For reasons best known to the Government, exports and imports under most of the export promotion schemes are allowed only through certain ports which are listed in the notifications and almost all the ports and ICDs are included in the list. Whenever a new port/ICD is to be added to the list, all these notifications are to be amended. The latest additions are Dharamtarand Vadinar, Mandideep (District Raisen), Durgapur (Export Promotion Industrial Park) and Babarpur, Attari Road. And 11 notifications are amended to give effect to this.

Notification No. 41/2006-Cus, Dated 5 May 2006

It’s Toe, not top

As per Sl. No 167 A in Notification No. 21/2002 - (o) Top caps and Toe puffs and counters or Thermoplastic sheets imported for leather industry are exempted. Bow this is amended. The amendment reads, “for the words, “Top” at both the places, the word “Toe” shall be substituted” But the word, ‘top’ is not at both the places. It is only at one place; the second word is rightly toe.

Some more items are added to the list of goods that can be imported duty free for processing of sea food.

Notification No. 42/2006-Cus, Dated 5 May 2006

Foreign Trade Policy – some more Customs notifications amended – No imported vehicles for hotels after the star scam

To give effect to the FTP, several Customs notifications are being amended. Licence is changed to authorisation and Licencing Authority is changed to Regional Authority. This apart certain other measures promised in the policy have been brought into Customs notifications.

1. 91/2004-Customs, dated, the 10th September, 2004. – Advance Licence for deemed exports: - Final goods to include, “supply and installation of goods and equipment (single responsibility of turnkey contracts) to projects financed by multilateral or bilateral agencies or funds as notified by the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) under international competitive bidding in accordance with the procedures of those agencies or funds, where the bids have been invited and evaluated on the basis of Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) prices for the goods manufactured abroad.”

2. 92/2004-Customs, dated, the 10th September, 2004 - Served from India Scheme – Exemption is to goods “related to its main line of business”, which will now be “related to its service sector business”; a new condition is added “ Exemption under this notification shall not be available to vehicles under said certificate even if such vehicle is freely importable under the Foreign Trade Policy”; The imported vehicles the last around had found their way into the garages of Bollywood stars.

3. 93/2004-Customs, dated, the 10th September – Advance Licence – “Advance Intermediate Licence holder shall discharge export obligation by supplying the resultant products to ultimate exporter” It is now only exporter and not ultimate exporter.

4. 94/2004- Customs, dated, the 10th September, 2004 - Advance licence for annual requirement with actual user condition issued to Star Export Houses – Condition No. 3 is changed to that where the import takes place after fulfillment of export obligation, the shipping bill number and date and quantity and free on board (FOB) value of the resultant product are endorsed on the said authorisation and the schedule is omitted.

5. 97/2004-Customs, dated, the 17th September, 2004 - Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG) – A new proviso is added for extension of export obligation - Provided further that the Regional Authority may grant further extension in the overall period of export obligation upto a period of further two years if the authorisation holder pays fifty per cent differential duty on the unfulfilled portion of the export obligation and agrees to fulfill other conditions as may be specified by the Regional Authority for this purpose”

6. 41/2005-Customs, dated, the 9th May, 2005 - Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana renamed as Vishesh Krishi and Gram Udyog Yojana (Special Agriculture and Village Industry Scheme -

Notification No. 43/2006-Cus, Dated 5 May 2006

IRS probationer tops civil services exam

It was celebration time at the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics with beaming boss Vijay Singh very happy that one of his probationers has made it into the IAS – with top rank.

Mona Pruthi, an Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officer has topped the Civil Services Examination this year. Mona is currently a probationer in NACEN.

Inter se -  Between or among themselves

Inter se relationship between manufacturer and the dealer to be decided on the basis of evidence even though the expression `commission’ inferable that relationship was not of principal to principal basis – Supreme Court

Every communication which preceded from one officer of the State to another or the officers inter se does not necessarily per se relate, to the affairs of the State – Supreme Court of India in RK Jain v UOI

The question in regard to the inter se relationship between the appellant and M/s. Janta Soft Drinks had to be determined after taking into consideration the evidence on record and in particular what the invoices reflected. - 2002-TIOL-157-SC-CX

Legal Maxims

De minimis – A short form for the  maxim de minimis non curat lex, ¶the law cares not for small things.¶ A doctrine by which a court refuses to consider trifling matters. The law takes no account of trifles.

The de minimis rule as far as the price is concerned is when the dumping margin or the difference between the export price of the article and its normal value, is less than 2%. In other words the exporter is selling the goods in at almost the same price that it does in its country. As far as quantity is concerned, if the export accounts for less than 3% of the total imports of the like article into India, it is treated as too trivial for the law and is ignored. - Supreme Court of India in 2005-TIOL-31-SC-AD-LB.

A limerick:

There was a law student called Rex,
With diminutive organs of sex,
When charged with exposure,
He replied with composure,
¶de minimis non curat lex¶.

Until Tomorrow with more DDT

Have a nice day.

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