Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment
Regulations, 2018 Notified
·
Previous Three Regulations Merged into
One Regulation
[Customs Notification
No. 38 (Non Tariff) dated 11th May 2018]
1. Short title and commencement
2. Definitions
3. Registration
4. Delivery of an Arrival Manifest
5. Delivery of a Departure Manifest
6. Declaration in respect of specific cargo
7. Transhipment of imported goods or export
goods between a port/ICD and Inland Container Depot (ICD)/Container Freight
Station (CFS) / Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
8. Amendments of arrival or departure Manifest
9. Conditions governing transhipment or transit
through a designated foreign route
10. Responsibilities of the authorised carrier
under these regulations
11. Suspension of operations or revocation of registration of an authorised carrier
12. Procedure for revocation of registration
13. Imposition of Penalty
14. Appeal
Form I – Application
for Registration
Form II – Application
for Entry Inwards
Form III – General
Declaration]
Form IV – Vessel’s
Stores List
Form V – Crew’s
Effects Declaration
Form VIA – See
Regulations 4 (2) (e) (i)
Form VIB – See
Regulations 4 (2) (e) (ii)
Form VIIA –
See Regulations 5 (2) (d) (i)
Form VIIB –
See Regulations 5 (2) (d) (ii)
Form VIII –
See Regulation 7
Form IXA – Bond
for Transhipment
Form IXB – Continuity
Bond for Transhipment
Form IXC – Surety
Bond for Transhipment
Form IXD – Continuity
Surety Bond for Transhipment
Form XA – Bond
for transit through foreign territory
Form XB – Continuity
Bond for transit through foreign territory
Form XC – Surety
Bond for transit through foreign territory
Form XD – Continuity
Surety Bond for transit through foreign territory
In exercise of the powers
conferred by section 157, read with sections 30, 30A, 41, 41A, 53, 54, 56,
sub-section (3) of section 98 and sub-section (2) of section 158 of the Customs
Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and in supersession of Import Manifest (Vessels)
Regulations, 1971, Export Manifest (Vessels) Regulations, 1976 and
Transportation of Goods (Through Foreign Territory) Regulations, 1965, the
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs hereby makes the following
regulations, namely: -
1. Short title and
commencement
(1) These regulations may be
called the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment
Regulations, 2018.
(2) These regulations shall
come into force on 1st August, 2018.
2. Definitions
(1) In these regulations,
unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) "Act" means
the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962);
(b) “arrival manifest” means
an integrated declaration required to be delivered by an authorised
carrier on arrival of the vessel or train or truck carrying imported goods,
export goods and coastal goods;
(c) “authorised carrier” means an authorised
sea carrier, authorised train operator, shipping line
or a custodian registered under regulation 3;
(d) “authorised sea carrier” means the master of the
vessel carrying imported goods, export goods and coastal goods or his agent;
(e) “authorised train operator” means the train operator
carrying imported goods, export goods and coastal goods;
(f) “Coastal goods transited
through a designated foreign route” means:
(i)
coastal goods transported between an Indian port on east coast and another
Indian port on west coast or vice versa, by a vessel through the territorial
waters of Sri Lanka, whether or not calling any port in Sri Lanka in between
and without change of vessel;
(ii) coastal goods
transported between an Indian port on east coast and a river port in India or
vice versa, by a vessel through a route passing through the Bangladeshi waters
and without change of vessel;
(g) “custodian”
means a person approved by the Principal Commissioner or the Commissioner of
customs, for the purposes of section 45 of the Act;
(h) “departure manifest”
means integrated declaration required to be delivered by an authorised
carrier before departure of a vessel or train or truck for imported goods,
export goods and coastal goods;
(i) “Form” means a Form appended
to these regulations;
(j)
“Jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs” means the
Commissioner of Customs who has granted registration under regulation 3.
(k) “Special Economic Zone
(SEZ)” means special economic zone as per the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005
(28 of 2005);
(l) any
reference to a Commissioner of customs shall also include a reference to
Principal Commissioner of customs for purposes of these regulations.
(2) The words and
expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the
same meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act.
3. Registration
(1) Any person who is
required to deliver arrival manifest or departure manifest shall apply to the
jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs for registration in the Form- I.
(2) Where the jurisdictional
Commissioner of customs is satisfied with the information provided by the
applicant in the Form-I, he shall register such applicant for transacting business
under these regulations for a period of three years from the date of issue of
such registration.
(3) An authorised
carrier registered under these regulations at any customs station, shall be
deemed to be registered for other customs stations also, for the purpose of
transacting business under these regulations.
