Circular No. 17 dated 4^th June 1997

It has come to the notice that there is no uniformity in regard to interpretation of General note 11 of Notification No. 22/ 97-Cus. (N.T.) dated 30.5.1997 (erstwhile Notification No. 49/ 96-Customs (N.T.) dated 20.10.1996) regarding All Industry Rates of Drawback. It also appears that declarations by the Merchant Exporters have been accepted regarding non-availment of Modvat. With a view to standardising the application of General Note - 11, the following guidelines regarding acceptance of Certificate my be followed in future: -

(i)      In the case of manufacturer exporter, the Assist. Commissioner of Customs may, if necessary, require such exporter to obtain a Certificate from the Asstt. Commissioner of Central Excise, in whose jurisdiction the factory of production is located, to the effect that no Modvat credit has been availed on any of the inputs used in the manufacture of such export product.

(ii)     In the case of goods exported under claim for rebate of Central Excise duty, or Bond, the provisions of General Note - 11 (ii) shall continue.

(iii)    In the case of Merchant exporter (s) where the name and address, including the factory address of the supporting manufacturer (s) from whom the export goods have been procured, have been declared in the Shipping Bills duly accompanied by a certificate issued in favour of the declared supporting manufacturer by Central Excise Sup dated, incharge of the factory of production to the effect that such Manufacturer has not availed the Modvat on any of the input used in the manufacturer of export goods, in such cases the merchant exporters should not be asked to produce a separate certificate regarding non-availment of Modvat credit in his own favour.

(iv)    In the case of merchant exporter who procures the export goods from the open market, the benefit of All Industry Rates of duty drawback shall be restricted to the Customs allocation only, if any. Export goods purchased from the market shell be treated as having availed the Modvat facility.

(v)     Where the export goods are unconditionally exempted from duty of Central Excise, and manufacturers thereof are not registered with Central Excise authorities, the Asstt. Commissioner of Customs may subject to his satisfaction permit drawback to be paid without the exporter having to furnish a certificate regarding non-availment of Modvat.

This Circular is being issued in supersession of all earlier instructions issued on this subject.