TIOL-DDT 2978
25 11 2016
Friday

MATE Receipt is issued by Captain or mate of the vessel and endorsed along with the Shipping Bill by the Customs Officer in the Docks. This document is also insisted by the Shipping Companies for issuance Bill of Lading. Issuance of Mate receipt would serve as a documentary evidence of cargo loaded on the vessel and also date of sailing.

The Mate's receipt used to serve multifarious purposes mainly to ensure that the export container is loaded on the vessel. It also provides the date of sailing. However, since the advent of automation of Customs procedures, message exchange system, the manual issuance of mate receipt in the case of containerized cargo has become redundant. Moreover, disbursal of drawback is done only after the EGM [Export General Manifest] has been filed at the gateway port. In view of the changed business workflow, there is no need for issuance of Mate's receipt.

CBEC has therefore, decided that Custom Houses should no more insist for issuance of Mate's receipt in the case of containerised cargo. However, in respect of non-containerised export cargo like bulk cargo etc., the practice of issuing Mate's receipt would continue.

CBEC issued this Circular yesterday. Interestingly, two days earlier in Public Notice No. 150/2016, dated 22.11.2016, the JN Customs dispensed with the requirement of:-

i. Endorsement of Shipping Bills in the Port Area;

ii. Production / submission of Mate's receipt before Boarding Officer (Earlier, being submitted to Boarding Officer for endorsement of Shipping Bills);

iii. Production / submission of Mate's receipt for issuing EP copies of EDI Shipping Bills.

CBEC Circular No. 56/2016-Customs., Dated November 24, 2016

No over-the-counter-exchange of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes from today

GOVERNMENT has observed that over the counter exchange of the old currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denomination has shown a declining trend.  It has further been felt that people may be encouraged and facilitated to deposit their old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes in their bank accounts. This will encourage people who are still unbanked, to open new bank accounts.  Consequently, there will be no over the counter exchange of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes after midnight of 24.11.2016.

Government had also permitted various exemptions for certain transactions and activities wherein payment could be made through old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes.  It has been decided that all these exemptions, with certain additions and modifications as will be continued for a further period from the midnight of 24.11.2016 up to and inclusive of 15.12.2016:-

(a) Payments for the transactions under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs. 500 notes;

(b) Payment of School fees up to Rs. 2000 per student in Central Government, State Government, Municipality and local body schools;

(c) Payment of fees in Central or State Government colleges;

(d) Payments towards pre paid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs. 500 per top-up;

(e) Purchase from Consumer Cooperative Stores will be limited to Rs. 5000 at a time;

(f) Payment of current and arrear dues to utilities will be limited to only water and electricity.  This facility will continue to be available only for individuals and households;

(g) Considering that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have continued the toll free arrangement at the toll plazas up to 2.12.2016, it has been decided that toll payment at these toll plazas may be made through old Rs. 500 notes from 3.12.2016 to 15.12.2016.

(h) Foreign citizens will be permitted to exchange foreign currency up to Rs. 5000 per week. Necessary entry to this effect will be made in their passports.  (Necessary instructions in this regard will be issued by the RBI.)

Source: PIB Press Release

No over counter exchange of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes - RBI Instructions

RESERVE Bank of India has advised the Banks that:

On a review it has since been decided that no over the counter exchange (in cash) of SBNs will be permitted after midnight of November 24, 2016. Members of public who approach the banks for over the counter exchange of SBN may be encouraged to deposit SBNs into their bank accounts.

Banks may ensure to facilitate opening of new accounts for unbanked people .

SBN mean Specified Bank Notes and the specified bank notes are the old Rs.500 and Rs.1000 notes.

RBI/2016-17/155 DCM (Plg) No.1391/10.27.00/2016-17., Dated:November 24, 2016

Smuggling of old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes - Customs Seizure

THESE notes are even being smuggled into India. Yesterday the Air Intelligence Unit of Cochin Airport seized ten lakh rupees worth of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 from a passenger arriving from Dubai.

Tariff Heading - DGFT Vs Customs

IN the monthly meeting of the Permanent Trade Facilitation Committee (PTFC) of JN Customs held on 28.10.2016, a point was raised:

In an Advance / EPCG license, exporter declares the HS code of each product sought to be imported duty free. These are declared as per the knowledge and understanding of the exporter while making an application to DGFT. Now when the goods arrive and Bill of Entry is filed for duty free clearance, authority for correct classification of the goods is Customs and not the DGFT. If assessing officer classifies the goods under import under a CTH other than the one declared in license, the exporter is asked to get the license amended. This is resulting into delays in clearance and increase in dwell time as well as transaction costs. This change however, does not make material change in the revenue involved or foregone.

And this was the clarification given:

Classification decided by assessing officer may vary from the HS code mentioned in Advanced License. In case, where Chapter or Heading No. varies or rate of duty is required to be changed based on classifications, the importers are asked to get the license amended from DGFT and the Bills of Entry are assessed provisionally on PD bonds. In case rate of duty applicable as per rented classification is more, the duty amount to that extent is increased which is required to be debited in EPCG bond for safeguarding duty. Even when the rate of duty is same under different C.T.H., then also goods are to be classified under proper C.T.H.

