OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (NS IV)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE, NHAVA SHEVA,
TAL. URAN, DIST. RAIGADH, MAHARASHTRA – 400 707.
 
F.No.S/12-Gen- 133/AM(X) JNCH   Date: 17.12.2014
 
STANDING ORDER No. 12/2014

In view of introduction of Risk Management System (RMS) facility to the exports made through Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House the review of Standing orders No.  54/2007, 54/2008, 4/2009, 13/209, 20/2009, S/O 37/2009, S/O 48/2010, S/O 66/2010, S/O 42/2011 was initiated. To facilitate trade and for better compliance this consolidated standing order is issued which shall substitute all the above referre` d standing orders.

1. Procedure regarding Carting of Export goods – marking of packages:  All the officers conducting examination of export goods are hereby directed to ensure that:

a)  All the packages brought for export should be properly marked. In case of packing in bales where stencil marking is not possible, markings can be made on the cloth which is then properly stitched on to the bales. However, goods like tyres, tubes, etc. which cannot be stencil marked or with cloth stitched marked, shall be exempt from the marking requirements mentioned above. Numbers should be given in a way to show total number of packages covered by the shipping bill i.e. if there are 50 packages, than package no.1 should be marked as 1/50, No. 2 should be marked as 2/50 and so on.

b)  Total Consignment relating to one shipping bill should be stacked distinctly.

c)  The stencil or printing marking on all the packages should be distinct, bold and clear so that the packages can be easily identified and co-related with the respective shipping bills.

d) No cargo should be allowed to enter the CFS without proper cover of documents, marks and nos. and description of goods and clear endorsement regarding verification of seals / carting permission. The custodian is to necessarily check and verify the package numbers and number of packages along with verifying the weight and confirming arrival of cargo. The Customs officer should register the shipping bill only after the full export goods are received in the Export Shed with proper marking and numbering on the packages. No examination of cargo shall be undertaken unless goods are properly marked in the manner as specified above.

e) If any packages are found to be attempted to be exported without affixing marks and numbers as detailed above, the officer should bring this to the notice of Superintendent and AC/DC and appropriate action should be initiated against the exporters. Action should be also be initiated against CHA / CFS found not adhering to these provisions.

2. Accuracy of declaration in export documents:
a) All the officers are hereby directed to ensure that while assessing, examining/inspecting or giving LEO to export goods, in all S/Bills, the units of quantity should only be in terms of standard units of quantity, as prescribed in the First Schedule of the CTA 1975., except where the export goods attract Duties in terms of the Second Schedule of the CTA 1975., the units of measurement of the quantity should be as given in the Second Schedule of the CTA 1975, at the time of exports.

b) One of the essential requirement for ensuring correct classification and valuation of goods is the quality of data furnished by the exporters. The declared description should be accurate, specific and complete. Exporters and CHAs have been advised to follow guidelines as per P.N. no 75/2011. During assessment and examination the officer should ensure that accurate, specific and complete description are given in the shipping bill for the correct classification, valuation and assessment of goods.

c)  It has been noticed that essential documents in some cases such as CENVAT Certificate, Self Declaration, Leather Declaration etc. required to be filed are not produced in time. In some case it is observed that merchant exporters are not declaring the name and address of the supplier of the export goods in the CENVAT declaration. Such exporters should be insisted upon to declare the same. While registering the S/Bill the marks and nos. should be tallied with the document on which carting permission has been granted. In order to avoid queries and subsequent delay in processing of export documents, the officer should ensure that required compulsory compliance documents such as wood declaration,  test report in terms of Public Notice 03/2007 dated 09.02.2007 where drawback is based on composition, NOC from WLRO/ ADC/APDA wherever  applicable, packing list giving weight of individual items in case of composite goods, and test report/ sample drawn by Central Excise in case of Factory Stuffed containers in terms of Public Notice No. 03/2007 dtd. 09.02.2007, are submitted/ produced at the time of examination of the cargo.

3. Examination after introduction of RMS facility:

a) With implementation of RMS in exports the facilitated shipping Bills shall be presented by the exporter with required documents for registration. The Examining Officers are required to follow RMS instructions in respect of facilitated Shipping Bills. However Officers are expected to point out any discrepancies noticed to superior officer for process of intervention. Undue delay in the matter will, however, be viewed seriously. It is expected that if no discrepancies are evident then RMS facilitated Shipping Bills shall go for LEO without delay after the marks and nos., lot, container nos. and seal, as applicable, have been verified.

b) In respect of Shipping Bills which are selected for “verification of self assessment or Examination or both” the officer is expected to follow the system’s instructions since higher quality of verification and examination is expected. Under the current system examining and supervising officer are expected to ascertain the quantity, quality and the various compliances with allied laws in respect of these consignments. The compulsory compliance requirement is to be verified in the system through a proper entry in this regard.

c) It may also be noted that after the goods have been registered, if any exporter wishes to change any of the critical parameters resulting in change of value, Drawback amount, DEPB credit, Port etc. such consignment should be subjected to examination.

d) In the case of export goods which are stuffed and sealed in the presence of Customs / Central Excise officers at the factory of manufacture, ICD / CFS, warehouses and other places where the Commissioner has, by a special order, permitted, it may be ensured that the containers are bottle sealed or lead sealed. In case of export through bonded trucks, the truck should be similarly bottle sealed or lead sealed. In case of export by ordinary truck / other means, all the packages are required to be lead sealed. In the case of goods examined by Central Excise / Custom Officers and sealed and stuffed under their supervision at a factory or in an approved warehouse, the consignments shall be accompanied by an examination report in the prescribed form.

e) In all cases where examination is carried out in presence of Superintendent/ A.O/AC/DC the same shall be noted in the system under departmental remarks and if the work is delegated a remark to that effect may be made.

f)  It is also clarified that the PO / EO who registers consignments should be vigilant to the possibility of unscrupulous exporters splitting up consignments, carted in a given shed, so as to keep the export incentive amount in each shipping bill low to avoid stricter scrutiny by system. Any adverse findings in this regard should be brought to the notice of the superintendent or AC / DC by the PO / EO.

g)  In case an Officer wants to overrule the RMS instruction, he should record the reasons and forward the Shipping Bills to AC/DC Docks menu.

