Page 127 - DMGT546_INTERNATIONAL_TRADE_PROCEDURE_AND_DOCUMENTATION

International Trade Procedures and Documentation

Notes

Note The importer is not allowed the unbundling of cargo and the customs official will
put a seal on such cargo to be transshipped, which shall be checked by destined customs
official at the time of duty assessment and examination of cargo.

3. Goods for personal use and warehousing: The importer has been allowed to warehouse
the cargo without the payment of duty as per Section 46 of the Customs Act. As the
Government of India wishes to reduce the transactional cost of international trade, the
importer is allowed to warehouse the cargo and duty assessment and examination of
cargo shall be done at a later stage. The importer will then pay the duty on cargo. For such
clearance of cargo, the procedure is very simple: the importer/CHA (Customs House
Agent) has to file a bill of entry with custom for warehousing of cargo.
In case the importer has imported the goods for personal use, he can get his cargo cleared
by payment of duty as assessed for home consumption after payment of the duties leviable.
4. EDI Customs clearance: For making work more efficient and transparent, the government
has introduced the customs clearance procedure online and as many as 24 ports/air cargo
stations/ICD/CFS are integrated in a single system of customs clearance. Under the EDI
system, the importer does not have to submit any formal or physical Bill of Entry, but it is
generated in the computer system known as IGATE, which generate a specific number for
importer cargo clearance and is transmitted on all systems automatically throughout India.
It is to be noted that under the EDI system, the importer has to file a cargo declaration, which
shall prescribe particulars as required for processing of the entry for customs clearance.
In the EDI system, the importer need not submit documents as in case of cargo declaration in
non-EDI form. In the EDI system, the importer generates all such forms in non-physical
form in the electronic format, which contains all the relevant information with respect to
various documents and such information, is processed to the Service Centre for duty
assessment. However, the importer has to submit a signed paper copy of all such declarations
as generated in the system to the service centre operator for confirming the genuineness and
non-reputability of the declaration. Importer/CHA generate a checklist so as to verify of
data authenticity. The importer submits the data to service centre only after verification so
as to avoid any error to the Service Centre Operator. On the submission of such correctness
report, the Service Centre Operator generates a B/E Number, which is endorsed on the
printed checklist and then returned to the importer/CHA. As such, no original documents
are required at this stage and customs officials may demand such original documents at the
time of examination and assessment of cargo. For establishing the correctness and genuineness
of the documents, the importer has to sign the copy of all such electronically generated
forms once again at the time of customs clearance from port/air cargo station.
Under the EDI system, the Import General Manifest is also submitted by the Steamer
Agents through EDI or by using the service centre of the Custom House. Hence the noting
aspect is automatically examined by system itself, which generates the bill of entry number,
which has to be noted on all copies of bill of entry. In EDI form of declaration such
manifestation is automatically transmitted/forwarded manually or electronically to the
concerned Appraising Group in the Custom House, who is responsible for examining and
assessing the cargo for customs clearance. As examination and assessment is a highly
technical job, the customs department has assigned the various groups who are earmarked
for dealing the commodities, which fall under their domain/chapter only. The Central
Board of Excise and Customs has divided the various commodities under different Chapter
Headings of the Customs Tariff and the appraising officer takes up further scrutiny for
assessment, import permissibility etc. only as per the provisions of the customs manual of
CBEC.

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