We may have this kind of problem in GST when the State and Central Authorities may differ on classification heading.

Draft 'Manifest (Vessels) and condition of transshipment, transportation of goods through foreign territory' Regulations, 2016

THE CBEC has placed in public domain the Draft 'Manifest (Vessels) and condition of transshipment, transportation of goods through foreign territory' Regulations, 2016.

Sea transportation has always been the main mode of transport in the international trade of merchandise goods but over the years it also started playing the significant role in coastal trade. For the compliance of legal requirements under the Customs Act or other Acts, different sets of regulations, circulars, instructions such as Import manifest (vessels) Regulations, 1971, Export Manifest (Vessels) Regulations, 1976, Transportation of Goods (through foreign territory) Regulations, 1965, Import goods (Condition of Transshipment) Regulation, 1995 etc. regulate different kinds of declaration, bonds, bank guarantees and other legal requirements. Although these regulations/instructions have been amended from time to time, a need has been felt to come up with an integrated regulation which would enable simplification and automation and bring it in line with international practices.

The purpose of these draft regulations is to provide a comprehensive framework covering all the aspects of movement of cargo including coastal cargo in line with the best international practices. It would provide a simplified and system based platform for all the stakeholders to comply with domestic legal requirements. Further, it would provide a system of ensuring safe and secure transit of the import and export goods within the country by way of IT backed tracking mechanism. Furthermore, it would also provide a procedure for multimodal transshipment completely operational on IT system.

For a long period, there is a growing demand for allowing coastal trade movement from east coast to west coast transiting through foreign territory or foreign port or from eastern part of country to north east India. The proposed regulations would also provide a simplified procedure for such movements.

The Draft 'Manifest (Vessels) and condition of transshipment, transportation of goods through foreign territory' Regulations, 2016 are placed in public domain so as to invite valuable inputs and comments. The feedback/inputs/comments may be mailed to dircus@nic.in or piyush.bhardwaj@gov.in till 09.12.2016.

The Draft Regulations

Safeguard Duty on Hot Rolled Flat Sheets - Is it a mistake?

AS reported in DDT yesterday, the Government had imposed safeguard duty on Hot Rolled flat sheets and plates. This move has a critic in distant London. Tim Worstal, a Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London wrote in Forbes,

Again, I insist, the wrong thing to be doing. Why it happens is well known. The producers are a small number of people but a small number of people who are very, very, interested in being protected from competition. The users of steel are everyone in the country. Who are only very mildly interested in the price of steel. Sure, we all use some every day but if the price of steel doubled, or halved, it would make very, very, little difference to us. A refrigerator might cost $5 more or something and how often do we buy one of those? But those steel producers are very, very, interested in this price. And it is always true in politics that a concentrated interest will defeat a dispersed one. Thus producers generally win on the subject of trade tariffs and consumers lose.

All of which is why we've got to decry this protectionism each and every time we see it. We're supposed to be running the economy in the interests of the consumers, not the producers. And no tariffs, yea in the face of cheap imports, even dumping, benefits consumers. Thus we should never have tariffs against imports, no matter how much the producers complain and whine.

Macroeconomic effects of demonetisation are unknown - Tim Worstal

THE same Adam Smith Institute Fellow, Tim has commented on Dr. Manmohan Singh's speech in Parliament yesterday:

Manmohan Singh, the former PM, has said that India's demonetisation program will cut 2% from GDP. This is of course entirely possible-but it's very far from certain. Yes, of course, there will be disruption from the change in the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. We can all see that with our own eyes just by looking at the queues at the banks. We can also have the most lovely arguments about whether it is worth it or not, in the sense that very large numbers of Indians think the economic system is weighted against them and therefore they welcome the move. And that would have beneficial effects in the future as trust in the fairness of the system is a vital part of it being a successful economic system.

However, the macroeconomics of this are difficult. More than difficult in fact-we have uncertainty here. Economists distinguish between possibility and uncertainty. Possibility is, well, we think this will happen with about those odds. Uncertainty is, sorry, we don't know and cannot know. And the macroeconomic effects of demonetisation are unknown.

Dr. Singh is a noted economist himself and if he were pressed, as an economist, he would agree that there is this uncertainty.

We know very well that there are processes going on here which will indeed shrink the economy. That chaos at the banks for example. But there are, as there always are, other processes going on too. And some of those will tend to grow the economy-that greater belief in fairness in the future perhaps. We don't know what the balance between the two sets of processes will be.

For example, the flood of money into the banks will lower interest rates and inflation, both of which should spur real GDP growth. We even have an effect here which no one, absolutely no one at all, even knows the sign of, positive or negative. That's the effect upon the money supply.

We just don't know what the effect on the broad money supply of demonetisation is. It could be to shrink it, which will, other things being equal, shrink the economy. It could increase it (if black money changes hands much less often than white) and thus boost economic growth.

We really, really, just don't know.

Until Monday with more DDT

Have a nice weekend.

Mail your comments to vijaywrite@tiol.in