Post Export 2015-2020 Zero Duty EPCG Duty
Scrip Notified
[Ref: Notification No.17/ 2015 –
Customs dated 1 April 2015]
G.S.R. 253 (E).- In exercise
of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962
(52 of 1962), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in
the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods when imported into India
against a Post Export EPCG duty credit
scrip issued by the Regional Authority in accordance with paragraph 5.12 of the
Foreign Trade Policy which provides for duty remission in proportion to export
obligation fulfilled (hereinafter referred to as the said scrip) from,-
(a) the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs
Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975); and
(b) the whole of the additional duty leviable thereon under section 3 of the said Customs Tariff
Act.
2. The exemption under this notification shall
be subject to the following conditions, namely:-
(1) that the said scrip
is granted against a valid authorisation issued under
para 5.28 of the Handbook of Procedures
(hereinafter referred to as the said authorisation)
by the Regional Authority to an applicant (hereinafter referred as the authorisation holder) who opted for the scheme of Post
Export EPCG Duty Credit Scrip:
Provided
that the applicant is not issued, in the year of issuance of the said authorisation, the duty credit scrips
under the erstwhile Status Holders Incentive Scrip (SHIS) scheme. In the case of applicant who is Common Service
Provider (hereinafter referred to as CSP), the CSP or any of its specific users
should not be issued, in the year of issuance of the said authorisation,
the duty credit scrips under SHIS. This condition
shall not apply where already availed SHIS benefit that is unutilised
is surrendered or where benefits availed under SHIS that is utilised
is refunded, with applicable interest, before issue of the said authorisation. SHIS scrips which
are surrendered or benefit refunded or not issued in a particular year for the
reason the said authorisation has been issued in that
year shall not be issued in future years also;
(2) that the said authorisation
is not for import under duty exemption but for import of the goods specified in
the Table annexed hereto on full payment of applicable duties in cash;
(3) that the said authorisation
is registered at the port of import specified in the said authorisation
and the goods, which are specified in the Table annexed hereto, are imported
within eighteen months from the date of issue of the said authorisation
on full payment of applicable duties in cash, and the said authorisation
is produced before the proper officer of customs at the time of clearance of
the goods for endorsement of the import particulars and in cases where the authorisation holder has opted that the Cenvat
Credit under Cenvat Credit Rules, 2004 in respect of
the additional duty under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act , 1975 (51 of
1975) paid (hereinafter referred to as additional duty of customs) shall not be
taken, the proper officer endorses “Not valid for Cenvat
Credit” on the bill of entry:
Provided that the goods imported should not fall
under clause (f) of paragraph 5.01 of Foreign Trade Policy:
Provided
further that catalyst for one subsequent charge shall be allowed, under the authorisation in which plant, machinery or equipment and
catalyst for initial charge have been imported, except in cases where the
Regional Authority issues a separate authorisation
for catalyst for one subsequent charge after the plant, machinery or equipment
and catalyst for initial charge have already been imported;
(4) that the capital goods imported under the said authorisation
are installed and put to use, after their import, in the authorisation
holder’s factory or premises and at the time of registration of the said scrip
a certificate, confirming such installation and use of the goods, from the
jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise or Assistant Commissioner
of Central Excise, as the case may be, or
from an independent Chartered Engineer, which has
been issued prior to the date of the first application filed by the authorisation holder for issuance of duty credit scrip
against the said authorisation, is produced before
the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as
the case may be:
Provided
that an authorisation holder (including an authorisation holder who is a CSP) registered with the
Central Excise opting for the independent Chartered Engineer’s certificate
shall send a copy of the certificate, upon its issuance, to the jurisdictional Deputy
Commissioner of Central Excise or the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise,
as the case may be, as intimation or record:
Provided
further that in the case of manufacturer authorisation
holder and merchant authorisation holder having
supporting manufacturer(s) or in the case of import of irrigation equipment for
use in contract farming for export of agricultural products or in the case of authorisation holder rendering services, the capital goods
may be installed at the factory or premises of such other person whose name and
address is endorsed, prior to installation, by the Regional Authority on the
said authorisation. This would apply even when
Regional Authority endorses a change in the factory or premises or person. The
name and address of such other person shall also be mentioned on the shipping
bills for fulfillment of the export obligation and the authorisation
holder and such other person jointly and severally fulfill the export
obligation and all other conditions. This shall not apply to a CSP:
Provided
also that agro units located in Agri Export Zones or
service providers in Agri Export Zones may move the
capital goods within the Agri Export Zones under
intimation to the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise or
Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be, subject to the
