Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 [CAROTAR, 2020] - CBEC's Customs Manual 2023 - Customs

7. Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 [CAROTAR, 2020]: Finance Act, 2020 inserted Section 28DA in the Customs Act, 1962 so as to provide for proper administration of rules of origin under various trade agreements and to lay down procedure regarding claim of preferential tariff on goods imported into India. The Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 [CAROTAR, 2020] have been notified vide notification No. 81/2020-Customs (N.T.) dated 21.08.2020 which prescribe form, time limit, conditions and restrictions, as provided in the section 28DA of the Customs Act, 1962. Some of the major provisions under the above-named rules provide for the following- 7.1 CAROTAR requires that the importer or his agent shall, to claim preferential rate of duty under an agreement, at the time of filing bill of entry, - (a) make a declaration in the bill of entry that the goods qualify as originating goods for preferential rate of duty under that trade agreement; (b) produce certificate of origin (CoO), covering each item on which preferential rate of duty is claimed; (c) enter details of CoO in the bill of entry, namely: CoO reference number, date of issuance, originating criteria etc; and (d) indicate status regarding accumulation/cumulation, third country (back-to-back) issuance of CoO and/or direct transportation of goods from country of origin, where applicable. 7.2 It, also, requires an importer to possess sufficient information about the origin of goods. In this regard, a form has been suggested for ease of reference, containing a list of basic minimum information, which an importer is required to obtain to claim preferential tariff under an agreement. This information is not required to be submitted with every bill of entry and needs to be presented only when an inquiry is made by a Customs officer. 7.3 In case of a doubt with regard to origin of goods, information is required to be first called upon from the importer of the goods, before initiating verification with the partner country, as maybe provided, under the respective trade agreement. 7.4 CAROTAR specifically provides for circumstances that may necessitate verification request pertaining to a CoO from concerned verification authority of partnering country during the course of customs clearance or thereafter, as detailed below, where: (a) there is a doubt regarding genuineness or authenticity of CoO for reasons such as mismatch of signatures or seal; (b) there is reason to believe that the country of origin criterion, stated in the CoO, has not been met or the claim of preferential rate of duty made by importer is invalid; or (c) verification is being undertaken on random basis, as a measure of due diligence to verify whether the goods meet the origin criteria, as claimed. 7.5 For such verification requests, timeline for receiving information and subsequent finalization of preferential tariff claim based on information received even in cases where these timelines may not be provided in the related agreement are clearly spelled out. 7.6 Further, with a view to safeguarding rightful revenue, Clause 10 of Section 28DA of Customs Act, 1962 read with CAROTAR provide that preferential tariff treatment may be denied without verification under the following circumstances: (a) the tariff item is not eligible for preferential tariff treatment; (b) complete description of goods is not contained in CoO; (c) any alteration in the CoO not authenticated by the Issuing Authority; (d) CoO is produced after the period of its expiry.