Faceless Assessment - Re-organisation of
FAGs Operational from 15 July
·
Board Targets 90% of all Consignments
for FA
·
FA Work beyond 8 PM Allowed
·
First Decision within 3 hours
·
Direct Port Delivery for FA
·
Not more than 3 Queries by Assessing
Officer
[CBIC Circular No. 14/2021-Customs dated 7 July
2021]
Subject: Improvements in Faceless Assessment -
Measures for expediting Customs clearances.
Reference
is invited to Circulars No. 28/2020-Customs dated 05.06.2020,
No.40/2020-Customs dated 04.09.2020, No.45/2020-Customs dated 12.10.2020 and
No. 55/2020-Customs dated 17.12.2020, which put together detail the roll out of
Faceless Assessment pan India w.e.f. 31.10.2020 and
clarify/streamline certain processes for its effective implementation.
2.
Board has recently comprehensively reviewed the implementation of Faceless
Assessment and deliberated on the further measures required for expediting the
pace of assessment and Customs clearance of imported goods. Board finds that by
and large the objectives of Faceless Assessment in terms of expeditious
assessments, anonymity in assessments and uniformity in assessments have been
met. However, Board observes that there is even now scope for improvement which
would potentially lead to a substantial increase in the pace of assessments and
Customs clearance, while further enhancing the uniformity in assessments and
anonymity with a view to reduce interface with the trade.
3.
Accordingly, Board has decided to implement the following measures in the
Customs Faceless Assessment and clearance processes:
3.1 Enhancement
of facilitation levels: Board has earlier reviewed the facilitation levels
in imports and vide Circular No. 39/2011-Customs dated 02.09.2011 decided the
facilitation targets should be 80% for Aircargo
Complexes, 70% for Seaports and 60% for ICDs. Various initiatives have since
been taken to leverage technology as well as simplify extant procedures. As a
result,
the
overall average facilitation levels have already exceeded these levels with the
All-India average facilitation level across all Customs stations being 77% for
May 2021. Board also notes that the use of machine learning and the other state
of art technologies now enables RMS to more precisely target the risky consignments
thereby enabling more focussed attention on lesser
number of Bills of Entry for assessment by the FAGs. Thus, Board has decided
that w.e.f. 15.07.2021 the facilitation level across
all Customs stations would be increased to 90% relating to RMD. It is clarified
that the element of randomness in interdiction of any Bill of Entry would be
retained by RMS. This measure is expected to enable faster clearance of
non-risky imports with enhanced focus on risky imports, so that revenue remains
safeguarded. The aforementioned circular stands modified accordingly.
3.2 Expediting
assessment process: Board observes that, at present, the working hours of
the FAGS across the country are not uniform. Thus, there is uneven output such
that some officers of a FAG who begin work earlier clear more than the targeted
Bills of Entry while others whose working hours begin
later do not get sufficient number of Bills of Entry. Moreover, the time take
for the ‘first decision’ by the Appraising Officers and Deputy/Assistant
Commissioners of Customs is also much more than necessary resulting in lower
than optimum output. Accordingly, with a view to facilitate faster decisions
and, in turn, faster verification of self-assessments as well as to promote specialisation and enhance uniformity in assessment, Board
has decided to implement changes in the assessment procedure, as follows –
i.
The working hours of all FAGs shall be uniform from 10 AM till 8 PM on any
working day. It is clarified that within these uniform working hours, Chief
Commissioners of the NACs shall ensure that no assessing officer is required to
work for more than the working hours that are prescribed, as per the existing
guidelines of the Government of India. However, considering the nature of
Customs functioning, Chief Commissioners of the NACs shall ensure adequate
number of assessing officers are available during the holidays as per the fixed
roster. Also, in the event of administrative exigencies or local circumstances
that may emanate from time to time, the jurisdictional Pr. Commissioner/
Commissioner may permit the officers to work beyond the prescribed time
interval of 10 AM to 8 PM by way of issue of local instructions.
ii.
NACs and jurisdictional Pr. Commissioners/Commissioners of Customs shall administratively
monitor that FAGs communicate the ‘first decision’ on the Bill of Entry within
3 working hours after its allocation. The first decision could be acceptance of
the self-assessment, query to the importer or a First Check, as may be
warranted.
iii.
Jurisdictional Pr. Chief/ Chief Commissioners of Customs shall ensure as far as
possible that one Appraising Officer is given responsibility of not more than 2
(two) FAGs. The re-organisation within the zones may
be undertaken such that assessing officers at the ports with the expertise of
the items under a FAG are allotted to that FAG.
iv.
The total number of queries which can be raised by an Appraising Officer in
respect of a Bill of Entry would now be restricted to 3 (three). Further, such
queries can now be raised without seeking approval of the Addl./Joint Commissioner of Customs. Circular No.
55/2020-Customs dated 17.12.2020 stands suitably modified. In this regard,
considering this limit to the number of queries, Board desires that, Appraising
Officer raises query in a clear and holistic manner giving reference to
supporting details/documents with respect to Valuation/Classification etc., so
that the importer does not have any doubt and is in a position to reply
categorically for early completion of verification.
v.
The option to `set-aside` 5 (five) Bills of Entry, which is already available
with the Appraiser/Superintendent would henceforth not require an approval of
the Deputy/Assistant Commissioners of Customs. It is expected that the
Appraiser/Superintendent would utilize the facility to set aside certain BEs (upto the limit) to address some genuine issues.
