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Procedure of Clearance By Post POSTAL APPRAISING SECTION (PAS) MUMBAI ROLE In the Foreign Post Office at Mumbai, two
departments of the Central Government ie Postal
Appraising Section Customs & Mumbai Foreign Post Office function side by
side. The role of the Customs Postal Appraising Section Mumbai is to clear
consignments that are received through the Postal Channel and are presented
by the Mumbai Foreign Post Office (FPO) for Customs clearance. The Postal
Appraising Section works from Monday to Saturday except on the second
Saturday of each month. Deputy Commissioner of Customs is the in-charge of
the Postal Appraising Section. The
Postal Appraising Section clears all
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES (USPS) packages weighing under 30 Kgs.
(whether insured or uninsured), Airmail, Sea Mail, and SURFACE AIR LIFTED
(SAL) Mail. LOCATION The
Office of the Postal Appraising Section is located at the Videsh
Dak Bhavan, Ballard
Estate Near New Custom House Mumbai
400 001 . The Office of the PAS may be
contacted for any queries relating to Customs clearance of consignments that
are received through the Postal Channel. The telephone/FAX number of the
Customs Postal Appraising Section Mumbai is as below:- Deputy Commissioner of Customs in- charge Postal Appraising
Section. Tele/FAX--
022- 2261 4585, E-Mail pasnchmum@gmail.com JURISDICTION Mumbai
Foreign Post Office has the jurisdiction over the post offices in the Maharashtra
circle, Andhra Pradesh up to Hyderabad, Karnatka-Hubli
and Dharwad , Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Accordingly, consignments pertaining to the above said jurisdiction only; are Customs Cleared by
Postal Appraising Section Mumbai. PROCEDURE FOLLOWED
FOR CLEARANCE BY THE POSTAL APPRAISING SECTION MUMBAI IN RESPECT OF IMPORT
CONSIGNMENTS The
Import consignments are classified by the Mumbai Foreign Post Office into two
categories viz. 1) Import Packets/ letters
(consignments weighing less than 02 kgs). 2) Import Parcels (consignments weighing more
than 02 Kgs). Import
consignments are received by the Postal Authorities in Bags. These bags are
opened and parcels/packets are sorted out by the postal authorities. Only
parcels/packets that pertain to the Mumbai F.P.O. Postal jurisdiction as
mentioned above are retained at F.P.O for Custom clearance by Postal
Appraising Section Mumbai. Import parcels & Import Packets/ Letters
are presented to the Postal Appraising Section by Mumbai Foreign Post Office
for screening/ sorting respectively. These are the
first stages of clearance. The Import
parcels & Import Packets/ Letters parcels that are not cleared at the screening./
sorting stage are held back by the
postal authorities who then present these parcels to the Customs for
clearance, by way of Table Examination (Sheet Assessment) which is the second stage of clearance. During the Table examination (Sheet assessment); the detained Parcels, and the
Packets/ Letters that were held back by the postal authorities as mentioned
above are examined by the Postal Appraising Section Mumbai at the examination
table. At this stage of clearance , if the details such as content of
Parcels/Packets/ Letters, nature , importability and value of the goods are found to be in order
, the Parcels & Packets/ Letters are released after proper assessment.
The rate of duty and the total amount of duty is endorsed on the way bill. At
the Table examination (Sheet assessment), in either cases (ie Packets or Parcels /letters); consignments which are
not being able to be assessed on the basis of the available documents/data
viz., IEC, Invoice etc. or incomplete or vague description or there is
suspected mis-declaration of value or contents, or
both, or are subject to certain restrictions like No Objection Certificate
from other agencies like Asstt. Drug Controller,
Wild Life Regional Officer, Plant and Quarantine and Police etc. or are restricted under other
statutory requirement; are not cleared during the table examination, and are
further detained. In all such cases, a call letter cum Show Cause Memo is
issued to the consignee directing them to provide the necessary documents
like invoice, payment details IEC etc…or to fulfill the conditions of the
restrictions as the case may be. After the receipt of reply/ submission of
relevant documents, fulfillment of any condition or obtaining required NOC as
the case may be, the Parcels/ Packets/ Letters are released if otherwise in
order.