condition that the authorisation holder shall
maintain accurate record of such movement;
(5) that where the goods imported under the said authorisation are found defective or unfit for use, they
may be re-exported back to the foreign supplier within three years from the date of clearance
of said goods subject to the condition that,-
(a) at the time of re-export,
the goods are identified to the satisfaction of the Deputy Commissioner of
Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, to be the
same goods which were imported;
(b) when the re-export
of the goods has been made under claim of duty drawback, no duty remission in
the form of duty credit scrip for the duty paid at the time of import on the
re-exported goods shall be allowed;
(c) after any duty remission in the form of duty
credit scrip has been claimed in respect of the duty paid on the goods imported
under the said authorisation, no duty drawback shall
be allowed when the goods are re-exported and the export obligation shall also
not be re-fixed;
(6) that goods imported under the said authorisation are not disposed of or transferred by sale or
lease or any other manner by the authorisation holder
till the date of last export against which the said scrip is issued;
(7) that the total
export obligation to be fulfilled is equivalent to eighty five per cent. (85%)
of six times the amount which is the sum of applicable duty of customs under
the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) paid
(hereinafter referred to as basic customs duty), additional duty of customs,
Education Cess under section 94 of the Finance (No.2)
Act, 2004 (23 of 2004) paid and Secondary and Higher Education Cess under section 136 of the Finance Act, 2007 (22 of
2007) paid on goods imported under the said authorisation,
on Free On Board basis, which is to be fulfilled within an export obligation
period of six years from the date of issue of the said authorisation:
Provided
that additional duty of customs shall not be taken for computation for the
purpose of fixation of export obligation when the Cenvat
Credit in respect of additional duty of customs has not been taken:
Provided
further that the export obligation shall be 75% of the export obligation
specified above when fulfilled by export of following green technology
products, namely, equipment for solar energy decentralised
and grid connected products, bio-mass gassifier,
bio-mass or waste boiler, vapour absorption chillers,
waste heat boiler, waste heat recovery units, unfired heat recovery steam
generators, wind turbine, solar collector and parts thereof, water treatment plants,
wind mill and wind mill turbine or engine, other generating sets - wind
powered, electrically operated vehicles . motor cars,
electrically operated vehicles - lorries and trucks, electrically operated
vehicles - motor cycle and mopeds, and solar cells:
Provided
also that for units located in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, the export
obligation shall be 25% of the export obligation specified above:
Provided
also that where a sick unit holding said
authorisation is notified by the Board for Industrial
and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) or where a rehabilitation scheme is
announced by the concerned State Government in respect of sick unit
holding said authorisation
for its revival, the export obligation may be fulfilled within time period
allowed by the Regional Authority as per the rehabilitation package prepared by
the operating agency and approved by BIFR or rehabilitation department of State
Government. In cases where the time period is not specified in the
rehabilitation package, the export obligation may be fulfilled within the
period specified in paragraph 5.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy;
(8) that the duty remission granted as duty
credit in the said scrip bears the same proportion to the amount which is the
basic customs duty on the goods imported under the said authorisation
which were considered for fixation of export obligation, as the extent of
export obligation fulfilled (over and above the average export obligation) bears
to the total export obligation:
Explanation
1. - For the purpose of condition
(8),-
(a) the amount of duty
remission shall not include the duty paid, any portion of which has been
rebated, including by way of duty drawback;
(b) the amount of duty
remission shall not include the duty paid which are not assessed finally;
(c) extent of export obligation fulfilled shall
be the export obligation fulfilled till the last export included in the said
scrip less the export obligations fulfilled that have been counted towards the
previously issued duty credit scrips against the said
authorisation;
(d) in condition (c)
above, the export obligation fulfilled till the last export included in the
said scrip shall be taken as the total export obligation fulfilled in the
following cases -
(i) where the authorisation holder fulfills seventy five per cent. (75%) or more of the export obligation as specified in condition
(7) [over and above hundred per cent. (100%) of the average export
obligation], within half of the period specified for export obligation as
mentioned in said condition (7), in which case the balance export obligation
shall stand condoned;
(ii) where the Regional
Authority regularizes shortfall, in the export obligation as specified in condition
(7), not exceeding five per cent. (5%) of such export obligation, in which case
the said shortfall shall be condoned;
(e) Explanation 2 to this notification relating
to ‘Export obligation’ shall apply severally to each duty
credit scrip, including the said scrip, issued against the said authorisation;
(f) the exports and
supplies made within the export obligation period specified in condition (7)
shall count towards fulfillment of export obligation;
(g) for fulfillment of
export obligation, the payments against exports or supplies should have been realised.
