Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Excise & Customs
North Block, New Delhi
23rd September, 2010
To
All Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prev.).
All Chief Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise.
All Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prev.).
All Commissioners of Customs (Appeals).
All Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise.
All Commissioners of Customs & Central Excise (Appeals).
Subject: Procedure followed for import of Indian vessels and filing of Bill of
Entry, IGM – regarding.
Sir/ Madam,
I am directed to invite your attention to the above-mentioned subject, and state
that instances have been brought to notice of the Board that certain ship-owners
of Indian flag vessels have imported vessels, which are exempt from payment of
duty, without filing Bill of Entry and Import General Manifest (IGM).
- In this connection, it is stated that at the time of their import into India
the status of these vessels, which are meant for plying on Indian ports as
coastal vessels or as Indian flag foreign going vessels etc., is the same as
that of any other class of imported goods. Section 2 (25) defines “imported
goods” as any goods brought into India from a place outside India but does not
include goods which have been cleared for home consumption. Further, “goods” has
been defined under section 2 (22) as to include, inter alia, vessels, aircrafts
and vehicles. Hence, these are subject to the same procedure ie, filing of IGM,
Bill of Entry, payment of duty, if any etc., as is applicable in case of other
imported goods.
- Accordingly, it is instructed that the requirement for filing of these
documents should be complied with even in cases, where goods are exempt from
payment of any duty. Therefore, the jurisdictional Commissioners should review
the situation, and take appropriate action for past cases, including
adjudication, if warranted. Further, Chief Commissioners may make a reference to
the Board for appointment of a common adjudication authority, if so desired, for
these cases.
Yours faithfully,
(Navraj Goyal)
Under Secretary (Cus.IV)
F. No.450/79 /2010-Cus.IV