Parcels
/Packets/ Letters which are found to contain prohibited goods or goods that
are in contravention to the laws and procedures for the time being in force,
are further detained, and dealt with as per the law. ASSESSMENT &
CLEARANCE The
present practice of assessment and clearance of goods at Postal Appraising
Section Mumbai is carried out in the following manner: a) Goods
which are meant for personal use are classified under CTH 98.04 and released
on payment of duty as applicable. b) Bonafide
commercial samples and prototypes imported by post are exempted from Customs
Duty, subject to a value limit of Rs. 10,000/-
provided the samples are supplied free of cost. Importers having IEC code
number can import commercial samples through post without payment of duty up
to a value of Rs.1,00,000/- or 15 units in number within a period of 12
months. Samples are cleared as per exemption
notification No 154/94- Cus. dated
13/07/94 . c) The
goods for personal use sent as personal gift to the recipient, valued less
than Rs 10,000/- (FOB) are cleared without payment
of duty as per the Notification. 171/93-Cus dated 16.03.93.
All
other goods, which are not classified under the category (a) (b) and (c) are
assessed strictly as per Custom Tariff Act, 1975 existing Foreign Trade
Policy and relevant Notification/ Circulars issued by the Board from time to
time and it is ensured that the imports is in conformity with all other Allied Acts and Rules. There
exits a procedure for Reassessment of the Customs duty levied. In case the consignee
feels, that the goods require to be reassessed, the consignee should refrain
from accepting the delivery of the consignment from the post office of
delivery. Instead, the consignee
should send back the consignment to the Postal Appraising Section Mumbai
through the Post Master of the delivery Office with a request for
reassessment by the Customs. Reassessment of the duty is done on the strength
of the documents available: unless physical examination is required. If
the consignee fails/refuses to take delivery of the consignment addressed to
the consignee after it has been released by the Customs the consignment is
returned to the PAS. Such abandoned/unclaimed consignments are then taken
over by the Customs. The Customs thereafter will forward such consignments to
the Customs warehouse after issuing a Show Cause Notice to the consignee
asking the consignee to show cause why the consignments should not be confiscated. However
if the consignee does not want to take the
delivery of the consignment addressed to the consignee either before
or after it has been released by the Customs, the consignee may inform the
PAS in writing, to RETURN THE CONSIGNMENT BACK TO THE SENDER.
CLAIMS REGARDING
SHORTAGE PILFERAGE, IMPROPER HANDLING, DAMAGE OR DEFECTIVE PACKING The
Postal authorities being custodians of the Import parcels are at all times
responsible for the safety, security, and handling and repacking of the
contents of the consignments. Therefore, no claim for compensation on account
of shortage, pilferage, improper handling, damage or defective packing lies
with the Customs. The Postal authorities may be contacted for queries
relating to the status of consignments at mumbaiforeignpost@yahoo.co.in
or Telephone number 022- 2261 1791. CUSTOMS CLEARANCE
OF ARTICLES THAT ARE RECEIVED THROUGH
THE POSTAL CHANNEL AT THE Customs
clearance of articles that are received through the Postal Channel is also
carried out by the Airport Sorting Office (APSO), Air Cargo Complex Sahar Mumbai in a similar manner as mentioned above. The
APSO clears all UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES (USPS) packages weighing above
30 Kgs. (whether insured or uninsured), and all
EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE (EMS) packages. The
APSO may be contacted for queries relating to Customs clearance at telephone
numbers given below:- Telephone
nos. 022-2615 6125, 022-2615 6648, 022-2615 6703 E-Mail spc.mumbai@indiapost.gov.in GIST
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