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Open House Meeting held on 7-12-2005
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OFFICE OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, MUMBAI ZONE - I,
MINUTES OF THE OPEN HOUSE MEETING OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONERS OF CUSTOMS, MUMBAI ZONE-I, II & III HELD WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRADE AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS ON 7TH DECEMBER, 2005 AT 3.30 P.M. IN THE CONFERENCE HALL OF THE MUMBAI CUSTOM HOUSE. The Open House Meeting for the month of December, 2005 was held under the Chairmanship of Shri K. M. Tiwari, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone - I and Shri P. C. Jha, Chief Commissioner of Customs. Mumbai Zone-II on 07.12.2005, at 3.30 P.M. in the Conference Hall, New Custom House, Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 001. The following senior officers of the Department attended the meeting. (1) Smt. Neelam Rattan Negi, Commissioner of Customs (EP), Mumbai Zone-I. 2. The following representatives of the BCHAA, Trade and Industry attended the meeting: 2) MANSA (Mumbai and Nhava-Sheva Ship-Agents Association) 4) AIIEA (All India Importers & Exporters Association) 5) D.M.A.I. 6) IDMA 7) ASSOCHAM 8) Tata Power 9) Assocaition of Importers & Exporters of Man-made Textiles\ 10) Individual / Member of the Public 3.At the outset, the Chief Commissioner of Customs, welcomed all the representatives of the Associations of the Trade, Industry and CHA's, and the officers present in the meeting. The Chief Commissioners informed that Risk Management System (RMS) has been introduced at the Air Cargo Complex (ACC), Sahar, Mumbai, on 07.12.2005. A Trade notice has already been issued in this regard by Commissioner of Customs (Import), ACC, Mumbai. Any suggestions/comments from the trade on the working/improvement of the system are welcome and may be sent to the Commissioner of Customs (Import), ACC, Mumbai. 4. Thereafter, the Minutes of the last Meeting held on 28.10.32005, were taken up for consideration. 4.1 With regard to Point No.4.1 of the Minutes of the last Meeting, the Chief Commissioner informed the Members that Shri Mohan Nihalani, has since submitted his suggestions on the proposed format of the Bank Guarantee (BG) on 25.11.2005. He further informed that the draft standard format of BG, after incorporating various suggestions made by the C.H.A. Association & Shri Nihalani, will be forwarded to the Board for approval. 4.2 With regard to Point no. 4.8 of the previous minutes relating to "Delay in Testing of Samples and Submission of Test Reports", the Chief Commissioners informed that action has already been initiated on the recommendations submitted by the Committee for quick testing of samples and immediate communication of the Test Reports to the groups concerned. The Chief Commissioners also stated that the Joint Director, CRCL, is likely to visit Mumbai, on 09.12.2005 to oversee and evaluate the functioning of the Laboratory at the New Custom House, Mumbai, with a view to ensure overall improvement, including the availability of proper/latest Testing Equipments in the Laboratory to facilitate the testing of samples within the minimum possible time and also to look into providing for other facilities that are not available. It was further suggested that the representatives of the Trade, who were a part of the Committee, may also have an interaction with the Joint Director, CRCL, during his visit on 09.12.2005 and give him further suggestions, if any, to improve the functioning of the Laboratory. 4.3 With regard to Point No.5.1 of the previous Minutes relating to "Filing of Bill of Entry under EDI system under CETH 76071999", the Chief Commissioner informed that the E.D.I. System has since been rectified and is now accepting Bills of Entry under CETH 76071999. The Minutes of the last Meeting held on 28.10.2005 were thereafter adopted and treated as approved. 5. The Agenda Points forwarded by ‘The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council’ (SRTEPC) and ‘M/s. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.’ (BHEL) could not be taken up for discussion as no representative of the said organisations was present in the Meeting. 6. Thereafter, the Agenda Points forwarded by Shri Rajiv Gupta were taken up for discussion. 6.1. With regard to the point relating to ‘Verification of Entitlements’, the Chief Commissioners clarified that the verification is being done as per the procedure laid down by the Board vide Circular No. 14/99 Cus. dated 15.03.99 and the Public Notice No.102/2002 dated 23.08.2002, issued by the Commissioner of Customs (EP), NCH, Mumbai. In case, there are any suggestions to change the Procedure prescribed in the said Public Notice, the same may be sent to the Commissioner of Customs (E.P.), New Custom House, Mumbai, for consideration and making reference to the Board, if need be. 6.3. With regard to the point relating to ‘Details of Supporting manufacturer in the re-import Bill of Entry for CENVAT credit’, the Chief Commissioners clarified that the details of supporting manufacturer are not required to be given on the Bill of Entry. The Bill of Entry format is a Statutory Format under the “Bill of Entry (Forms) Regulations, 1976”, and hence the same cannot be changed. It was informed that a manufacturer can avail CENVAT Credit on the basis of documents evidencing payment of duty in respect of the goods received in the factory, as per the provisions of CENVAT Credit Rules. In case there is any problem in availing CENVAT credit, the matter should be taken up with the jurisdictional Central Excise authorities, as already clarified in the minutes of the Meeting held on 19.08.2005, circulated vide F.No.S/I-22(6)2005 CCO dated 08.09.2005. 6.4. With regard to the point relating to ‘Decision in respect of personal hearings’, the Chief Commissioner informed that the Commissioner of Customs (Import), N.C.H., Mumbai, has already adjudicated the case vide Order-in-Original No.110/2005/CAC/CC(I)/AKP dated 31.10.2005. 6.5. With regard to the point relating to ‘Non acceptance of duty under self assessment in respect of Advance Licence on provisional basis’, the Chief Commissioner clarified that the Export Promotion Commissionerate is accepting the voluntary payment of duty plus interest from the importer in case of shortfall in exports, on provisional basis. There is no insistence for letter from DGFT. In all such cases, PROVISIONAL endorsement is made on the licence. A Public Notice No. 177/96 dated 02.09.1996 has already been issued in this regard. 7.Before concluding the Meeting, the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone-II, pointed out that as per a Study conducted, it has been noticed that out of total average DWELL time of 19 days, for Imported goods, filing of Bill of Entry takes about 8-10 days after filing of I.G.M. Similarly, 4-5 days are taken for payment of duty by the Importers/CHAs after assessment of the Bill of Entry. This time gap between filing of I.G.M. and Bill of Entry and Assessment and payment of duty is quite high. He requested all the Members of the Trade & Industry Associations present in the Meeting, to impress upon their Members to reduce this time gap, so that cost of transaction for the industry is minimized. 8. The meeting thereafter ended with thanks to the Chair. 9. The next Open House Meeting will be held on 13.01.2006 at 15.30 hrs. The points sponsored for discussion for the next meeting should reach POSITIVELY by 04.01.2006, in the offices of the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone I, II and III. Points received after the said date, will be taken up for discussion only in the next Open House Meeting. Sd/- Copy for information and wide circulation to : |
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