4. Provisional assessment of shipping bills where samples are drawn or where value is required to be determined: Reference of all officers is invited to Standing Order No. 42 /2011, dated 13th May, 2011 issued vide F. No. JC/GGP-Misc-03/2010 with regards to Provisional assessment of shipping bills where samples are drawn or where value is required to be determined under the Customs Valuation (Determination of Value of Export Goods) Rules, 2007, The instruction and directions given therein are reiterated and officers are directed to follow the instructions of the said Standing order scrupulously.

5.Back to town cases: Back to town cases should be dealt with in manner as prescribed in Standing Order No- 43 of the year 2008 /JNCH.

6. Re-export of goods: All cases of re-export to the same destination shall require compulsory 100% determination of identity of goods by AC/DC concerned. Cases of re-export to third country will continue to be dealt with in manner already prescribed and laid down vide circulars in this regard. Processing of manual S/Bs for drawback under section 74 shall continue to be governed by procedure laid down in Standing Order No 47 of the year 2008. Manual noting of S/Bs would be allowed with approval of AC/DC in respect of exports of ship stores,  coastal goods, CARNET, re-export under section 74 and re-export under section 69 and in special cases wherein there is some difficulty whereby the S/Bs cannot be noted in the system with approval of the Commissioner.

7. Strict guidelines for manual LEO: The manual LEO shall continue to be given in circumstances and as per procedure laid down in Standing Order No. 44 of the year 2008.

8. Seizure and release of goods: In case where export goods are found to be mis-declared in terms of quantity, value and description and are seized for being liable to confiscation under the Customs Act, 1962, the same may be ordered to be released provisionally on execution of a bond equivalent to the value of export goods with appropriate security to cover redemption fine and penalty. Similar procedure may be follow in respect of goods where determination of value/classification etc. is to be carried out. A clause in respect of finalisation in respect of export benefit only after final decision in the matter should be included in the Bond. Bond and Bank Guarantee shall be taken by AC/DC Docks in all such cases.  However, where testing is resorted to and goods may be of nature where they become liable for confiscation as a result of being prohibited, steps to get an early  result may be taken and report made to the Commissioner in this regard.

9. Maintenance of Goods Registration Register and Discrepancy Register: Each export shed / CFS is required to maintain a goods registration register which acts as a control register for the supervisory officers such as AC / DC, JC, Commissioner. The goods registration register should give a clear picture of the nature of goods being sought to be cleared and which have already been carted into the CFS. No registration of cargo should be done without a clear receipt endorsement with location from the CFS.

a) The details of export goods being registered in a shed / CFS for examination shall be captured in a Goods Registration Register to be maintained by the Superintendent. The following format shall be adopted by all sheds / CFS for uniformity:

b) Similarly, each shed / CFS is required to maintain a record of cases detected by the shed / CFS in the form of a discrepancy register. In order to ensure uniformity, the Discrepancy Register shall be maintained by each shed / CFS in the following format:

c) A monthly report regarding the discrepancies noticed during examination shall be sent by each CFS to the Commissioner of Customs for information by the 10th day of the succeeding month.

10. Guidelines regarding procedure to be followed at Gate:  As introduction of the Gate Module in ICES system may take some time, the following procedure shall be followed with immediate effect and until further orders:

a) All CFSs shall immediately provide ICES terminal and EDI/internet connectivity to the Customs Gate Officers deployed therein. The Gate Officers shall get their SSO-ID mapped in the ICES to view the document and its status. The Gate Officers can also view the documents through internet from ICEGATE, whether the Bill of Entry has been given out of charge by the proper officer. By viewing the documents, the Gate Officers can check from the system, before allowing physical removal of cargo from the CFS. The CFSs had been directed to provide this facility positively by 06.06.2014.

b) The Shed Appraising Officers/Superintendents shall give a list of Bills of Entry, in respect of which OOC has been given by them, to the Gate POs at periodical intervals i.e. at 3 PM and 8 PM.  The Gate POs should verify the OOCs presented to them for their bonafide nature and allow the physical removal of cargo from the gate of CFS from these lists in case access to system is not available/ procedure at Sr. No. (a) is not in place.

c) The AC (Docks), Admin will circulate specimen signatures and  stamps of all OOC’s Officers posted at the Docks to all Gate PO’s.  Gate PO’s should keep this list readily available for quick verification.

d) Gate PO’s must also thoroughly examine the clearance/exit documents presented to them, before allowing physical clearance of cargo.

Any difficulty noticed in the implementation of this Standing Order may be brought to the notice of the undersigned.

Sd/-17.12.2014
(S.H. Hasan)
Commissioner of Customs (NS IV)