(4) The jurisdictional Commissioner of
Customs shall review the registration before the expiry of the initial period
of registration of three years and may extend such registration to a further
period of five years at a time and in case of an authorised
economic operator for a period of ten years.
4. Delivery of an Arrival
Manifest
(1) An authorised
sea carrier carrying imported goods, export goods or coastal goods, shall
deliver the arrival manifest to the proper officer electronically:
Provided that where it is
not possible to deliver the arrival manifest electronically then the manifest
shall be submitted manually in duplicate with the approval of the Commissioner
of Customs.
(2) The arrival manifest
shall consist of, -
(a) an
application for entry inwards in Form-II (except in case of vessel carrying
exclusive coastal goods);
(b) a
general declaration in Form-III;
(c) vessel’s
stores list in Form- IV;
(d) list
of private property in the possession of the Master and crew, in Form- V
(e) cargo
declaration: -
(i)
for vessel arriving at an Indian port from a Foreign
port in Form-VIA; or
(ii) for
vessel arriving at an Indian Port from another Indian Port directly or through designated
foreign route in Form-VIB;
(f) any other declaration
which, under the provisions of the Customs Act or any other Act for the time
being in force is required to be delivered to the proper officer on arrival of
vessel.
(3) The general declaration
and cargo declaration shall be delivered before the departure of the vessel
from last port of call and the rest of the arrival manifest shall be delivered
before arrival of the vessel.
5. Delivery of a Departure
Manifest
(1) An authorised
sea carrier carrying imported goods, export goods, coastal goods or goods meant
for foreign transit or foreign transhipment, shall
before the departure of the vessel from the port, deliver the departure
manifest to the proper officer electronically:
Provided that where it is
not possible to deliver the departure manifest electronically, then the
manifest shall be delivered manually in duplicate with the approval of
Commissioner of Customs before the departure of the vessel.
(2) The departure manifest
shall consist of, -
(a) a
general declaration in Form-III;
(b) a
vessel’s stores list in Form-IV;
(c) a
list of private property in the possession of the Master and crew, in Form-V;
(d) a
cargo declaration:
(i)
for vessel departing from an Indian port to a Foreign
port in Form-VIIA; or
(ii) for
vessel departing from an Indian Port to another Indian port directly or through
designated foreign route in Form-VIIB;
(e) any other declaration
which, under the provisions of the Customs Act or any other Act for the time
being in force is required to be delivered to the proper officer on arrival of
the vessel.
6. Declaration in respect of
specific cargo
(1) the
cargo declaration in respect of –
(a) arms;
(b) ammunition;
(c) explosives;
(d) narcotics
and psychotropic substances;
(e) dangerous
drugs;
(f) gold;
(g) silver;
(h) radio-active material
for import, export, transhipment, or
for being carried as same bottom cargo shall be delivered in separate sheets
and shall be set out in the order of the ports of loading.
(2) Where a vessel does not
carry any of the cargoes referred above, a nil declaration shall be delivered.
7. Transhipment
of imported goods or export goods between a port/ICD and Inland Container Depot
(ICD)/Container Freight Station (CFS) / Special Economic Zone (SEZ)
An authorised
carrier shall file a departure manifest before the departure of a train or a
truck and arrival manifest upon arrival of the train or truck, as the case may
be, in Form-VIII.
8. Amendments of arrival or
departure Manifest
Where the proper officer
nominated by the Commissioner of customs is satisfied that the arrival manifest
or departure manifest is in any way incorrect or incomplete, and that there was
no fraudulent intention towards incorrect or incomplete submission as regards
the contents thereof, he may permit it to be amended or supplemented.
9. Conditions governing transhipment or transit through a designated foreign route
(1) The transhipment
shall be allowed under the following conditions–
(a) the
goods are mentioned in the arrival manifest or departure manifest, as the case
may be, for transhipment to any customs station;
(b) such
transhipment is by, a vessel, train or a truck or by
a combination of two or more of these modes of transport;
(c) the
authorised carrier executes a bond in Form-IX A or
Form-IX B or Form-IX C or Form-IX D as applicable ,with or without bank
guarantee or surety:
Provided that where the transhipment of goods is directly between two sea ports, no
bond and bank Guarantee shall be furnished;
(d) in
the case of imported goods meant for transhipment by
land route, the proper officer nominated by the Commissioner of customs shall
seal the containers before permitting such transhipment.
(2) In case of coastal goods
manifested for transit through a designated foreign territory, the authorised carrier shall execute a bond in Form-X A or
Form-X B or Form-X C or Form-X D as applicable with or without bank guarantee
or surety.
