessed to duty provisionally. The Bills of Entry would be linked to the respective Bonds and the system will maintain an account in this behalf. The procedure for processing of Provisional Assessment Bills of Entry is briefly indicated below:- (vii) Provisional Assessments:- (a) Where an item of the Bill of Entry is assessed provisionally by the Appraiser irrespective of the fact, whether EOU/Warehousing Bill of Entry, PD Bond will also be required in addition to the EOU/Warehousing Bond. The details of the Bond can be entered at the time of data entry as explained for EOU Bill of Entry. The Bond code for provisional assessment shall be 'PD'. The System will indicate sum of the duty assessed provisionally for assistance of the Appraiser for determining the amount of Bond/BG for debiting. The Appraiser can change the amount of Bond and/or B.G. for debiting. If the Bond details have not been entered at the time of data entry, the system will enforce Bond requirement. The Appraiser shall specify the amount of Bond and bank guarantee. The duty if any assessed shall be deposited with designated bank as usual. The Bill of Entry will not be registered in the shed/docks for examination 'Out of Charge' till the duty are paid and the Bond and BG as specified have been debited. The details of Bond debit or the Bond requirements shall be printed on the provisionally assessed B/E. Details of a debited Bond will also be printed on the Importer's copy and Exchange control copy of B/E. (b) In case any Cash deposit is required to be taken, the Appraiser can specify the amount of Cash deposit, the Challan for Cash deposit will also be printed with the assessed copy of B/E which will also be deposited with the designated bank like the duty and fine/penalty. 21. Assessment Involving RSP/NCCD: Provisions have been made in the Indian Customs EDI-System (ICES) for assessment of goods leviable to additional duty under section 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 based on RSP and NCCD. The declaration form to be filed at the Service Centre by the importers/CHAs shall be amended as follows:- (ii) If any of the items is leviable to additional duty under Section 3 of CTA, 1975 with reference to the retail sale price declared on the article the relevant column should be filled(Y/N). If yes following particulars should be furnished. Invoice S No Item Sl No. Description No. of Units Retail Sale Price . No. - (with specifications) . Rs. Per unit (iii) The importers/CHAs would be required to declare the retail sale price of the items to which the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act. 1976 or any other law in this behalf applies and which are notified under a notification issued under Section 4A of the Central Excise Act. 1944. It would be advisable to specify these details at Serial No (Claim of assessment)For the or each pack size of the imported item. For example if tooth paste is imported in sizes of 50 gms., 100 gms. and 150 gms. it is suggested that these be noted as three separate entries in the aforesaid Serial No (Claim to assessment) since they would be having three separate retail prices. Each article, which has different characters, specification including the difference in size of packing should be declared separate items in the Bill of Entry with a separate unit retail sale price. (iv) The retail sale price would have to be indicated in Rupees and not in any foreign currency and should conform to the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, the rules made there under or any other law in this behalf. Quantum of abatement need not be declared since the system would apply the said reduction with reference to the Central Excise Tariff Heading. Details of such items for which Retail Sale Price has been declared may be carefully verified by the Importers/CHAs before handing over the check list to the Service Centre operator for submission of the Bill of Entry. It may also be ensured that all the articles covered in the invoice are carefully checked and Retail Sale Price declared in respect of all such articles, which require declaration of Retail Sale Price. Provision has also been made for amendment of declared Retail Sale Price at different stages subject to appropriate approvals wherever required. 22. Assessment Of Special Valuation Branch Bills Of Entry through EDI 22.1 The assessment of provisional SVB Cases shall be carried out in EDI system. The following steps need to be followed carefully: a. In provisional SVB cases, Bills of Entry shall be submitted in EDI System and not manually. b. In the Rule 10 Valuation Declaration, against Sr.No. 18(s) a remark should be given as 'PROVISIONAL' by the importer to ensure that correct and complete declaration has been filed by them. c. The Provisional Revenue Deposit Amount (i.e. either 1% or 5% of Assessable Value, as the case may be) of the Bill of Entry shall be paid manually on a separate TR-6 challan in Triplicate. Thereafter, the payment of Custom Duty shall be made to designated bank. d. Bill of Entry will then be presented to Import Shed along with proof of payment of Revenue Deposit (on a Challan) which will be verified by the Shed Appraiser/Superintendent and he shall enter departmental comments, challan no, date and amount of revenue deposit paid. He shall also verify on the Customs Copy of B/E to the effect that debit has been made in the Bond. Shed Appraiser/Superintendent shall also make an endorsement on the importer copy and exchange control copy (duplicate and triplicate) of B/E that the B/E has been assessed provisionally due to S VB issue and the details of Revenue Deposit paid for that Bill of Entry. 