Delegation of Board's powers to Principal Collectors - Customs - F. No. 473/232/88-Cus. VII

Delegation of Board's powers to Principal Collectors F. No. 473/232/88-Cus. VII Dated 28-11-1988 Government of India Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) New Delhi Subject : Delegation of Board's powers to Principal Collectors - Regarding. I am directed to refer to Notification No. 49 (NT)-Customs, dated 1-7-1988 delegating powers of Central Board of Excise and Customs to the Principal Collectors for declaring places to be warehousing stations under Section 9 of the Customs Act and for extending the period for which the goods may remain warehoused under Section 61 of the Customs Act. The following guidelines are prescribed to provide for uniformity of practice in the declaration of warehousing stations and in the grant of extension of warehousing period for bonded goods: 2 (a) : Declaration of Warehousing Stations. (i) Declaration of a new place as warehousing station shall be considered taking into account the industrial development of the area and the need for warehousing of imported goods at that place. (ii) Only those places should be notified as warehousing Stations where adequate facilities are available for appointing public bonded warehouses. However, in the case of 100% EOU's this condition can be relaxed and the declaration shall only be for the purpose of warehousing of goods imported by 100% EOU's. (iii) Adequate Customs/Central Excise staff should be available in the vicinity of the station which is being declared as warehousing station to provide necessary supervision and service under customs law and as required departmental instructions. Necessary arrangements for training in Customs and allied matters should also be made by deputing the officer to the Directorate of Training or by attachments with the nearest major Custom House. (iv) Cases which cannot be agreed to on the basis of the criteria in (i) to (iii) above but in which it is considered that there is strong justification for declaring a place as a warehousing station, shall be referred to the Board for decision. 2 (b) : Extension of warehousing period. (i) Extension of warehousing period shall be granted only if the authority granting the extension if satisfied that the goods are not likely to deteriorate during the extended period. Wherever necessary goods should be got tested to ensure quality and fitness for further extension of warehousing period. (ii) There should be valid grounds for granting extensions. Lack of finance to pay the duty is not necessarily a good ground for granting extension of warehousing period. (iii) Extension should be granted for the shortest period depending on the circumstances of the case and in any case extension should not be granted for more than six months at a time. Extension shall not ordinarily be granted for a total period of more than one year. (iv) In respect of the following cases a liberal approach could be adopted in granting extension of warehousing period after ensuring that goods are in good condition and not likely to deteriorate during the extended period :- (1) Goods supplied as ship stores/aircraft stores. (2) Goods supplied to diplomats. (3) Goods used in the units operating under manufacture-in- bond scheme. (4) Goods imported by 100% EOU's. (5) Goods warehoused and sold through duty free shops. (6) Machinery, equipment and raw material imported for building and fitment to ships. 3. Details of cases on which extension of warehousing period has been granted under the provisions sub-para 2.1(iv) may be forwarded to the Board every month for considering waiver of interest charges under proviso to Section 61(2) of the Customs Act. 4. While extending the warehousing period it may be kept in view that the very purpose of curtailing the period of warehousing in the 1983 Finance Act was with a view to curbing the tendency on the part of the trade to import and build up large inventories, the consequence of which was that considerable revenue was blocked up. Public Accounts Committee in its 124th report has adversely commented on the manner in which the extensions of warehousing period were granted in the past. Requests for extension may, therefore, be considered with case and circumspection and granted only in deserving cases. In the cases in which goods which do not fall in above criteria but where it is felt that an extension is justified on the facts and circumstances such may be referred to the Board for decision.