The Hindu Business Line : Norms for recognition of customs house bodies likely

THE Finance Ministry may issue guidelines to customs commissioners for granting recognition to Customs House Agents' (CHA) Associations. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had come up with new licensing regulations for customs house agents in February 2004.

The new regulations requires every customs house agent to enrol himself as a member of the Customs House Agents' Association, if there is one registered in the customs station and recognised by the Commissioner of Customs.

After the new regulations were issued, the field formations had approached the CBEC seeking clarifications as to whether there was any scope for recognition of more than one CHA Association at any customs station and whether the board intended to issue guidelines for recognition of such an association by the Commissioner of Customs. They also recommended that suitable guidelines be issued by the board prescribing conditions such as the maximum number of associations in each customs station and the minimum percentage of membership (of the total number of CHAs) necessary for recognition of the association by the commissioner.

Responding to the clarifications sought by the field formations, the board has now clarified through a circular that "guidelines are under contemplation".

It has also highlighted that legally there was no bar in having more than one recognised association. At the same time, the board also said that it was advisable to have only one association.

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