10. Responsibilities of the authorised carrier under these regulations
(1) An authorised
carrier shall-
(a) transact
business in the customs station either personally or through an employee duly
approved by the Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as
the case may be;
(b) keep a record of
imported goods, export goods, coastal goods or goods brought for transhipment as the case may be, and produce such records
to the proper officer as and when required;
(c) keep
a record of movement or handling of imported goods, export goods, coastal goods
or goods brought for transhipment;
(d) make
available track and trace facility for locating imported or export goods,
coastal goods or goods brought for transhipment;
(e) be
responsible for the safety, security and delivery of imported, export goods or
coastal goods under its custody;
(f) be liable to pay
duty on goods pilfered, lost during the transit or transhipment
thereof in the customs area or enroute;
(g) be
responsible for re-export of hazardous goods where such goods are ordered to be
exported back to the exporting country;
(h) advise
his client to comply with the provisions of the Act and in case of
non-compliance, shall bring the matter to the notice of the deputy commissioner
or assistant commissioner of customs as the case may be;
(i)
not procure or attempt to procure directly or indirectly, information from the
government records or other government sources of any kind to which access is
not granted by the proper officer;
(j) ensure
electronic transmission of delivery orders to the importer or the consignee and
intimation of the same to the custodian and the proper officer;
(k) publish and display at
prominent places including website or webpage of the authorised
carrier the schedule of charges for the various services provided by him in
relation to the imported goods or export goods or coastal goods in the customs
area;
(l) not
charge any rent or demurrage on the goods seized or detained or confiscated by
the Customs Authorites;
(m) abide
by all the provisions of the Act and the rules, regulations, notifications and
orders issued there under;
(2) The authorised
carrier shall not sublet or sub-contract or outsource functions permitted or
required to be carried out by him to any other person.
11. Suspension of operations
or revocation of registration of an authorised
carrier
(1) The jurisdictional
Commissioner of Customs may revoke the registration of the authorised
carrier, for failure to comply with any provisions of the regulations.
(2) The Commissioner of
Customs of any customs station on reasonable belief that operations of such authorised carrier is detrimental to the interest of
revenue, may suspend their operation in his jurisdiction by an order stating
the grounds of suspension.
(3) The Commissioner of
Customs shall, within fifteen days from the date of such suspension order,
shall give an opportunity of hearing to the person and pass such order within
fifteen days from the date of the said hearing, as he deems fit, either
revoking the suspension or continuing it for a further period not exceeding
ninety days from the date of suspension, as the case may be.
Provided that where the suspension against
the authorised carrier has been continued, the
Commissioner of Customs concerned shall intimate to the jurisdictional
Commissioner of Customs, about the order within fifteen days from the date of
issue of such order.
12. Procedure for revocation
of registration
(1) The jurisdictional
Commissioner of Customs shall issue a notice in writing to the authorised carrier stating the grounds on which it is
proposed to revoke the registration and requiring the said person to submit
within such time as may be specified in the notice not being less than thirty
days, to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of
Customs, as the case may be, nominated by him, a written statement of defence and also to specify in the said statement whether
he desires to be heard in person by the said Deputy Commissioner of Customs or
Assistant Commissioner of Customs.
(2) On receipt of the
written statement from the authorised carrier, or
where no such statement has been received within the time-limit specified in
the notice, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of
Customs, may inquire into the grounds of the revocation as stated in the
notice.
(3) The Deputy Commissioner
of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, shall in the course of
inquiry, consider such documentary evidence and take such oral evidence as
required for inquiry and he may also put any question to any person tendering
evidence, for or against the authorised carrier, for
the purpose of ascertaining the correct position.
(4) The authorised
carrier shall be entitled to cross-examine the persons examined in support of
the grounds forming the basis of the proceedings and where the Deputy
Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, declines to
examine any person on the grounds that his evidence is not relevant or
material, he shall record his reasons in writing for so doing.
(5) Deputy Commissioner of
Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, shall prepare a report of the
inquiry recording his findings after the conclusion of the inquiry.
(6) The jurisdictional Commissioner of
Customs shall provide to the authorised carrier a
copy of the report of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant
Commissioner of Customs, and shall require the authorised
carrier to submit within the specified period not being less than thirty days
any submission against the findings of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or
Assistant Commissioner of Customs.
(7) The jurisdictional
Commissioner of Customs shall, after considering the report of the inquiry, and
the submission thereon, if any, made by the authorised
carrier, pass such orders as he deems fit.
13. Imposition of Penalty
An authorised
carrier who contravenes any provision of these regulations shall be liable to a
penalty which may extend to rupees fifty thousand.
14. Appeal
Any person aggrieved by any
decision or order passed under this regulation, may appeal under section 129A
of the Act to the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal,
established under sub-section (1) of section 129 of the Act.
[F.
No.450/58/2015- Cus IV]