DGFT Clarifies Procedure for Filing Applications under MEIS and SEIS by SEZs and EOUs Units

[DGFT Public Notice No. 30 dated 26^th August 2015]

Subject: Amendment in paragraph 3.06 and 3.08 of Handbook of Procedures of Foreign Trade Policy(FTP) 2015-20

In exercise of powers conferred under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020, the Director General of Foreign Trade(DGFT) hereby makes the following amendments in paragraph 3.06 and 3.08 of Handbook of Procedures 2015-2020:

1. Amendment in paragraph 3.06:

New sub-paragraphs (b) & (c) are being inserted and the amended paragraph 3.06 shall read as under:

3.06 Jurisdictional RA / RA Concerned

(a) Applicant shall have option to choose Jurisdictional RA on the basis of Corporate Office/ Registered Office/Head Office / Branch Office address endorsed on IEC for submitting application/applications under MEIS and SEIS. This option need to be exercised at the beginning of financial year. Once an option is exercised, no change would be allowed for claims relating to that year. To illustrate, if an exporter has chosen RA Chennai for claiming rewards for exports made in 2015-16,then all claims for exports made in 2015-16, irrespective of the date of application shall be made to RA Chennai only.

(b) Importer Exporter Code(IEC) holders having units in SEZs /EOUs shall apply to the concerned Development Commissioner of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) given in appendix 1A for availing benefit under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) provided in FTP 2015-2020.

(c) In case of IEC holders that have units in SEZ/EOUs as well as in DTA, such IEC holders, for availing benefits under MEIS and SEIS provided in FTP 2015-2020, shall file their applications as under :-

(i) DTA units shall apply to concerned Regional Authority(RA), DGFT as given in Appendix 1A;

(ii) SEZ/EOU units shall apply to concerned Development Commissioner (DC), SEZ as given in Appendix 1A.

2. Amendment in paragraph 3.08

Under paragraph 3.08(a), a new sub-paragraph (iv) is being inserted and the amended paragraph 3.08 shall read as under :

3.08 Port of Registration of Scrips

(a) Port of Registration under MEIS would be as follows:

(i) Duty Credit Scrip (including splits) under MEIS shall be issued with a single port of registration which shall be the port of export.

(ii) Duty credit scrip needs to be registered at the port of exports. This is to be done prior to allowing usage of duty credit. Once registered at EDI port, scrip can be automatically used at any EDI port for import and at any manual port under Telegraphic Release Advice (TRA) procedure.

(iii) In case port of registration is a manual port, TRA shall be required for imports at any other port.

(iv) SEZs being non-EDI Ports, the scrip shall be registered at the SEZ port and in case the scrip holder intends to use the scrip for import from another port , the concerned DC shall issue Telegraphic Release Advice (TRA).

(b) In case of scrip applied under Service Exports from India Scheme, the applicant can choose any port as port of registration and mention it in the application at the appropriate column. RA will issue the scrip with such port of registration. Such Duty credit scrip needs to be registered at the port of registration of duty credit. Once registered at EDI port, scrip can be automatically be used at any EDI port for import and at any manual port under Telegraphic Release Advice (TRA) procedure. In case port of registration is a manual port, TRA shall be required for imports at any other port.

Effect of this Public Notice:

Procedure for filing applications under MEIS and SEIS by units located in SEZs and EOUs has been further clarified.