Courier Imports and Exports
(Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010
1. Short title and commencement
2. Application
3. Definitions
4. Packing of goods to be
imported or exported by courier
5. Clearance of imported goods
6. Clearance of export goods
7. Application for registration
of Authorised Courier
8. Conditions to be fulfilled by
the applicant
9. Scrutiny of application
10. Registration
11. Execution of bond and
furnishing of security
12. Obligations of Authorised
Courier
13. Suspension or revocation of
registration of authorised courier
14. Penalty
[Customs Notification No. 36 (Non Tariff) dated 5th May 2010]
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 157 of the Customs Act,
1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Board of Excise and Customs hereby makes the
following regulations, namely:-
1. Short
title and commencement
(1) These regulations may be called the
Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing)
Regulations, 2010.
(2) They
shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Application
(1) These
regulations shall apply for assessment and clearance of imported or export
goods, carried by an Authorised Courier by air, on behalf of a consignee or
consignor at such Customs airports and in such form and to such extent, as the
Board may, by notification, declare for the purposes of these regulations in
this behalf.
(2) These
regulations shall not apply to:
(a) the
following imported goods requiring testing of samples thereof or reference to
the relevant statutory authorities or to experts before their clearance,
namely:-
(i) animals and parts thereof, plants and parts
thereof;
(ii) perishables;
(iii) publications
containing maps depicting incorrect boundaries of India;
(iv) precious
and semi-precious stones, gold or silver in any form;
(b) import
or export of goods under any export promotion scheme other than Export Oriented
Unit (EOU) scheme and similar schemes referred to in Chapter 6 of the Foreign
Trade Policy 2009-14.
(c) the
following export goods, namely:-
(i) the goods which are subject to levy of any
duty on their exports;
(ii) goods
where the value of the consignment is above rupees twenty five thousand and
transaction in foreign exchange is involved:
Provided that the limit of rupees twenty five
thousand as provided in this sub-clause shall not apply to such export
consignments where the G.R. Waiver or specific permission has been obtained
from the Reserve Bank of India.
3. Definitions
(1) In
these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires –
(a) “Act”
means the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);
(b) "Authorised
Courier", in relation to imported or export goods, means a person engaged
in the international transportation of time-sensitive documents or goods on
door-to-door delivery basis and is registered in this behalf by a Commissioner
of Customs in charge of a Customs airport;
(c) “Customs
airport” means the airport declared by the Board as Customs airport under
sub-regulation (1) of regulation 2 of these regulations;
(d) "documents"
includes any message, information or data recorded on paper, cards or
photographs and of no commercial value which is for the time being not liable
to any customs duty or subject to any prohibition or restriction on their export
out of or import into India;
(e) "electronic
declaration" means the declaration of the particulars relating to the
imported or export goods, lodged in the Customs Computer System at the Customs
airport, either through the data-entry facility provided at the service centre
or through the data communication networking facility provided from the
computer system of the Authorised Courier;
(f) “Form”
means the Form appended to these regulations;
(g) "gifts"
means any bonafide gifts of articles for
personal use of a value not exceeding twenty five thousand rupees per
consignment in case of export goods and ten thousand rupees per consignment in
case of imported goods, which are not subject to any prohibition or restriction
on their export out of or import into India and for which no transfer of
foreign exchange is involved;
(h) “samples”
means any bonafide commercial samples and
prototypes of goods supplied free of charge of a value not exceeding fifty
thousand rupees per consignment for exports or ten thousand rupees per
consignment for imports, which are for the time being not subject to any
prohibition or restriction on their export out of or import into India and for
which no transfer of foreign exchange is involved;
(i) "service centre" means the place
specified by the Commissioner of Customs where data entry, for the purpose of lodgement of declaration or submission of any information,
is carried out;
(2) The
words used and not defined in these regulations but defined in the Act shall
have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.
4. Packing
of goods to be imported or exported by courier
(1) For
the purposes of these regulations, the imported or export goods shall be packed
separately for documents and goods.
(2) Imported
or export goods shall bear a declaration from the sender or consignor regarding
the contents of each of the packages and the total value thereof.
