Procedure for grant of self-sealing permission (SSP) to the exporters in GST regime consequent to CBEC Circular No. 26/2017 - Customs dated 01.07.2017, Circular No. 36/2017 dated 28.08.2017 and Circular No.37/2017 dated 20.09.2017 - Customs - 11/2017

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS CUSTOM HOUSE; WILLINGDON ISLAND, COCHIN-682009 F. No. FSP/01/2017.Cus Date: 03.10.2017 TRADE FACILITY No. 11/2017 Sub: Procedure for grant of self-sealing permission (SSP) to the exporters in GST regime consequent to CBEC Circular No. 26/2017 - Customs dated 01.07.2017 , Circular No. 36/2017 dated 28.08.2017 and Circular No.37/2017 dated 20.09.2017-reg. Attention of all Exporters/ Importers/ Steamer Agents/ Customs Brokers/ Trade Industry and the Public is invited to the CBEC Circular No. 26/2017-Cus dated 01-7-2017 , Circular no. 36/2017 dated 28.08.2017 and Circular No. 37/2017-Cus dated 20.09.2017 on the above subject. 2 . Board Circular No. 26/2017-Cus dated 01-7-2017 prescribes changes in the export procedures and sealing of containerized cargo. At present, there are three categories of containers which arrive at the port/ICD: a. Containers stuffed at factory premises or warehouse under self sealing procedure. b. Containers stuffed / sealed at factory premises or warehouse under supervision of Central Excise Officer. c. Containers stuffed and sealed at Container Freight Stations/Inland Container Depot. 3. For the sake of uniformity and ease of doing business, Board has decided to simplify the procedure relating to factory stuffing of export cargo, hitherto carried out under the supervision of the Central Excise officers. It is the endeavour of the Board to create a trust based environment where compliance in accordance with the extant laws is ensured by strengthening Risk Management System and Intelligence setup of the department. It has been decided to do away with the sealing of containers with export goods by CBEC officials and instead follow a self sealing procedure. 4 . Board Circular no. 36/2017 clarifies further that exporters who were availing the facility of sealing at their factory premises under the system of supervised factory stuffing will be automatically entitled for self-sealing procedure. All exporter AEOs will also be eligible for self-sealing. It is clarified that all those exporters who are already operating under the self-sealing procedure need not approach the jurisdictional Customs authorities for the self sealing permission. Exporters with supervised factory stuffing permission need to submit the list of authorised signatories as per point 5.1.3. 5 . Containers from the premises falling under the jurisdiction of this Custom House is prescribed as follows: 5.1 The exporter shall:- 5.1.1 Inform the Superintendent of Customs (SSP) of this office about their arrangement to follow self-sealing procedure to export goods from the factory premises or warehouse at least 15 days before the first planned export along with necessary information as per format enclosed as Annexure `A' ; 5.1.2 Be registered under the GST and should be filing GSTR1 and GSTR2. 5.1.3 Submit therewith a list of persons, along with their specimen signatures, who are authorized on behalf of the exporter to do the self-sealing and self-certification as per format enclosed as Annexure- B 5.1.4 Submit copies of their identity proof (with photograph) and proof of Address of each individual authorized signatory, attested by the exporter along with a certificate of signature verification from any of the Scheduled Commercial Banks. (Self attested copies of Aadhar would serve the purpose of proof of identity address) 5.1.5 Submit a self attested copy of the I.E. Code issued by the D.G.F.T and GSTIN; 5.1.6 Submit copies of ownership documents of the premises/ factory or rental/lease agreement where stuffing of the export goods into containers is to be done; 5.1.7 Submit copy of Registration cum Membership Certificate, brief profile of the company along with shipping bill history of preceding 2 (two) years and other relevant documents (self attested). 6 . The intimation, along with its enclosures, will be received in this Office and a duly acknowledged copy returned to the exporter. The Superintendent (SSP) or Inspector of Customs shall inspect the premises with regard to the viability of stuffing of container in the premises and submit a report to the Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner of Customs (SSP) within 48 hours. 7 . The Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner shall forward the proposal to the Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner of Customs who would consider granting permission of self-sealing of export containers at the required premises. 8 . Self-Sealing permission once granted by a Jurisdictional Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner of Customs shall be valid for exports at all customs stations unless withdrawn by the jurisdictional Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Customs for non-compliance of law, rules and regulations. 9 . Subsequently, the exporter shall only intimate the shipment/ self-sealing particulars to the Superintendent of Customs (SSP) one day in advance to the planned stuffing. The intimation, in this regard, shall clearly mention the place and address of the approved premises, description of export goods and whether or not any incentive is being claimed. 