2. CUSTOMS PROCEDURE :-
Goods are imported in India or exported from India
through sea, air or land.
Goods can come through post parcel or as baggage
with passengers.
Procedures naturally vary depending on mode of
import or export.
3. IMPORT PROCEDURE :-
Introduction
Bill of Entry
Amendment of Bill of Entry
Payment of Duty
Prior Entry for Shipping Bill or Bill of Entry
Specialized Schemes
Bill of Entry for Bond/Warehousing
4. Introduction :-
All goods imported into India have to pass through the
procedure of customs for proper examination,
appraisal, assessment and evaluation.
This helps the custom authorities to charge the proper
tax and also check the goods against the illegal import.
Also it is important to note that no import is allowed
in India if the importer doesn’t have the IEC number
issued by the DFGT.
5. Bill of Entry :-
A Bill of Entry also known as Shipment Bill, is a
statement of the nature and value of goods to be
imported or exported, prepared by the shipper and
presented to a customhouse.
Amendment of Bill of Entry :-
Whenever mistakes are noticed after submission of
documents, amendments to the bill of entry is carried
out with the approval of Deputy/Assistant
Commissioner.
6. Required Documents :-
Signed invoice
Packing list
Bill of Lading or Delivery Order/Airway Bill
GATT declaration form duly filled in
Importers/ CHA’s declaration
License wherever necessary
Letter of Credit/Bank Draft/wherever necessary
Insurance document
Import license
Industrial License, if required
Test report in case of chemicals
Adhoc exemption order
DEEC Book/DEPB in original
Catalogue, Technical write up, Literature in case of machineries, spares
or chemicals as may be applicable
Separately split up value of spares, components machineries
Certificate of Origin, if preferential rate of duty is claimed
No Commission declaration
7. Payment of Customs Duty :-
The duty can be debited to such current account,
or it can be paid in cash/DD through TR-6 challan
in designated banks.
Prior Entry for Shipping Bill or Bill of Entry :-
For faster clearance of the goods, provision has been
made in section 46 of the Act, to allow filing of bill of
entry prior to arrival of goods. This bill of entry is valid
if vessel/aircraft carrying the goods arrive within 30
days from the date of presentation of bill of entry.
8. Specialized Schemes :-
Import of goods under specialized scheme,
DEEC,
EOU etc ,
required to execute bonds with the custom authorities.
Bill of Entry for Bond/Warehousing:-
A separate form of bill of entry is used for clearance of
goods for warehousing. Assessment of this bill of entry
is done in the same manner as the normal bill of entry
and then the duty payable is determined.
9. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORT DUTY AND CLEARANCE :-
Noting of Bill of Entry :-
Bill of Entry submitted by importer or Customs House
Agent is cross-checked with ‘Import Manifest’
submitted by person in charge of vessel / carrier.
Prior Entry of Bill of Entry :-
Importer have cleared the goods usually 3 working
days.
If not cleared then demurrage is charged by port
trust/airport authorities, which is very high.
10. Assessment of Customs duty :-
Section 17 provides that assessment of goods will be
made after Bill of Entry is filed.
Appraising The Goods :- Appraiser has to
(a) correctly classify the goods
(b) decide the Value for purpose of Customs duty
(c) find out rate of duty applicable as per any
exemption notification and,
(d)verify that goods are not imported in violation of
any law.
11. VALUATION OF GOODS :-
As per rule 10 of Customs Valuation Rules, the
importer has to file declaration about full 'value' of
goods.
APPROVAL OF ASSESSMENT :-
The assessment has to be approved by Assistant
Commissioner, if the value is more than Rs one lakh.
12. EXAMINATION OF GOODS :-
Examiners carry out physical examination and
quantitative checking like weighing, measuring etc.
Selected packages are opened and examined on
sample basis in ‘Customs Examination Yard’.
Examination report is prepared by the examiner.
13. Out of Customs Charge Order :-
After goods are examined, it is verified that import is
not prohibited and after customs duty is paid,
Customs Officer will issue ‘Out of Customs Charge’
order under section 47.
