AMENDMENTS IN THE CUSTOMS ACT, 1962

S. No.

 Amendment

Clause of the Finance Bill, 2022

1.

Clause (34) of section 2 contains definition of “proper officer”. This section is being modified to specifically state that assignment of functions to an officer of Customs by the Board or the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs shall be done under the newly inserted sub-sections (1A) and (1B) of Section 5 in the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962).

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2.

Section 3 is being amended to specifically include the officers of DRI, Audit and Preventive formation in the class of Officers. This amendment has been made to remove any ambiguity as regards the class of officers of Customs.

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3.

Sub-Section (1A) and 1(B) to Section 5: Sub-section (1A) and (1B) have been inserted in section 5 of the Act to explicitly provide power of assignment of function to officers of customs by the Board or as the case may be by the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs. This amendment has been necessitated to correct the infirmity

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observed by the Courts in recent judgments that the Act required explicit provision conferring powers for assignment of function to officers of Customs as “proper officers” for the purposes of the Act, besides the definition clause (34) in section 2 of the Customs Act

4.

Sub-section (4) to Section 5 is being inserted to delineate the criteria which the Board may adopt while imposing limitations or conditions under sub-section (1) or while assigning functions under sub-section (1A) to the officer of Customs. For instance, one of the limitations/ conditions that the Board currently imposes on “officers of Customs” is that they are required to operate within a specified territorial jurisdiction. However, with the launch of faceless assessments and other trade facilitation initiatives wherein, for instance, a need is felt for the development of industry-specific expertise in assessments the Board may need to confine jurisdiction to certain goods or class of goods.

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5.

Sub-section (5) to Section 5 is being inserted to ensure that wherever necessary, for the proper management of work, two or more officers of customs, can concurrently exercise powers and functions (for example in the case of faceless assessment)

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6.

Section 14 is being amended to include provisions for rules enabling the Board to specify the additional obligations of the importer in respect of a class of imported goods whose value is not being declared correctly, the criteria of selection of such goods, and the checks in respect of such goods. This amendment is a measure to address the issue of undervaluation in imports.

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7.

Section 28E is being amended to omit the Explanation under clause (c) and omit clause (h).

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8.

Section 28H is being amended to make provisions for prescribing appropriate fees by Board relating to application for advance Ruling and also give flexibility to the applicant to withdraw his application at any time before a ruling is pronounced from the current 30 days’ time period. Consequently, the sub-section (3) is being omitted.

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9.

Sub-section (7) under section 28I is being substituted so as to remove the word “Members” and also make changes accordingly.

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10.

Sub-section (2) under Section 28J is being substituted so that advance ruling under sub-section (1) of Section 28J is now valid for a period of three years or till there is a change in law or facts on the basis of which the advance ruling has been pronounced, whichever is earlier. A proviso is also being inserted to provide that the advance rulings in force on the date on which the Finance Bill, 2022 receives assent of the President, the said period of three years shall be reckoned from the date on which the Finance Bill receives assent of the President.

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11.

Section 110AA is being inserted with a view to affirm the principle that, wherever, an original function duly exercised by an officer of competent jurisdiction, is the subject matter of a subsequent inquiry, investigation , audit or any other specified purpose by any other officer of customs, then, notwithstanding, such inquiry, investigation, audit or any other purpose, the officer, who originally exercised such jurisdiction shall have the sole authority to exercise jurisdiction for further action like re- assessment, adjudications, etc. consequent to the completion of such inquiry, investigation, audit or any other purpose.

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12.

Section 135AA is being inserted to protect the import and export data submitted to Customs by importers or exporters in their declarations by making the publishing of such information unless provided by the law, as an offence under Customs Act.

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