10 . The self-sealed containers shall be brought by the exporter to CEPC (ICTT), Vallarpadam along with the Checklist of the Shipping Bill, Packing List, Invoice, duly filled in ANNEXURE 'C' and any other required relevant document for further processing by Customs, including seal verification, granting of LEO and generation of the Shipping Bill for the consignment. 11 . Transport document for movement of self-sealed container by an exporter from factory or warehouse shall be the same as the transport document prescribed under the GST Laws. In the case of an exporter who is not a GST registrant, way bill or transport challan or lorry receipt shall be the transport document. 12 . Where the visit report of the Superintendent or an Inspector of Customs regarding viability or the stuffing at factory/ premises is not favourable, the exporter shall bring the goods to the Container Freight Station / Inland Container Depot for export. 13 . Where exporter is not a GST registrant, he shall bring the export goods to a Container Freight Station/Inland Container Depot for stuffing and sealing of the container. However, in certain situations, an exporter may follow the self-sealing procedure even if he is not required to be registered under GST Laws. Such an exception is available to the Status Holders recognized by DGFT under a valid status holder certificate issued in this regard. 14. In case exporter(s) wants to change the approved premise(s), they shall make a request as per the procedures prescribed in this Trade Facility and a fresh permission shall be granted before commencement of self sealing at the new premises. 15 . The exporter intending to clear export goods on self-clearance (without employing a Customs Broker) shall file the Shipping Bill under digital signature. 16 . All consignments in self-sealed containers shall be subject to risk based criteria and intelligence, if any, for examination/ inspection at the port of export. At the port/ICD as the case may be, the Customs Officer would verify the integrity of the seals to check for tampering, if any on route. However, random or intelligence based selection of such containers for examination/ scanning would continue. 17 . It is proposed to replace the bottle seals with Electronic seals. The exporter shall directly procure such tamper proof e-seals from vendors and seal the container with these e-seals. The electronic seal should have a unique number which should be declared in the shipping Bill. Before sealing the container, the exporter shall feed the data such as name of the exporter, IEC Code, GSTIN number, description of the goods, tax invoice number,, name of the authorized signatory (for affixing the e-seal) and Shipping Bill number in the electronic seal. Thereafter, container shall be sealed with the same electronic seal before leaving the premises. The concept of e- seal is further elaborated in the Board Circular 36/2017-Customs dated 28.08.2017 and 37/2017-Customs dated 20.09.2017 . 18. However, as a measure of facilitation, the existing practice of sealing the container with a bottle seal would continue till 31.10.2017. The list of Vendors providing E-seals is made available on the website of CBEC ( www.cbec.gov.in ) for ease of reference of the trade (as per Circular No. 37/2017- Cus dated 20.09.2017 ). 19. Examination norms as prescribed under Circular No. 6/ 2002-Cus., dated 23.01.2002 (as amended) shall be applicable for all consignments. In case, the RFID seals of the containers are found to be tampered with, then mandatory examination would be carried out by the Customs authorities. 20 . Custodians and Customs Brokers are also advised to proactively engage with vendors of c-seals regarding availability of reading facilities at container terminals and ICDs so that there is no dislocation to logistics operations. 21. Any deviation from the procedure laid out in this Trade Facility or any violation under the Customs Act, 1962 and rules and regulations made there under or any other law for the time being in force, will be viewed seriously which may result in withdrawal of the self-sealing facility accorded to the exporter and/or initiation of any other proceedings under the Customs Act, 1962 and rules and regulations made there under or any other laws for the time being in force. 22 . The above said revised procedure regarding sealing of export containers shall be effective from 01.11.2017. All concerned, are requested to complete the formalities required to avail the above facility within the said date, so as to have a seamless transfer to the new procedure. 23 . Considering the difficulties faced by trade associations in locating vendors of RFID seals, the Board has decided that the date for mandatory self-sealing and use of RFID container seals is deferred to 1St November, 2017. The existing practice may continue till such time. It is also provided that exporters are free to voluntarily adopt the new self-sealing procedure based upon RFID, sealing, if readers are in place at the customs station of export from 01.10.2017. 24 . Superintendent (SSP) shall be the Nodal Officer for matters related to the self sealing procedure. 25 . Any difficulty, experienced in the implementation, may be brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs (SSP) immediately. (Pullela Nageswara Rao) Principal Commissioner of Customs