Demurrage if goods not cleared :-
Heavy demurrage is payable if goods are not cleared
from port within three days.
14. EXPORT PROCEDURE:-
Registration
Processing of Shipping Bill
Arrival of Goods at Docks
System Appraisal of Shipping Bills
Customs Examination of Export Cargo
Stuffing / Loading of Goods in Contaoners
Drawls of Samples
Amendments
Export of Goods under Claim for Drawback
15. Generation of Shipping Bills :-
For clearance of export goods, the exporter or export agent
has to undertake the following formalities:
Registration :-
Any exporter who wants to export his good need to obtain
PAN based Business Identification Number (BIN) from the
Directorate General of Foreign Trade prior to filing of
shipping bill for clearance of export goods.
The exporters must also register themselves to the
authorised foreign exchange dealer code and open a
current account in the designated bank for credit of any
drawback incentive.
16. Registration in the case of export under
export promotion schemes: -
All the exporters intending to export under the export
promotion scheme need to get their licences / DEEC book
etc.
Processing of Shipping Bill - Non-EDI: -
In case of Non-EDI, the shipping bills or bills of export are
required to be filled in the format as prescribed in the
Shipping Bill and Bill of Export (Form) regulations, 1991.
An exporter need to apply different forms of shipping bill/
bill of export for export of duty free goods, export of
dutiable goods and export under drawback etc.
17. Processing of Shipping Bill - EDI:-
Under EDI System, declarations in prescribed format
are to be filed through the Service Centers of Customs.
A checklist is generated for verification of data by the
exporter/CHA.
After verification, the data is submitted to the System
by the Service Center operator and the System
generates a Shipping Bill Number, which is endorsed
on the printed checklist and returned to the
exporter/CHA.
18. Arrival of Goods at Docks:-
On the basis of examination and inspection goods are
allowed enter into the Dock. At this stage the port
authorities check the quantity of the goods with the
documents.
System Appraisal of Shipping Bills:-
In most of the cases, a Shipping Bill is processed by the
system on the basis of declarations made by the exporters
without any human intervention. Sometimes the Shipping
Bill is also processed on screen by the Customs Officer.
19. Customs Examination of Export Cargo:-
The Customs Officer may inspect/examine the
shipment along with the Dock Appraiser. The Customs
Officer enters the examination report in the system &
then marks the Electronic Bill along with all original
documents and check list to the Dock Appraiser.
If the Dock Appraiser is satisfied that the particulars
entered in the system conform to the description given
in the original documents and as seen in the physical
examination, he may proceed to allow "let export" for
the shipment and inform the exporter or his agent.
20. Stuffing / Loading of Goods in Containers :-
The exporter or export agent hand over the exporter’s
copy of the shipping bill signed by the Appraiser “Let
Export" to the steamer agent. The agent then
approaches the proper officer for allowing the
shipment.
The Customs Preventive Officer supervising the
loading of container and general cargo in to the vessel
may give "Shipped on Board" approval on the
exporter’s copy of the shipping bill.
21. Drawal of Samples:-
Where the Appraiser Dock (export) orders for samples
to be drawn and tested, the Customs Officer may
proceed to draw two samples from the consignment
and enter the particulars thereof along with details of
the testing agency in the ICES/E system.
22. The disposal of the three copies of the test memo is as
follows:-
Original – to be sent along with the sample to the test
agency.
Duplicate – Customs copy to be retained with the 2nd
sample.
Triplicate – Exporter’s copy.
The Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner if he
considers necessary, may also order for sample to be drawn
for purpose other than testing such as visual inspection
and verification of description, market value inquiry, etc.
23. Amendments:-
Any correction/amendments in the check list
generated after filing of declaration can be made at the
service center, if the documents have not yet been
submitted in the system and the shipping bill number
has not been generated.
Generation of Shipping Bills:-
The Shipping Bill is generated by the system in two
copies- one as Custom copy and one as exporter copy.
Both the copies are then signed by the Custom officer
and the Custom House Agent.
