Notification No. 196 dated 8^th December 1994 (As amended by notification nos. 83/95, 101/95, 117/95, 12/98, 65/99, 9/00, 71/2000, 56/2001, Notification No. 64 dated 24^th June 2002)

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (i) of section 25 of the Customs Act 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods specified in the table below (hereinafter referred to as the goods), when imported into India, or procured from a Public Warehouse or a Private Warehouse appointed or licensed, as the case may be, under section 57 or section 58 of the said Customs Act, or procured from international exhibitions held in India for use in an aqua-culture farm in connection with the operational requirement of such aquaculture farm and for export of aquaculture products produced from such goods (hereinafter referred to as the said purpose) by hundred percent export oriented undertakings approved by the Board of Approvals for hundred percent. Export Oriented Undertaking, appointed by the notification of the Government of India in the former Ministry of Industry and Civil Supplies (Department of Industrial Development) No. S.O. 163(E)/ RLIU/ 10(2)) 76, dated the 3^rd March, 1976 or the Development Commissioner concerned, as the case may be(hereinafter referred to as the Board), from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) and the additional duty, if any leviable thereon under section 3 of the second mentioned Act, subject to the following conditions, namely:-

(1)������ The importer has been granted necessary approval for the import of the goods for the said purpose;

(2)������ The importer at the time of import or procurement of said goods executes a bond in such form and for such sum as may be prescribed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs binding himself: -

(a) to produce a certificate from the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise, having jurisdiction over his unit, certifying receipt of the said goods in the unit and goods having been entered in the records prescribed for this purpose.

(b) to fulfil the Export Obligation and comply with the conditions stipulated to this notifications and Export and Import Policy and to pay on demand an amount equal to the duty leviable on the goods and interest at the rate of fifteen per cent per annum on the said duty from the date of importation or procurement of the said goods till the date of payment of such duty, if -

(i) in the case of capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs to have been installed or otherwise used within the it or re-exported within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement thereof or within such extended period not exceeding five years as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not using the as above within the said period, allow;

(ii) in the case of goods other than capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of customs to have been in connection with the production or packaging of goods for export out of India or re-exported or cleared for home consumption within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement thereof or within such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not using them as above; allow;

(iii) in the case of-

(a) goods produced or packaged, such goods have not been exported out of India, and -

(b) unused goods (including containers, suitable for repeated use) as have not been exported or cleared for home consumption

within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement of such goods� or within such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not exporting such goods within the said period, allow;

(iv) in the case of raw materials, components, spares and consumables (other than capital goods) imported or procured duty free, the unit fails to achieve Net Foreign Exchange Earning as a Percentage of Export (NFEP) and Export Performance (EP) as specified in Appendix-1 of the Export and Import Policy, within one year of importation or procurement of such goods or goods or within such extended period, not exceeding one year, as the Assistant Commissioner or Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause, allow:

Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may extend the period for achievement of Net Foreign Exchange as a Percentage of Exports (NFEP) or Export Performance (EP) for further period not exceeding five years from the date of importation or procurements;

(3)������ The importer uses that goods for the purpose of production of aquaculture products and export out of India hundred percent or such other percentage, as may be fixed by the Board, of aquaculture products produced from the goods for a period of 10 years or such extended period as period as may be specified by the Board;

(4)������ The importer shall maintain a proper account of import, consumption and utilisation of the said goods and of exports made by him, and shall submit such account periodically to the Development Commissioner of the Zone, in such form and in such form and in such manner as may be laid down by the Development Commissioner.

(5)������ The importer, at the time of import of the goods, produces to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs a certificate from the Development Commissioner to the effect that the importer has executed a bond in such form and for such sum binding himself to fulfill the export obligations and conditions as may be specified for this purpose in the Export and Import policy.

(6)������ Notwithstanding anything contained in this notification the exemption contained herewith shall also apply to those goods which on importation into India are used for the purposes of production of aquaculture products within hundred percent Export-Oriented Undertakings approved by the Board and such product (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the course of production) even if not exported out of India, are allowed to be sold in India, under and in accordance with the Export and Import Policy, as amended from time to time, and in such quantity and subject to� such other limitations and conditions as may be specified in this behalf by the Development Commissioner, on payment of duty of excise leviable on such articles under section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1994) or where such articles (including rejects, waste and scrap materials) are not excisable, customs duty equal in amount to that leviable on inputs obtained under this notification and used for the purpose of the manufacture or production of such articles, which would have been paid, but for the exemption under this notification, shall be payable at the time of clearance of such articles;

(7)������ The Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by him allow a unit to re-export the goods;

(8)������ Without prejudice of any other provisions in this notification, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such condition and limitations as he may deem fit to impose under the circumstances of the case for the proper safeguard of the revenue interest and also subject to such permission of the Development Commissioner or Board of Approvals where it is exclusively required under the Export-Import Policy, allow the said unit to clear any of the said goods for being taken to any other place in India in accordance with Export and Import Policy, as amended from time to time (hereinafter in this notification referred to as the said Export and Import Policy):-

(a) such clearance of capital goods, material handling equipments, office equipments and captive power Plants may be allowed on payment of an amount equal to the customs duty leviable on such goods on the depreciated value thereof and at the rate in force on the date of payment of such duty;

Provided that in the case of capital goods, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions as he may specify, permit destruction of such capital goods without payment of duty inside the unit, or outside the said unit, where it is not possible or permissible to destroy the same within the said unit, in the presence of custom officer;

(b) such clearance of goods (including containers, suitable for repeated use) other than those specified in clause(a) may be allowed on payment of customs duty on the value at the time of import and at rates in force on the date of payment of such customs duty;

(c) such clearance of used packing materials such as cardboard boxes, polyethylene bags of a kind unsuitable for repeated use may be allowed without payment of any customs duty;

Provided that the importer shall not eligible to avail of the exemption applicable to goods falling under heading No.98.01 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or the exemption available to the imported goods under any Export Promotion scheme other than the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme permitting import of capital goods at the rate of duty of 5% ad valorem in terms of notifications in force at the time of debonding.

(9)

(i) The notification No.188-Customs/93, dated the 27^th December 1993 of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue is hereby rescinded.

(ii) Notwithstanding such rescission, anything done or action taken under the Notification so rescinded shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Notification.