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The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has eased the rules regarding submission of bonds by importers and exporters to expedite Customs clearance of goods and to maintain a balance between Customs control and facilitation of legitimate trade in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.
The CBIC has approved relaxation of the requirement to submit bonds prescribed under sections 18, 59 and 143 of the Customs Act after receiving representations on the difficulties faced by importers/exporters and their authorised Customs brokers in obtaining notarised stamp papers for furnishing bonds required by Customs in certain situations during the assessment and clearance of goods, M Sangha, Joint Commissioner (Customs), wrote in a April 3 circular.
Beneficiaries
Considering that the importer/exporter may find it difficult to comply with requirement of furnishing bond for some more time till the situation normalises, the relaxation shall be available up to April 30.
The relaxation shall, however, be subject to review by the CBIC on April 14, the day the lockdown ends.
Till April 30, Customs field formations may accept request for submission of an undertaking from the importer/exporter in lieu of a bond prescribed under the Act. The relaxation will apply to government/public sector undertakings (Central/State/UT governments or administrations and their undertakings), manufacturer/actual user importer, authorised economic operators, status holders and all importers availing warehouse facility in terms of Section 59 of the Customs Act, 1962.
On a case-to-case basis
Such relaxation from submitting a bond may also be considered on a case-to-case basis for any other importer and exporter who requests for the same, with additional safeguards as deemed fit by the jurisdictional Commissioner to safeguard revenue and ensure compliance of the statutory provisions.
Importers/exporters availing this facility shall ensure that the undertaking furnished in lieu of bond is duly replaced with a proper bond before May 7.
In the case of warehoused goods, any subsequent movement of goods to another warehouse under Section 67 of the Customs Act, 1962, shall be allowed only to manufacturer/actual user importer or AEO (authorised economic operator) or status holders. For requests related to change of ownership after warehousing, the facility shall be considered only in cases where the prospective buyer is either manufacturer/actual user importer or AEO or status holder.
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