Board's Circular No.36/2017-Customs dated 28.08.2017 regarding- Implementing Electronic Sealing for Containers by exporters under self-sealing procedure prescribed vide circular 26/2017-Customs dated 01 July 2017 - Customs - PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 23/2017

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS GST BHAVAN, 41/A, SASSOON ROAD, PUNE-411001 F. No. VIII/Cus/Tech/PN SI/48-75/2016 Date: 30.08.2017 PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 23/2017 Subject: Board's Circular No.36/2017-Customs dated 28.08.2017 regarding- Implementing Electronic Sealing for Containers by exporters under self-sealing procedure prescribed vide circular 26/2017-Customs dated 01 July 2017. Attention of all Importers/ Exporters/ Customs Brokers and the Members of the Trade is drawn to Ministry's Circular Nos. 36/2017 -Customs dated 28.08.2017, regarding Implementation of Electronic Sealing for Containers by exporters under self-sealing procedure prescribed vide circular 26/2017 -Customs dated 01st of July 2017. 1. In this context, it is to bring to your notice that in continuation of the Board circular 26/2017-Customs dated 1.7.2017 regarding self-sealing of containers by exporters using electronic seals. The Board has approved the following procedure which shall be adhered to by exporters opting for self-sealing. 2. Procedure - a) The exporters who were availing sealing at their factory premises under the system 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 jurisdiction Customs authorities for the self-sealing permission. b) The permission to self seal the export goods from a particular premise, under the revised procedure, once granted shall be valid unless withdrawn by the Jurisdictional Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Customs if non- compliance to law, rules and regulations is noticed. In case the exporter makes a request for a change in the approved premise(s), then the procedure prescribed in circular 26/2017 -Cus shall be followed, and a fresh permission granted before commencement of self-sealing at the new premises. c) With respect to para 9 (v) of the circular 26/2017-cus, Principal Commissioner / Commissioners would be required to communicate to Risk Management Division (RMD ) of CBEC, the IEC (Importer Exporter Code) of the following class of exporters: i) Exporters newly granted permission for self-sealing:- ii) Exporters who were already operating under self-sealing procedure; iii) Exporters who were permitted factory stuffing facility; and iv) AEO's. The categories mentioned in category c (ii), c (iii) and c (iv) are required to submit their details to the Technical Section of the Pune Customs Commissionerate on or before 20-09-2017. For new exporters seeking permission for self-sealing, Category c(i), applicants are required to submit their application form to the Technical Section of the Pune Customs Commissionerate. d) Under the new procedure, the exporter will be obligated to declare the physical serial number of the e-seal at the time of filing the online integrated Shipping Bill or in the case of manual shipping bill before the container is dispatched for the designated Port / ICD / LCS. e) Exporters shall directly procure RFID seals from vendors, conforming to the standard specification mentioned in para 3 below. Since the procedure seeks to enhance integrity of transportation of goods, the exporters will be required to obtain seals directly. They shall provide details such as IEC etc., at the time of purchase for identification as well as for using the standard web application necessary to support an RFID self-sealing ecosystem, f) 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. 3. Standard specification of the seal: a) The electronic seal referred to in Para 9 (vii) of the Circular No. 26/2017-Customs dated 01.07.2017 shall be an 'REID tamper proof one-time-bolt seal, each bearing a unique serial number. The exporters shall be responsible for procuring the seals at their own cost for using in self-sealing. b) Each seal shall be a one-time-bolt-seal, bearing a unique serial number and brand of the vendor in the format ABCD XXXX XXXX, where ABCD stands for the brand of the vendor and X (8 digit is a numerical digit from 0-9). c) The REID seal shall conform to ISO 17712:2013 (H) and ISO/IEC 18000-6 Class 1 Gen 2 which is globally accepted in industrial applications and can be read the use of UHP (i.e. MHz to 960 MHz) Reader scanners. d) The manufacturer or vendor as the case may be, shall be in possession of certifications requireda for conformance of the ISO standard I SO 17712:2013 (H) namely, clauses 4, 5 and 6. Before commencement of sales, the vendor shall submit self-certified copies of the above certifications to the Risk management Division (RMD) and all the ICDs/ Ports where he intends to operate along with the unique series of the seals proposed to be offered for sale. 4. Application, Record Keeping and Data Retrieval System: a) It is clarified that the Information sought from the exporter in para 9 (vii) of the circular 26/2017- Customs shall now be read as IEC (Importer Exporter Code). Shipping Bill No.; Shipping Bill Date; e-seal number; Date of sealing; Time of sealing; Destination Customs Station for export; Container Number; Trailer- Truck Number. It is further clarified that the information need not be mounted in the electronic seal: but tagged to the seal using a 'web / mobile application' to be provided by the vendor of the REID seals. Data once uploaded by the exporter should not be capable of being overwritten or edited. b) All vendors will be required to transmit information in para (a) above to RMD and the respective destination ports / ICDs of export declared by the exporter. The arrangements for transmission of data may be worked out in consultation with the RMD and nodal Customs officer at each ICD / Port. c) All vendors shall be required to make arrangements for reading / scanning of RHD one- time Bolt seals at the Customs Ports / ICDs at their own cost, whether through handheld readers / fixed readers, d) The integrity of the REID seal would be verified by the Customs officer at the port / LCD by using the reader-scanners which are connected to Data Retrieval System of the vendor. e) Since all ICDs / Ports where containerized cargo is handled would require reader scanners, Principal Commissioners or Commissioners exercising administrative control over such Ports / ICDs shall notify the details of the nodal officers for the smooth operation of this system. In this context, for Pune Customs, the Appraiser / Superintendent (Examination) of all ICDs / Ports will be the nodal officer. f) The history of the self-sealing should be visible to the exporters tor their reference. g) The vendor shall also undertake to integrate the Information stored on the data retrieval server with ICEGATE at his own cost on a date and manner to be specified by the Directorate General of New Delhi. 5. The new self-sealing procedure shall come into effect from 01.10.2017. Till then the existing procedure shall continue, The Nodal Officers, i.e. Appraiser / superintendent (Examination) at each ICD I Port will be responsible for co- ordination of the arrangements for installation of reader scanners, whether fixed or handheld. 6. The circular may be downloaded from the website www.cbec.gov.in. 7. Difficulties, if any, may be brought to the notice of the undersigned. (M. V. S. CHOUDARY) Commissioner of Customs, PUNE .