Clearance of goods under India’s Trade Agreements without original Certificate of Origin - Customs - 18/2020

Circular No. 18/2020 - Customs F. No. 15021/10/2020- ICD (CBEC) Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs International Customs Division Room No. 227A, North Block, New Delhi -110001 Dated: 11 TH April, 2020 To The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad/Bengaluru/Delhi/Kolkata/Mumbai I/Mumbai II/Mumbai III Zone. The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Delhi/Patna/Tiruchirapalli. The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax, Bhopal/Bhubaneshwar/Guwahati/Hyderabad/Meerut/Nagpur/Pune/Thiruvana nthpuram/Visakhapatnam. Madam / Sir, Subject: Clearance of goods under India s Trade Agreements without original Certificate of Origin- regarding. The undersigned has been directed to refer to the Trade Notice no. 62/2019-2020 issued by DGFT on 6th April 2020. The said Trade Notice has been issued in consultation with CBIC and it seeks to mitigate the difficulties being faced by importers in producing the original Certificates of Origin (C O O) on account of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 2. It is accordingly directed that in accordance with the said Trade Notice, the import consignments, where a preferential treatment of goods under a Free Trade Agreement has been claimed but the original hard copy of C O O has not been submitted or only digitally signed copy or unsigned copy of C O O is submitted, may be assessed and cleared provisionally in terms of section 18 of the Customs Act, 1962 . The final assessment may be done subsequently on submission of the original C O O certificate by the importer. The revenue may be secured through undertaking and appropriate security. 3. Customs field formations shall maintain a record of all cases of relaxation allowed by them and will ensure that such provisional assessments are finalized at the earliest and in accordance with the prescribed regulations. Yours sincerely, (Abhishek Kumar Sharma) Officer on Special Duty (ICD)