5. Clearance
of imported goods
(1) The
Authorised Courier or his agent shall file, in an electronic form, a manifest
for imported goods prior to its arrival, with the proper officer the Express
Cargo Manifest - Import (ECM-I) in Form A;
(2) (a)
The Courier packages containing the imported goods shall not be dealt with in
any manner except as may be directed by the Commissioner of Customs;
(b) No
person shall, except with the permission of proper officer, open any packages
of imported goods.
(3) The
Authorised Courier or his agent who has passed the examination referred to in
regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing
Regulations, 2004 shall make entry of goods imported by him, in an electronic
declaration, by presenting to the proper officer the Courier Bill of Entry-XI
(CBE-XI) for documents in Form B or the Courier Bill of Entry-XII (CBE-XII) for
free gifts and samples in Form C or the Courier Bill of Entry-XIII
(CBE-XIII) for low value dutiable consignments in Form D or the Courier
Bill of Entry-XIV (CBE-XIV) for other dutiable consignments in Form E.
(4) The
Authorised Courier shall present imported goods brought by him or by his agent,
in such manner as to the satisfaction of the proper officer or as per
instructions issued by the Board or Public Notice issued by Commissioner of
Customs, from time to time, for inspection, screening, examination and assessment
thereof.
(5) Any
imported goods which are not taken clearance after the expiry of a period of
thirty days of its arrival, shall be detained by proper officer and shall be
sold or disposed of by the person having custody thereof, after issuing a
notice to the Authorised Courier and to the declared importer, if any, and the
charges payable for storage and holding of such goods shall be payable by the
Authorised Courier.
6. Clearance
of export goods
(1) Notwithstanding
anything contained in these regulations, the Authorised Courier or his agent
shall, on or after such date as the Board may specify, by notification in the
Official Gazette, file in an electronic form, a manifest for export goods
before its export with the proper officer the Courier Export Manifest (CEM) in
Form F.
(2) (a)
The courier packages containing the export goods shall not be dealt with after
presentation of documents to the proper officer in any manner except as may be
directed by the Commissioner of Customs;
(b) No
person shall, except with the permission of proper officer, open any package of
export goods, brought into the Customs area, to be loaded on a flight.
(3) The
Authorised Courier or his agent who has passed the examination referred to in
regulation 8 or regulation 19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing
Regulations, 2004 shall make entry of goods for export, in Courier Shipping
Bill-III (CSB-III) for documents in Form G or, as the case may be, in the
Courier Shipping Bill-IV (CSB-IV) for goods in Form H, before presenting it to
the proper officer.
(4) The
Authorised Courier shall present the export goods to the proper officer, in
such manner as to the satisfaction of the proper officer or as per instructions
issued by the Board or Public Notice issued by Commissioner of Customs, from
time to time, for inspection, screening, examination and assessment thereof.
(5) Any
export goods brought into customs area for export purpose and have not been
exported within seven days of arrival of such goods into such area or within
such extended period as permitted by the proper officer in case of delay due to
such reasons which the proper officer considers to be beyond the control of the
concerned Authorised Courier and declared exporter, may be detained by the
proper officer and sold or disposed off by the person having custody thereof,
after issuing notice to the concerned Authorised Courier and declared exporter
provided the charges payable, for storage and handling of such goods are paid
by such Authorised Courier.
7. Application
for registration of Authorised Courier
(1) Every
person intending to operate as an Authorised Courier shall make an application
in the Form-I to the Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the
Customs airport where the goods are to be imported or exported, for
registration in this behalf.
(2) The
Commissioner of Customs may dispose of the application under sub-regulation (1)
within forty five days of the receipt of the application.
8. Conditions
to be fulfilled by the applicant
(1) The
person applying for registration as an Authorised Courier shall disclose to the
satisfaction of the Commissioner of Customs that he is financially viable and
in support thereof he shall produce to the said Commissioner of Customs a
certificate issued by a scheduled bank or such other proof acceptable to the
Commissioner of Customs evidencing possession of assets of a value not less
than twenty five lakh rupees.
(2) The
electronic declaration for clearance of imported or export goods shall be made
by the persons who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or
regulation 19 of the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004.
