Raw Sugar TRQ of Five Lakh MTs at Nil Duty Notified, Measure Expires on 13 June 2017

· DGFT Notifies Release of TRQ of Raw Sugar to Actual Users

· Last Date for Application 24 April 2017

· Only Nine Ports Permitted

[Customs Notification No. 12 dated 5^th April 2017]

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 makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India, in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No.12/2012-Customs, dated the 17th March, 2012, published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide number G.S.R. 185(E), dated the 17th March, 2012, namely:-

In the said notification,

(A) in the Table, after serial number 78 and the entries relating thereto, the following serial number and the entries shall be inserted, namely:-

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
“78 A	1701	Raw Sugar upto an aggregate of five lakh metric tonnes of total imports of such goods.	Nil	-	3D”;

(B) after the Table, in the proviso, after clause (k) and before the Explanation, the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

"(l) the goods specified against serial no. 78 A of the said Table on or after the 13th day of June, 2017";

“3D

The rate of duty specified in column (4) shall apply to such quantity of imports for which an importer holds a Tariff Rate Quota Allocation Certificate or license, as the case may be, issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade in accordance with the procedure, as may be specified by Directorate General of Foreign Trade by a Notification or Public Notice as the case maybe.

[F.No.354/78/2009-TRU (Pt.)]

[DGFT Notification No. 01 dated 5^th April 2017]

Effect of this Notification: Import of 5 Lakh MT of raw sugar under Exim Code 170114 of Chapter 17 of ITC (HS), 2017—Schedule—I (Import Policy) is allowed duty free under TRQ.

Subject: TRQ for Raw Sugar: Amendment in import policy of raw sugar classified under Exim Code 170114 of Chapter 17 of ITC (HS), 2017—Schedule-I (Import Policy).

In exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 of FT (D&R) Act, 1992, read with paragraph 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020, as amended from time to time, the Central Government hereby inserts import policy condition on ‘Raw Sugar’ classified under Exim Code 170114 of Chapter 17 of ITC (HS), 2017— Schedule — 1 (Import Policy) as under:

Exim Code

Item Description

Policy

Existing Policy Conditions

Revised Policy Condition

Raw Sugar

Free

Import of items under Exim Code 170114 is “Free”. However, import up to 5 Lakh MT of raw sugar is subject to Tariff Rate Quota Scheme (duty free) as per conditions laid down below.

2.  (i) Import of 5 Lakh MT of raw sugar under Exim Code 170114 is allowed to be imported by millers/ refiners duty free through the following Zones subject to quantity restriction indicated as in the table below:

SNo.	Zone	Name of the Ports (import allowed only through the following ports)	Zone wise Import Restriction (import can be made through any port within the overall quantity indicated against each Zone)
1.	East Zone	Haldia (WB), Paradeep (Odisha)	0.50 lakh MT
2	South Zone	Tuticorin, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Mangalore (Karnataka) Kakinada(Andhra Pradesh)	3 lakh MT
3.	West Zone	Kandla (Gujarat) Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust/ Mumbai Port (Maharashtra)	1.50 Lakh MT
Total			5.00 Lakh MT

ii.  Applications:

a.  Applications are invited online from the intending millers/refiners (having own refining capacity from raw to white sugar) of raw sugar for import of raw sugar as per ANF-2M of FTP 2015-20 to DGFT, at sugarimporttrq-dgft@nic.in with a copy to Regional Authority of DGFT as detailed in sub para b. Further, a signed copy of the application shall be submitted to Regional Authority concerned and to DGFT, Hqrs (import Cell), Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. Application fee for these applications shall be paid according to procedure as per Appendix 2K of Appendices & Aayat Niryat Forms. For each refining unit, applicants shall give self declaration of its refining capacity while providing self certified copy of latest IEM issued by DIPP and/or any other document indicating its refining capacity.

b.  Applicants intending to import through Haldia and Paradeep ports are to submit their applications to RA, Kolkata; those intending to import through Tuticorin, Chennai and Kakinada are to submit their applications to RA, Chennai while those intending to import through Mangalore port may submit their applications to RA, Bangaluru. For imports through West Zone, all applications are to be submitted to RA, Mumbai.

C.  The applications will be received between 13^th to 24^th April, 2017(till 5 pm). The allocation of quota for each eligible applicant shall be notified on 27^th April, 2017 as per the decision of the EFC under Para 2.51 of the HBP, 2015-20. The EFC, while considering applications, will take into considerations, inter alia, factors like Zonal allocation limit, monthly refining capacity of the applicant, the quantity applied for by the applicant and the total number of applications within a Zone. RA will issue license/s as per the decisions of the EFC.

d.  The importer shall furnish the details of Letter of Credit / confirmed contract to the RA concerned within 15 days of getting their import quota at sugarimporttrq-dgft@nic.in. The subject header of this e-mail shall be “Name of applicant / IE Code /quantity applied in MT / Name of the RA where application is being filed. Non compliance will attract penalty as per Para (iv) of this notification and automatic cancellation of allocation.

e.  If an IEC holder intends to import through different Zones, he shall file separate applications to respective RAs as indicated in para (ii.a) above.

iii. Validity of Quota: TRQ benefit (duty free) under this Notification shall be available upto and inclusive of 12th June, 2017 as per Section 15 of the Customs Act, 1962.

iv. Penalty: If, after obtaining license under TRQ, the applicant fails to utilize the quota fully/partially, the applicant shall surrender the unutilized quantity to DGFT at sugarimporttrq-dgft@nic.in by 12^th May, 2017. In such a case, the applicant will be liable to a penalty of 0.5% of the CIF value of the unutilized quota. Failure to intimate the unutilized quantity will further make him liable to penal actions under FT(DR) Act 1992, as amended from time to time in addition to the penalty of 0.5%.

V.  Reporting: The license holders shall submit weekly statements (every Monday) indicating the actual arrival of shipments at the Indian ports at sugarimporttrq-dgft@nic.in.

vi. Reallocation: The quota so surrendered or cancelled, if any, will be allocated to other eligible applicants within a week.

vii. DGFT reserves the right to make any changes in allocation as deemed fit at any point of time including inter- Zonal limits.