3.3 Re-organisation of FAGs - Specialization: To promote specialisation in assessment, Board has decided to create
separate FAGs for certain commodities, which also contribute appreciably to
revenue. These new FAGs would become operational from 15.07.2021, and would be
as follows:
|
Present Assessment Group (CTH) |
New FAGs (CTH) |
|
1(01-26) |
1 (01-15) – Primary Products 1 1B (16-26) – Primary Products 2 |
|
4 (72-83) |
4 (72-73) – Ferrous Base Metals 4A (74-83) – Non-Ferrous Base Metals |
|
5 (84) |
5 (8401-8469) – Mechanical Machinery -I 5E (8470-8473) – Mechanical Machinery -II 5N (8474-8487) – Mechanical Machinery -III |
|
5A (85) |
5A (8501-8516) – Electrical Machinery 5C (8517-8531) – Communication & related Equipment 5M (8532-8548) – Micro-Electronics |
|
5B (86-92) |
5V(86-87) – Vehicles 5F (88) – Aircrafts 5S (89) – Vessels 5I (90-92) – Instruments & Apparatus |
3.4 Re-organisation of FAGs - Optimisation
of workload: The composition and the performances of various FAGs across
zones in recent times have been examined considering the volume of Bills of
Entry handled by the FAGs. To further optimise their
performance, Board has decided to re-organise the
NACs as per Annexure I of this circular. Consequently, Annexure II to Circular
No.45/2020-Customs dated 12.10.2020 is modified to this extent. Due care has
been taken to balance the objectives of improved and faster assessments with
the efficient deployment of available manpower. In particular, the endeavor has
been to ensure that the reconfiguration of the FAGs does not lead to a
disproportionate reduction/increase in the overall workload (i.e. BEs)
presently being handled by the Zones. Since the parameters for setting up of
NACs/ re-organisation are dynamic variables, Board
would carry out periodic reviews in consultation with NACs for further
improvement in the performance of Faceless Assessment.
3.5 Enhancing
Direct Port Delivery (DPD): Circular No.29/2019-Customs dated 05.09.2019
stipulates the eligibility criteria for availment of
DPD by the importers. Since then a number of measures including advance filing
of Bill of Entry have led to quicker turn-around time for the import cargo. The
present decision to enhance the facilitation levels is also a step in this
direction. However, while facilitation levels are going up, the DPD levels are
not rising commensurately. This is primarily because the present policy is to
have an entity based DPD while facilitation levels are linked primarily to
Bills of Entry. Accordingly, in order to enhance DPD for faster Customs
clearances as well as de-congestion of ports, Board has decided to shift from
entity based DPD to a Bill of Entry based DPD. In short, in partial amendment
to the said circular, Board has decided that, as a general principle, all the
advance Bills of Entry which are fully facilitated (do not require assessment
&/or examination) would be granted the facility of DPD. It is clarified
that, this facility is over and above the present system of entity based DPD
extended to AEO clients. However, the entity whose Bill of Entry has been
facilitated for DPD would be required to adhere to the requirements of the
ports/terminals/custodians for taking physical delivery of the container.
Further, to optimise the ground handling by the
ports/terminals/custodians, the ICEGATE shall modify the electronic message
being sent to the ports/terminals/custodians on arrival of the cargo, to
additionally flag the containers granted (or ready for) DPD along with IEC
details. The flag would also indicate the requirement of scanning of specific
containers, wherever applicable. This would be done at the stage of Entry
Inwards to facilitate efficient planning in stacking and movement of these
containers and thus quicken their turn-around time. Similar message would be
sent to the importer/Customs Broker. The Pr. Chief/ Chief Commissioners of
Customs are required to duly sensitise and
co-ordinate with the ports/terminals/custodians and the trade for ensuring the
effective use of the enhanced facility of DPD.
3.6 Automated
generation of examination orders: In order to enhance uniformity and
streamline the examination orders, Board has decided to introduce RMS generated
uniform examination orders at all Customs stations across the country. Further,
the imports of items which ordinarily warrant First Check as per para 2.3 of
Circular No.45/2020-Customs dated 12.10.2020 would now be directly routed to
the shed for First Check examination. Such First Check Bills of Entry will now
be referred to the FAG for assessment only after a First Check examination
report has been uploaded by the Shed Officers in the Customs system. The
detailed implementation advisory on this will be issued shortly.
3.7 Anonymised escalation: To better address the
grievances of trade relating largely to delays in assessment, DG Systems shall
soon shortly operationalise an Anonymized Escalation
Mechanism (AEM) on ICEGATE which would empower importers/Customs Brokers to
directly register his/her requirement of expeditious clearance of a delayed
Bill of Entry, which may be pending for assessment or examination. The features
of the AEM would include, amongst others:
i. In
case of delay of more than 1 working day, an importer/Customs Broker would be
able to initiate AEM through ICEGATE or approach TSK for the same.
ii.
The AEM will automatically route the grievance to the concerned FAG/Import Shed,
with a notification to Additional/Joint Commissioners of Customs of the
concerned FAG and Port of Import.
iii.
The concerned FAG is required to dispose the grievance promptly and same shall
be monitored by the concerned Additional/Joint Commissioner of Customs of the
concerned FAG/Import Shed.
iv.
The status of the disposal would be updated on the dashboard of ICEGATE, TSK,
FAG and to the concerned officers.
4. As aforementioned, the changes stipulated in paras 3.1 to
3.5 will come into effect from 15.07.2021. Wherever required, DG Systems would
shortly be issuing advisories to give effect to these changes.
5.
Any difficulties faced or doubts arising in the implementation of this Circular
may please be brought to the notice of Board.
F.
No.450/26/2019-Cus. IV(Pt)