Provided that a transition period of six
months from the date of publication of these Regulations shall be allowed for
fulfillment of the condition mentioned in sub-regulation (2) by an authorised
courier.
(3) The
applicant shall undertake to comply with the provisions and abide by all the
provisions of the Act and rules, regulations, notifications and orders issued thereunder.
9. Scrutiny
of application
On receipt of application for registration
under regulation 7, the Commissioner of Customs, may make enquiries for
verification of the particulars set out in the application and also such other
enquiries as the Commissioner of Customs may deem necessary for such
registration including enquiries about the identity, bonafides
and reputation of the applicant.
10. Registration
(1) If
on scrutiny of the application filed by a person under regulation 7, the
Commissioner of Customs is satisfied that the applicant fulfils the
requirements of the registration, the said applicant may be registered as an
Authorised Courier.
(2) The
registration granted under sub-regulation (1) shall be valid for an initial
period of two years, but may be renewed from time to time, in accordance with
the procedure provided in sub-regulation 8.
(3) An
Authorised Courier who is already registered under Courier Imports and Exports
(Clearance) Regulations, 1998 on or before the date of coming into force of
these regulations in a Customs airport, shall be considered as an Authorised
Courier registered for the purpose of these regulations only on compliance of
the conditions stipulated in regulation 8.
(4) The
Authorised Courier referred to in sub-regulation (3) shall comply with the
conditions within a period which shall not exceed a period of three months:
Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may
extend the said period which shall not exceed a period of nine months.
Provided further that nothing contained in
this sub-regulation shall apply in respect of condition prescribed under
sub-regulation (2) of regulation 8.
(5) The
registration granted under sub-regulation (3) shall be valid for a
period of ten years.
(6) The
Commissioner of Customs may, if he finds that the applicant has been convicted
in any court of law, or any criminal proceedings are pending before any court
of law against the applicant, reject an application filed for registration of
Authorised Courier.
(7) The
Authorised Courier, who is registered under sub regulation (1) or sub
regulation (3), shall transact business in other Customs airports within the
country subject to an intimation, as specified in Form - J, to the Commissioner
of Customs having Jurisdiction over the Customs airport where he intends to
transact business.
(8) The
Commissioner of Customs may, on application made before the expiry of the
validity of the registration under sub-regulation (2) or sub-regulation (5),
renew the registration for a period of ten years from the date of expiration of
the original registration or the last renewal of such registration, as the case
may be, if the performance of the Authorised Courier is found to be
satisfactory with reference to the absence of any complaints of misconduct
including non-compliance of any of the obligations specified in regulation 12.
(9) The
Commissioner of Customs may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order,
review the registration granted under sub-regulation (1) or sub-regulation (3)
before the expiry of the ten years.
11. Execution
of bond and furnishing of security
(1) The
Commissioner of Customs shall require the applicant to enter into a bond with a
security of ten lakhs rupees in case of major international airports of Mumbai,
Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai and five lakhs rupees in case of other airports in
the form of cash deposit or bank guarantee in the name of the Commissioner of
Customs for complying with the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations
made thereunder and the condition of the said bond
shall also be that the applicant shall agree to pay the duty, if any, not
levied or short levied, with interest if applicable on any goods taken
clearance of by the Authorised Courier if in the opinion of the Assistant
Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner or Customs the same cannot be
recovered from the importer or the exporter.
(2) The
Authorised Courier who has been granted a registration under regulation 10 or
who has intimated in the Form J to the Commissioner of Customs having
jurisdiction over the Custom airport from where he has to transact the
business, shall furnish the bond and security as specified under sub-regulation
(1) for each of the Customs airports.
12. Obligations
of Authorised Courier
(1) An
Authorised Courier shall -
(i) obtain an authorisation,
from each of the consignees or consignors of the imported goods for whom or
from whom such Courier has imported such goods; or consignees or consignors of
such export goods which such Courier proposes to export, to the effect that the
Authorised Courier may act as agent of such consignee or consignor, as the case
may be, for clearance of such imported or export goods by the proper officer;
(ii) file
electronic declarations, for clearance of imported or export goods, through a
person who has passed the examination referred to in regulation 8 or regulation
19 of the Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 2004 and who are duly
authorised under section 146 of the Act;
Provided that a transition period of six
months from the date of publication of these regulations shall be allowed to
the Authorised Courier for fulfillment of the obligation.