(9) that where the first proviso to condition (7)
is applied, the Cenvat Credit in respect of
additional duty of customs shall not been taken and at the time of registration
of the said scrip a certificate, from the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of
Central Excise or Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, as the case may be,
to the effect that Cenvat Credit in respect of
additional duty of customs on goods imported under the said authorisation
has not been taken, is produced by the authorisation
holder before the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the Assistant Commissioner
of Customs, as the case may be:
Provided
that when the authorisation holder is not registered
with Central Excise, he may produce the said certificate on self-certification
basis;
(10) that the duty
remission in the said scrip does not relate to duties paid on the imports made
under the said authorisation which have not been
installed and put to use;
(11) that the duty remission
in the said scrip has not been obtained as a consequence of indigenous sourcing
of capital goods;
(12) that the said scrip is issued, on request of
the authorisation holder in form ANF5B for duty remission, by the
Regional Authority specifying the same port of registration as mentioned in the
said authorisation and it indicates details of the
said authorisation, total export obligation fixed and
its calculation, details of previous duty credit scrips
issued against the said authorisation and the calculation
of duty credit;
(13) that the imports under the said authorisation,
the exports for fulfilling the export obligations and import of goods against
the said scrip are undertaken through the seaports, airports or through the
inland container depots or through the land customs stations as mentioned in
the Table 2 annexed to the Notification No 16/ 2015- Customs
dated 01.04.2015 or a Special
Economic Zone notified under section 4 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005
(28 of 2005):
Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may, by
special order or a public notice and subject to such conditions as may be
specified by him, permit import and export through any other sea-port, airport,
inland container depot or through a land customs station within his jurisdiction;
(14) that for the purposes of registration, the said
scrip is produced by the authorisation holder at the
specified port of registration before the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the
Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, along with –
(a) the said authorisation and the bill(s) of entry under which the
imports under the said authorisation were made on
payment of applicable duties in cash;
(b) evidence showing the
extent of export obligation fulfilled within the export obligation period;
(c) certificate
confirming installation and use as prescribed in condition (4) above;
(d) certificate that Cenvat Credit has not been taken as prescribed in condition
(9) above, where applicable;
(e) undertaking from the
authorisation holder to the effect that,-
(i)
the goods imported under the said
authorisation have not been disposed of or
transferred by sale or lease or any other manner till the date of last export
against which the said scrip is issued;
(ii)
the duty remission in the said
scrip does not include the duty paid, any portion of which has been rebated,
including by way of duty drawback; and
(iii)
all the conditions have been
complied with respect to the duty credit in the said scrip,
and the
said Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner, as the case may be, upon
being satisfied, allows the said scrip to be registered and the Customs
authority endorses details of the said scrip and the remark “Drawback not
available on re-export” on the bill(s) of entry, and registers the said scrip;
(15) that the said scrip
and goods imported against it shall be freely transferable;
(16) that the said scrip is produced before the
proper officer of customs at the time of clearance for debit of the duties leviable on the goods and the proper officer taking into
account the debits already made under this exemption and the debits made under
the notification No. 18 of 2015 - Central Excise, dated the 1st April, 2015,
debits the duties leviable on the goods, but for this
exemption;
(17) that the validity of
the said scrip shall be eighteen months from the date of issue and the said
scrip shall be valid on the date on which actual debit of duty is made;
(18) that where the importer, under this notification,
does not claim exemption from the additional duty of customs leviable under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975
(51 of 1975) he shall be deemed not to have availed the benefit under this
notification for the purpose of calculation of the said additional duty of
customs;
(19) that the benefit under
this notification shall not be available to the items listed in Appendix 3A of Appendices
and Ayat Niryat Forms;
(20) that the importer
shall be entitled to avail of the drawback of the duty of Customs leviable under the First Schedule to the said Customs
Tariff Act against the amount debited in the said scrip;
(21) that the importer
shall be entitled to avail of the drawback or Cenvat
credit of additional duty leviable under section 3 of
the said Customs Tariff Act against the amount debited in the said scrip.