22.2 Post clearance: After final order is given by the Special Valuation Branch, the final assessment shall be carried out manually. 23. Anti-Dumping Duty (i) Notification Directory A directory of the notifications issued by the Central Government notifying the rates of anti-dumping duty has been created in the system. Notifications issued do not have a defined structure; therefore, these notifications have been re-structured in tabulated form providing a unique S.No. of an item and a unique S.No. of producer/exporter of goods from a specified country. Due to re-structuring of the notifications into a defined format the S.Nos. at which the goods/country/producer/exporter is appearing in the notification of the ministry may differ in the notification directory. Therefore, the directory may be carefully studied to identify the correct S.No. of the item and producer/export for applying the relevant rate of duty. The notification directory is available at 'www.cbec.gov.in' and 'www.icegate.gov.in' websites. The directory can be downloaded from the said websites for reference. (ii) Filing of Bill Of Entry The importer would be required to declare the Anti-dumping notification, and S.No. of producer/exporter against the country of origin/export. These details may be declared in Col.(3) of the Table 19B (Classification Details) of Appendix-A the Format for Declaration at Service Centre for Data Entry. The extract of the Table is indicated below. 19B. Classification Details (1) Invoice Serial Number (2) Actual Invoice Number (3) Classification Details Item No. RITC 8 digit CTH A Notfn D IS No PS No QTY Exemp. NotfYr SI. No. Notfn Sl No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Abbreviations in Col. (3) above refer as under. Anotfn Anti-dumping notification number/year I S No. = Items: No. in the notification P S No. = Producer/exporter S.No. against the respective country QTY = Quantity of goods in the units of measurement on which anti-dumping rate has been fixed, if different from quantity declared in the invoice details. (iii) After entry of CTH, the data entry operator shall enter the details of Anti-dumping notification as indicated above. The rate of anti-dumping duty would be taken by the system from the directory. If the unit of measurement of quantity of goods declared in the invoice details is different than the unit of measurement on which anti-dumping duty is applicable, the quantity in such unit of measurement on the basis of which antidumping duty is leviable has also to be declared for computation of duty amount. The rate and amount of antidumping duty will be printed on the check list and copies of bills of entry. 24. Tariff Value (i) Notification Directory Directory for Tariff Values has been created in the system as per notification number 036/2001Customs (NT) dated 3.8.2001 as amended. Contents of the directory are similar to anti-dumping duty directory. The amount indicated in the same column will be rate of Tariff Value per unit of measurement of quantity whereas in the case of anti-dumping duty it will be rate of duty. The rates of value are applicable to imports from all countries and all suppliers in respect of goods specified therein, the S.No. of item in the notification and system directory is the same. (ii) Filing of Bill of Entry The importers are required to declare the Tariff value notification number and S.No. of item in the notification applicable to the goods in question. For the purpose of data entry in the system, the details of Tariff Value should be indicated in Column (3) of the Table 19B (Classification Details) of Appendix-A the Format for Declaration at Service Centre for Data Entry. Abbreviations in Col. (3) above refer as under. T Notn = Tariff Value notification number/year I S No. = S.No. in the notification QTY = Qty in the unit of measurement on the basis of which Tariff value fixed. 25. Assessment of Bill of Entry The tariff value is itself the assessable value, therefore, invoice value will be ignored by the system and the duty would be calculated on the basis of tariff value. If the Tariff value is in any foreign currency, the same would be converted into Indian rupees on the basis of exchange rate applicable to that currency as applicable on the date of filing of Bill of Entry. For the purpose of computation of value for additional duty under section 3(2) of Customs Tariff Act, 1975, the basic Customs duty and the assessable value based on tariff value shall be added. In case the importer has not declared the Tariff value, the Appraiser at the time of assessment will get a systems alert for tariff value. The Appraiser will have the option to select the tariff value and also change the S.No. of the Tariff value if incorrectly declared by the importers. The rate of Tariff value will be printed on the check list as well as on copies of Bill of Entry. 