(iii) advise
his consignor or consignee to comply with the provisions of the Act, rules and
regulations made thereunder and in case of
non-compliance thereof, he shall bring the matter to the notice of the
Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs;
(iv) verify
the antecedent, correctness of Importer Exporter Code (IEC) Number, identity of
his client and the functioning of his client in the declared address by using
reliable, independent, authentic documents, data or information;
(v) exercise
due diligence to ascertain the correctness and completeness of any information
which he submits to the proper officer with reference to any work related to
the clearance of imported goods or of export goods;
(vi) not
withhold information communicated to him by an officer of customs, relating to
assessment and clearance of imported goods as well as inspection, examination
and Clearance of export goods, from a consignor or consignee who is
entitled to such information;
(vii) not
withhold any information relating to assessment and clearance of imported goods
or of export goods, from the Assessing Officer;
(viii) not
attempt to influence the conduct of any officer of Customs in any matter
pending before such officer or his subordinates by the use of threat, false
accusation, duress or offer of any special inducement or promise of advantage
or by the bestowing of any gift or favour or other thing or value;
(ix) maintain
records and accounts in such form and manner as may be directed from time to
time by an Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner or Customs
for a period of five years and submit them for inspection to the Assistant
Commissioner of Customs or an officer authorised by him, wherever required; and
(x) abide
by all the provisions of the Act and the rules, regulations, notifications and
orders issued thereunder.
13. Suspension
or revocation of registration of authorised courier
(1) The
Commissioner of Customs may revoke the registration of an Authorised Courier
and also pass an order for forfeiture of security on any of the following
grounds namely:-
(a) failure
of the Authorised Courier to comply with any of the conditions of the bond
executed by him under regulation 11;
(b) failure
of the Authorised Courier to comply with any of the provisions of these
regulations;
(c) misconduct
on the part of Authorised Courier whether within the jurisdiction of the said
Commissioner or anywhere else, which in the opinion of the Commissioner renders
him unfit to transact any business in the Customs airport:
Provided that no such revocation shall be
made unless a notice has been issued to the Authorised Courier informing him
the grounds on which it is proposed to revoke the registration and he is given
an opportunity of making a representation in writing and a further opportunity
of being heard in the matter, if so desired:
Provided further that, in case the
Commissioner of Customs considers that any of such grounds against an
Authorised courier shall not be established prima facie without an
inquiry in the matter, he may conduct an inquiry to determine the ground and in
the meanwhile pending the completion of such inquiry, may suspend the
registration of the Authorised Courier:
Provided also that if no ground is
established against the Authorised Courier, the registration so suspended shall
be restored.
(2) Any
Authorised Courier or the officer of the Customs authorised by the Chief
Commissioner of Customs in this behalf, if aggrieved by the order of
Commissioner of Customs passed under sub-regulation (1), may represent to the
Chief Commissioner of Customs in writing against such order within sixty days
of communication of the order to the Authorised Courier, and the Chief
Commissioner of Customs shall, after providing the opportunity of being heard
to the parties concerned, dispose of the representation as expeditiously as may
be possible.
14. Penalty
An Authorised Courier, who contravenes any of the provisions of these
regulations or abets such contravention or who fails to comply with any
provision of these regulations with which it was his obligation to comply,
shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
[F. No.
450/54/2008-Cus.IV]
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Click on the
links below for Forms: |
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Express cargo manifest - Import (ECM-I)] |
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Courier Bill of Entry-XI(CBE-XI) for documents |
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Courier Bill of Entry - XII (CBE-XII) for Samples and gifts (Electronic Filing) |
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Courier Bill of Entry - XIII (CBE-XIII) for non-documents |
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Courier Bill of Entry - XIV (CBE-XIV) for dutiable goods |
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Courier Export Manifest (CEM-I) |
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Courier Shipping Bill - III (CSB-III) for documents |
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Courier Shipping Bill - IV (CSB-IV) for goods |
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Application Form for registration / renewal of
authorised courier |
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Form for intimation of authorised courier |
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