Explanation
2. - For the purpose of this notification, -
(A)
“Capital goods” has the same meaning as assigned to it in paragraph of 9.08 of
the Foreign Trade Policy;
(B)
“Common Service Provider” (CSP) means a service provider who is designated or
certified as a Common Service Provider by the Director General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT), Department of Commerce or State Industrial Infrastructural Corporation
in a Town of Export Excellence;
(C)
“Export obligation”,-
(I) means obligation on the authorisation
holder to export to a place outside India, goods manufactured or capable of
being manufactured or services rendered by the use of capital goods imported
under the said authorisation and the export obligation
shall be over and above the average level of exports achieved by the authorisation holder in the preceding three licensing years
for the same and similar products within the export obligation period and such
average shall be the arithmetic mean of export performance in the last three
years for the same and similar products:
Provided
that in case of export of goods relating to handicraft, handlooms, cottage,
tiny sector, agriculture, animal husbandry, floriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, viticulture, poultry, sericulture, carpet,
coir and jute, the authorisation holder shall not be
required to maintain the average level of exports:
Provided
further that in case of export of goods relating to aquaculture (including
fisheries), the authorisation holder shall not be
required to maintain the average level of exports subject to the condition that
said authorisation has been obtained for goods other
than fishing trawlers, boats, ships and other similar items:
Provided
also that the goods, excepting tools, imported under said authorisation
by the aforesaid sectors, shall not be allowed to be transferred for a period
of five years from the date of imports even in cases where export obligation
has been fulfilled:
Provided
also that exports made to such countries as notified by Director General of
Foreign Trade, shall not be counted for fixing the average level of exports:
Provided
also that exports against only such shipping bills which mention the authorisation number and date of the said authorisation shall be counted for the fulfillment of the
export obligation;
Provided
also that in the case of authorisation issued to a
CSP, -
(i)
the reference to ‘authorisation holder’ in this Explanation shall be taken to
mean a reference to ‘CSP and specific users whose details are informed prior to
export by CSP to the Regional Authority’;
(ii)
for the exports by users of the
common service to be counted towards fulfillment of export obligation of CSP,
the respective shipping bills of the users of common service shall contain the authorisation details of the CSP and the concerned Regional
Authority shall be informed about the details of the users prior to such
export; and
(iii)
the
exports counted against the authorisation shall not be
counted towards fulfillment of other specific export obligations against all other authorisations issued under
Chapter 5 of the Foreign Trade Policy, including para
5.28
of Handbook of Procedures;
(II) shall be fulfilled through
physical exports and the export proceeds realised in
freely convertible currency. However the following categories of supplies shall
also be counted towards fulfillment of export obligation:
(a)
deemed exports, namely:-
(i) supply of goods against Advance Authorisation
or Advance Authorisation for annual requirement or
Duty Free Import Authorisation Scheme;
(ii) supply of goods to Export Oriented Units or Software
Technology Parks or Electronic Hardware Technology Parks or Biotechnology Park;
(iii) supply
of goods to projects financed by multilateral or bilateral agencies or funds as notified by Department of Economic
Affairs, Ministry of Finance under International Competitive Bidding (ICB) in
accordance with the procedures of those agencies or funds, where legal agreements
provide for tender evaluation without including customs duty;
(iv) supply
and installation of goods and equipment (single responsibility of turnkey
contracts) to projects financed by multilateral or bilateral agencies or funds as notified by
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance under ICB in
accordance with the procedures of those agencies or funds, where bids may have
been invited and evaluated on the basis of Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) prices for
goods manufactured abroad;
(v) supply
of goods to any project or purpose in respect of which the Ministry of Finance,
by Notification No. 12/2012-Customs dated 17-3-2012, as amended from time to
time, permits import of such goods at zero customs duty subject to conditions
specified in the said Notification and the supply is made under ICB procedure;
(vi) supply of goods required for setting up of any
of the mega power projects specified in the list 32A at Sl. No. 507 of
Notification No. 12/2012- Customs dated 17.03.2012, as amended from time to
time, provided the mega power project conforms to the threshold generation
capacity specified in the said
Notification. The supply should be made under ICB procedure. The ICB condition
shall not be mandatory if the requisite quantum of power has been tied up
through tariff based competitive bidding or if the project has been awarded
through tariff based competitive bidding;
(vii) Supply
of goods to nuclear power projects through National Competitive Bidding (NCB)
or through ICB as provided in clause(h) of para 7.02
of Foreign Trade Policy:
(b) supply of ITA-1
items to Domestic Tariff Area, provided realisation
is in free foreign exchange;
(c) royalty payments
received in freely convertible currency and foreign exchange received for
Research and Development (R&D) services; and
(d) payments received in Rupee terms for such services as are
specified in paragraph 5.04(h) of the Foreign Trade Policy.
(D) "Foreign Trade Policy" means the
Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020, published by the Government of India in the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry vide notification No. 01/2015-2020, dated the 1st April
2015 as amended from time to time;
(E) “Handbook of Procedures” means the Handbook of Procedures 2015-20
published by the Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
vide public notice No. 01/2015-2020,
dated the 1st April 2015 as amended from time to time;
(F) “Manufacture” has the same meaning as defined
in clause (f) of section 2 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944);
(G) “Regional
Authority” means the Director General of Foreign Trade appointed under section
6 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 (22 of 1992) or
an officer authorized by him to grant an authorisation
including a duty credit scrip under the said Act;
|
Table |
|
|
S. No. |
Description of goods |
|
(1) |
(2) |
|
1. |
Capital goods for pre-production, production and
post-production |
|
2. |
Capital goods in Semi Knocked Down (SKD) / Completely
Knocked Down (CKD) conditions to be assembled into capital goods by the authorisation holder |
|
3. |
Spare parts of
goods specified at Serial Nos.1 and 2 as actually imported and required for maintenance
of capital goods so imported, assembled, or manufactured |
|
4. |
Spare parts required for the existing plant and
machinery of the authorisation holder |
[F.No.605/55/2014-DBK]