Deep sea fishing - Grant of Customs clearance - Customs - F. No. 450/60/92-Cus. IV

Deep sea fishing - Grant of Customs clearance F. No. 450/60/92-Cus. IV Dated 1-1-1993 Government of India Central Board of Excise Customs New Delhi Subject : Deep Sea Fishing - Grant of Customs clearance - Regarding. The instance of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the question of certification by the customs authorities of the quantity and value of fish caught by deep sea fishing vessels beyond the territorial waters of India and exported directly to foreign ports has been examined by the Board. 2. It has been observed that in the case of deep sea fishing vessels, the catch is exported directly from such vessels to the foreign ports without being brought to any Indian Port. In such cases since the export is taking place from a place outside India, this is, beyond the territorial waters of India, legally Customs would not be competent to certify the shipping bills since for the purposes of Customs Act, such a catch of fish cannot be covered under the expression "export goods" as defined in the Act. Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Food Processing Industries have accordingly been advised that they should devise their own mechanism for certifying the export of fish caught beyond the territorial waters and taken directly to foreign ports. The normal procedure of processing of shipping bills would, however, apply in cases where the fish is first brought to the port and exported thereafter.