26. Levy of Addl. Duty for Non-Excisable Goods In respect of goods not leviable to Central Excise Duty under the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 but liable to Excise Duties under other Central Acts (such as Medicinal and Toilet Preparation Act, 1955) or liable to Additional Duty under Section 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, codes have been given to enable the documents for such goods to be processed on the System. A list of such codes is given in Annexure 'E' for filing Column.19(B) (5) - CETH CODE. 27. Reconstruction of Lost documents 27.1 Duplicate print out of EDI Bill of Entry cannot be allowed to be generated if it is lost, since extra copy of Bill of Entry is liable to be misused. However, certificate can be issued by the Customs stating that 'Out of Charge' order has been passed in the system to enable the goods to be accepted for import. 28. Re-print of Bill of Entry 28.1 Similarly, ere-prints can be allowed where there is a system failure, as a result of which the print out (after the 'Out of Charge' order) has been generated or there is a misprint. Permission of DC/AC (LCS) would be necessary for the purpose. The misprint copy shall be cancelled before such permission is granted. 29. Short Shipment, Shut Out, Cancellation and Back to town permission 29.1 AC/DC (LCS) will give permission for issuance of short shipment certificate, shut out or cancellation of Bill of Entry, on the basis of an application made by the importer. The Bill of Import particulars would need to be cancelled/deleted/modified in system before such permission. AC/DC would check the status of the goods before granting permission. 30. Drawal of Samples 30.1 Where appraising Superintendent of Customs orders for samples to be drawn and tested, the Inspector/EO will proceed to draw samples from the consignment and enter the particulars thereof along with name of the testing agency in system. Record of samples shall be maintained in System therefore, no separate register will need to be maintained for recording dates of samples drawn. Three copies of Test Memo will be prepared manually and signed by the Examining Officer, the Shed Appraiser/Supdt. and the importer/CHA. The disposal of the three copies would be as follows: i. Original to be sent with the sample testing agency. ii. Duplicate copy to be retained by Customs with the second sample. iii. Triplicate to be handed over to the importer. 30.2 AC/DC (LCS) may, if he deems necessary, order for sample to be drawn for purposes other than testing such as visual inspection and verification of description, market value/price enquiry etc. 31. General Information With a view to minimizing the number of queries at the time of assessment and to improve the quality of assessment, it has been decided to capture the following information about goods imported, in the ICES system at the time of filing of declaration Annexure 'C'. a. Brand b. Model c. Grade d. Specifications e. Any other information relevant for assessment, e.g. specific order for imported goods passed by CESTAT, past precedent regarding classification valuation etc. 32. Grievance Handling The Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner of Customs may be approached by importers or their CHAs for settlement of any problems faced at any stage of the import clearance. They may also use e-helpline e-mail account [email protected] opened at LCS, Raxaul. Regarding Helpdesk facilities the following may be noted: a) ICEGATE users would continue to interact with the Helpdesk at 011-23379020 and 011-23370133 or through [email protected]. This Helpdesk is managed by M/S Wipro. b) Users requiring any other clarifications regarding the new application may interact with the toll-free Helpdesk number 18002662232 or at [email protected]. This Helpdesk is managed by TCS. c) Regarding hardware issues the users may contact 18004254994 or mail to [email protected] this is managed by the H.P. d) Users may also directly contact the following designated Customs officers in case of any difficulty: (i) Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of Customs (Import), LCS, Raxaul, East Champaran, Bihar 845 305 Phone# 06255-221018, email: [email protected]. (ii) Assistant/Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Hqrs.(Systems), Central Revenue Building, Bir Chand Patel Path, Patna 800 001, Bihar. Phone# (0612)_______________ (iii) Superintendent of Customs (Admn), Import Section, LCS, East Champaran, Bihar 845 305 Phone# 06255-221018, email: [email protected]. 33. Difficulties faced/likely to be faced while implementing this Public Notice shall brought to the notice of the undersigned immediately. (KISHORI LAL) Commissioner of Customs Patna