Proper declaration of description of goods in Import General Manifest (IGM) by shipping lines - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 154/2018

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (NS-II), MUMBAI ZONE-II, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE, NHAVA SHEVA, TALUKA: URAN, DISTRICT: RAIGAD, MAHARASHTRA-400707. F. No. S/12-Gen-misc -07/2018-18/ AM (X) Dated 07.12.2018 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 154/2018 Sub: Proper declaration of description of goods in Import General Manifest (IGM) by shipping lines: reg. Attention of the Members of Trade and Industry, steamers/ Shipping Agents(SA), Port/Terminal Operators and all other persons is invited to the Public Notice No 161/2016, dated 28.11.2016 (including subsequent Public Notices on DPD), Public Notice No 33/2018, dated 07.03.2018 (Mandatory declaration of GSTIN, IEC and email address of importer in the Bills of Lading obtained by shipper) issued by JNCH and also provisions of Handling of Cargo in Customs Areas Regulations, 2009 as amended by Notification No. 96/2010 dated 12.11.2010. 2. Public Notice No 33/2018, dated 07.03.2018 provided that importers are required to ensure that following basic details are informed to their exporters abroad so that these details are incorporated in the bills of lading issued at the time of booking of such consignments. a. Import export Code (IEC) of importer; b. GST Identification No (GSTIN) of importer; c. Official email id of importer (to be used for correspondence by shipping lines and Customs). Accordingly, shipping lines operating / functioning at Nhava Sheva were also directed to ensure that they obtain such details from exporters abroad, if such consignments are to be discharged at Nhava Sheva (JNPCT or GTI or NSICT / NSIGT or BMCTP terminals) and indicate the same in the IAL submitted to the Terminal. 3. Import General Manifest (in case of import by sea) required to be filed under Section 30 of the Customs Act 1962 is a statutory declaration and every ship, which enters Indian, waters with the intention of discharging cargo is bound to deliver this document. The purpose of filing IGM is to ensure that all imported goods brought in the vessel have been duly accounted for. A person filing declaration under this section has to declare the truthfulness of contents as it has legal consequences, which bind the carrier. Any mis-declaration in this document will attract the penal provisions of Section 111 (f) and section 112. 4. Thus, one of the basic objective of requirement to file Import General Manifest (IGM) is to notify Customs department of importing country by carrier of goods about the details of goods arriving at such customs location. Therefore, carrier / shipping lines are required to declare details of cargo, shipper, consignee, number of packages, kind of packages, description of goods, bill of lading number and date, vessel details etc. in the IGM. 5. There have been a number of instances where it has been observed that carriers have not declared the correct and proper description of goods in the IGM filed by them. It has also been observed that there are cases where proper description of goods was available in the bill of lading, but it was not declared in the IGM. There is need to have proper declaration of goods both in the bill of lading and also in the IGM and the two must correspond. Moreover, in many cases the description of the goods was found to be imprecise and generic e.g. miscellaneous items or household items . While it is true that it is not possible to specify the description of all the goods when a bill of Lading covers multiple items or associated goods, care must be taken to ensure that the description is specific and precise and at least, the major item is correctly described. As far as possible, the description should also contain the size and specification of goods. In the absence of complete details, it becomes difficult to resort to pre-arrival processing or Non- intrusive inspection and the latter particularly gets delayed. 6. Accordingly, shipping lines operating / functioning at Nhava Sheva are one again directed to ensure that they declare full description of goods (including size, brand, other specification of goods) correctly and completely both in the Bills of Lading and IGM. They may impress upon their clients to declare / provide these details to them, so as to enable them to correctly file IGM to Customs and Import Advance List (IAL) to the Terminals 7. Difficulty, if any may also be brought to the notice of Deputy / Assistant Commissioner in charge of DPD Cell, NS-II or Appraising Main (Export) through email / phones (email address: [email protected] or [email protected] , Phone No : 022-27244959, 022-27244979). 8. This issues with approval of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone-II, JNCH. Action to be taken in terms of decisions taken in this Public Notice should be considered as standing order for the purpose of officers and staff. sd/- (SUBHASH AGRAWAL) COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (NS-II)