The Economic Survey showcased reform measures taken by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) with regard to Customs
● The Customs duty rate structure has been guided by a conscious policy of the government to incentivise domestic value addition under Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, which inter alia envisages imposition of lower duty on raw materials and providing reasonable tariff support to goods being manufactured in India.
● Phased Manufacturing Plan (PMP) in respect of significant products like mobile phones, other electronic goods like TVs, electric vehicles, batteries, solar panel etc- The BCD rates in respect of different stages of the value chain of these products are calibrated in a manner that encourages gradual deepening of domestic value addition.
● India stands fully compliant with all the commitments under WTO‘s Trade Facilitation Agreement. Compliance has been achieved well within the stipulated timeline of February 2022 and the same stands duly notified and acknowledged by the World Trade Organisation. India has witnessed a sustained improvement in the Trade Facilitation score to 90.32% in 2021 from 78.49% in 2019
● With the objective to enhance the uniformity in the physical examination process of EXIM cargo and reduce the time and cost involved in the process, CBIC has introduced Risk Management based uniform cargo examination orders at all Customs locations across the country, vide Circular No. 16/2022-Customs dated 29th of August, 2022.
● Continuing with the trend to implement measures to facilitate taxpayers, CBIC has notified the Customs (Electronic Cash Ledger), Regulations, 2022 dated 30.03.2022 to enable the importer, exporter or any person liable to pay Customs duty, fees etc., to deposit an advance with the government instead of making transaction wise payment as was being done earlier. Such deposit can be utilised for payment of duties and other sums relating to Customs by seamlessly debiting the requisite amount from the ECL. Additionally, CBIC has launched an Anonymised Escalation Mechanism for handling the grievances related to delay in clearances.
● With an objective to utilise technology to optimise internal processes, CBIC has launched a pilot project for implementation of Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) on 14.10.2021, based on blockchain technology for tracking movement of goods from the port to a warehouse at ICD Tughlakabad ensuring secured documentation & GPS based tracking of containers.
● Indian Customs has notified IGCRS Rules, 2022 vide Notification 74/2022 dated 9th September, 2022 superseding the existing Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty) Rules, 2017. These rules have introduced significant changes for simplifying and automating the procedures for import of goods at concessional Rate of Duty in accordance with the larger goals of “Ease of doing business” by accommodating long standing demands from the trade such as inclusion of job work, clearance of capital goods at depreciated value, making the entire process simple and online and doing away with any need for physical interface with officers.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
