Customs - Guidelines on issuance of new Warehouse License, Custody and handling of warehoused goods, Removal of Warehoused Goods etc - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE No. 20/2018-Customs

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (PREVENTNIVE) 55-17-3, C-14, 2nd Floor, Industrial Estate, Autonagar, Vijayawada - 520007 Phone: 0866-2551261 Fax: 0866-2551156 C. No. VIII/40/19/2018-Tech-I Date: 04.05.2018 PUBLIC NOTICE No. 20/2018-Customs Subject: Customs - Guidelines on issuance of new Warehouse License, Custody and handling of warehoused goods, Removal of Warehoused Goods etc - regarding. Attention of all importers, Customs House Brokers, Member of the Trade and other is invited to the new warehouse licensing regulations, 2016. The Board has issued the following Notifications and Circulars for issuance of warehousing licenses, custody, handling and removal of warehouse goods. Sl.No Notification / Circular No Date Issue in brief 1 70/2016-Customs(NT), dated 14/05/2016 Public Warehouse Licensing Regulations, 2016 2 71/2016-Customs(NT), dated 14/05/2016 Private Warehouse Licensing Regulations, 2016 3 72/016-Customs (NT), dated 14/05/2016 Special Warehouse Licensing Regulations, 2016 4 66/2016-Customs (NT), dated 14/05/2016 Specifying the class of goods which shall be deposited in a special warehouse 5 67/2016-Customs (NT), dated 14/05/2016 Warehouse Goods (Removal) Regulations, 2016 applicable to Public /Private and Special warehouses 6 68/2016-Customs (NT), dated 14/05/2016 Warehouse (Custody and Handling of Goods) Regulations, 2016 applicable to Public and Private warehouses 7 69/2016-Customs(NT), dated 14/05/2016 Special Warehouse (Custody and Handling of Goods) Regulations, 2016 applicable to Special warehouses 8 Circular No.17/2016- Customs, dated 14/05/2016 Instructions regarding affixation of one-time-lock Circular No.18/2016- Customs, dated 14/05/2016 Bond required to be filed under section 59 of the Customs Act, 1962 7 Circular No.19/2016- Customs, dated 20/05/2016 Allotment of warehouse code in ICES 8 Circular No.20/2016- Customs, dated 20/05/2016 Clarification regarding transitional provisions relating to Duty Free Shops / ship stores /Airline stores / Diplomatic stores 9 Circular No.21/2016- Customs, dated 31/05/2016 Security under section 59(3) of the Customs Act, 1962 10 Circular No.22/2016- Customs, dated 31/05/2016 Procedure regarding filing ex-bond bill of entry 11 Circular No.23/2016- Customs, dated 01/06/2016 Manner of payment of interest on warehoused goods 12 Circular No.24/2016- Customs, dated 02/06/2016 Requirement of solvency certificate for private warehouse licenses 13 Circular No.25/2016- Customs, dated 08/06/2016 Maintenance of records in electronic form, filing of returns and acknowledgement of receipt of goods 14 Circular No.26/2016- Customs, dated 09/06/2016 Form of application for Public / Private / Special bonded warehouse license 2. It is observed that even after nearly two years after issuance of new Warehousing Regulations from Board, new warehouse license applicants are not submitting all the required documents for grant of new warehouse license. Hereafter, the applicants have to fulfil all the obligations including maintaining the warehouse records in Form A electronically with the feature of audit trail which means a secure, computer generated, time-stamped electronic record that allows for reconstruction of the course of events relating to the creation, modification or deletion of an electronic record and include actions at the record or system level, such as, attempts to access the system or delete or modify a record. All the existing warehouse license holders shall put in place proper software for maintenance of electronic record by 30/06/2017. 5. Further, the warehouse licensees shall observe all the instructions issued by the Board in relation to receipt, storage, handling and removal of goods. The movement of goods from customs station to warehousing station as well as from one warehousing station to another warehousing station shall be under one-time-lock (OTL) and the OTL number along with the date / time of its affixation should be invariably endorsed on the bill of entry and transport document. The procedure prescribed under Board's Circular No.17/2016-Customs, dated 14/05/2016 shall be followed in this regard. 6. The warehouse licensees shall file monthly returns in relation to warehoused goods in Form-A and Form-B prescribed vide Board's Circular No.25/2016-Customs, dated 08/06/2016 to the Bond Officer within ten days after the close of the month to which such return relates. Hence all licensees are hereby directed to submit their monthly statements in the prescribed form within the stipulated time. 7. It is also observed that the applications for licensing of warehousing is being filed at eleventh hour without proper documents. The Board vide Circular No.26/2016-Customs, dated 09/06/2016 has prescribed 30 days time for proper verification and issuance of warehousing licenses. Hence forth, it is directed that all stakeholders shall submit the required documents well in advance for grant of new warehouse licenses. 8. The application for new warehousing license shall be in the proforma prescribed vide Board's Circular No. 26/2016-Customs, dated 09/06/2016 for all types of warehousing licenses viz., public or private or special warehouses. The application is designed to capture all the details required for issue of new warehouse license. Hence, no part of the application shall be deleted or modified and if any particular information is not applicable, the same shall be mentioned clearly along with reasons. Copies of all the supporting documents shall also be duly attested by the applicant. 9. If the applicant for warehousing license is a proprietary firm, the same can be signed by the proprietor. In case of partnership or any other entity, the person signing the application shall be duly authorised by the entity as per the Companies Act or any other act applicable to them. 10. A check list covering the points mentioned in the application is annexed to this Public Notice for ease of reference. However, if any other documents other than those mentioned in the checklist are required after scrutiny of the application, the same shall also be furnished immediately. 11. Difficulties, if any, in implementation of this Public Notice may be brought to the notice of the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Vijayawada. (SUDHA KOKA) COMMISSIONER