TIOL-DDT 2581
21 04 2015
Tuesday

THE Committee on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) of the WTO last week considered complaints about investment measures that have raised concerns on allegedly favouring domestic over imported products through local-content requirements.

The EU expressed concerns about India's local content requirements in solar power generation projects. It said that it is interested in understanding the rationale behind this measure because it believes Indian companies do not yet have the capacity to provide these types of equipment. India's representative said she had sent the EU questions to the capital, and maintained that the measure in question is consistent with the GATT and the TRIMs Agreement.

The EU reiterated concerns expressed at previous meetings about certain preferences of India to domestically manufactured electronic goods and telecommunications products. Japan, the US and Canada shared the EU's concerns. India noted that it had previously answered questions about this measure.

India also complained that answers by the US to its questions about US local content requirements in some of the renewable energy programmes are still inadequate.

Any idea what the picture shows? They are elephant tusks recently seized by Thai Customs. Ivory has little inherent value but is a prized possession.

Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 - CBEC Explains

CBEC has issued a Circular explaining the salient features of the changes in the schemes of reward or incentive/advance authorization or DFIA/EPCG or post export EPCG.

Reward/Incentive Schemes: Reward in the form of duty credit shall be issued by the DGFT to service providers of notified services located in India under the Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) or to export of notified goods (including from SEZs) to notified markets / countries under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) of the Policy. The MEIS includes reward on specified items that are transacted using e-commerce platforms when their export is made through foreign post offices/courier terminals at Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai for which procedures to be adopted shall be issued separately by concerned wings of CBEC.

Simplifications from earlier schemes include that both SEIS and MEIS reward duty credits are freely transferable and may be used to debit customs duty on import of any goods (except appendix 3A items), debit service tax on procurement of services or debit central excise duty on domestic procurement of excisable goods (without exception for appendix 3A items); the basic customs duty debited in SEIS/MEIS duty credit may also be allowed as drawback.

Advance Authorization & DFIA schemes: Advance Authorization for Annual Requirement has been restricted to cases of standardised norms (no self-declared norms). Only a post-export transferable DFIA with exemption from basic customs duty is provided for. Fuel cannot be imported under the new DFIA.

Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme: The Board Circular states, "To further provide impetus to domestic production, the Policy has increased the lowered export obligation (when capital goods are sourced indigenously) from 10% to 25%. (What does this mean? As per para 5.01 of the Policy, the Export Obligation for EPCG is 6 times the duty saved. As per para 5.04, in case of indigenous sourcing of Capital Goods, the Export Obligation shall be 25% less than the EO stipulated in Para 5.01. This was earlier 10%. This means, in case of indigenous sourcing of Capital Goods, the Export Obligation shall be 75% of 6 times the duty saved, which was earlier 90% of this 6 times duty. This is what the Board means by increased the lowered export obligation.)

Facility of exemption from furnishing bank guarantees (BG) or of giving concessional BG under the export promotion schemes: The Board had noticed a practice in one jurisdiction of prescribing BGs of 1% to 5% of the duty saved amount before new authorisations were registered when EODC for an existing authorisation was not produced in the prescribed time. The Board views that such a practice imposes transaction cost on exporters because every case of pending EODC is not a case of default in export obligation determined by the competent authority and even the enforcement of bond executed for such existing authorisation may not be due. Further, choosing varying levels of BGs also creates room for generation of grievances against field officers. The field formations are expected to avoid similar practices.

CBEC Circular No.14/2015-Cus., Dated: April 20, 2015

High Level 'Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee' (CCFC)

CBEC has issued a Circular which starts with,

The Government has in recent times taken a number of measures to create an environment for ease of doing business and trade facilitation. The measures include the simplification of Customs procedures, reduction of documents, message exchange between Government agencies engaged in Customs clearance, and use of digital signature for electronic submission of Customs process documents. Continuing in this direction, it has now been decided with the approval of the Cabinet Secretary to establish a high-level administrative body at each seaport and airport with the responsibility of ensuring expeditious Customs clearance of imported and export goods .

Accordingly, the Board has decided to set up a Customs Clearance Facilitation Committee (CCFC) at every major Customs seaport and airport with immediate effect. The Chief Commissioner of Customs/Commissioner of Customs in charge of the seaport and airport concerned would head the CCFC. Its membership would include the senior-most functionary of the following departments/agencies/stakeholder at the particular seaport/airport:

(i) Food Safety Standards Authority of India/Port Health Officer (PHO)

(ii) Plant Quarantine Authorities

(iii) Animal Quarantine Authorities

(iv) Drug Controller of India (CDSO)

(v) Textile Committee

(vi) Port Trust/Airport Authority of India/Custodians

(vii) Wild Life Authorities

(viii) Railways/CONCOR

(ix) Pollution Control Board

(x) Any other Department/Agency/stakeholder to be co-opted on need basis.

Terms of Reference for the CCFC are:

(i) Ensuring and monitoring expeditious clearance of imported and export goods in accordance with the timeline specified by the parent ministry/Department concerned;

(ii) Identifying and resolving bottlenecks, if any, in the clearance procedure of imported and export goods;

(iii) Initiating Time Release Studies for improvement in the clearance time of imported and export goods;

(iv) Having internal consultations to speed up the clearance process of imported and export goods and recommending best practices thereto for consideration of CBEC/Departments/Agencies concerned; and

(v) Resolving grievances of members of the trade and industry in regard to clearance process of imported and export goods.

The CCFC shall meet once a week or more frequently, if considered necessary by the chair.

Is it feasible for such a high power committee to meet once a week? Can you expect the Chairman of a Port Trust to come to the Custom House every week to attend a meeting chaired by the Customs Commissioner?

CBEC Circular No.13/2015-Cus., Dated: April 13, 2015

Exemption to mega power projects - Indiabulls to Rattan India - Govt Amends Notifications

LIST 32A in Customs Notification 12/2012-Customs, dated the 17th March, 2012 lists mega power projects eligible for exemption. Sr. No. 82 of the list is the project of Indiabulls Power Ltd.

Similarly in Central Excise Notification No. 12/2012-Central Excise, dated the 17th March, 2012, List 11 has mega power projects eligible for exemption. Sr. No. 75 of the list is the project of Indiabulls Power Ltd.

The name of Indiabulls Power Ltd was changed to Rattan India Power Ltd with effect from 30th October 2014. The Government has amended both the above notifications to change the name of Indiabulls to Rattan India.

Notification No.27/2015 - Cus., Dated: April 17, 2015

Notification No.22/2015 - Cx., Dated: April 17, 2015

Anti Dumping Duty on Phenol -JIT Saved

GOVERNMENT had imposed provisional anti dumping duty on imports of Phenol originating in, or exported from, Thailand and Japan, by Notification No. 53/2010 dated 19th April 2010. This Notification specifically mentioned that "The Anti Dumping duty imposed under this notification shall be effective upto and inclusive of the 18th day of October, 2010"

So, from 19th October 2010, this anti dumping duty was not in force. And the Government was sleeping. They woke up on 1 st December 2010 and imposed definitive anti dumping duty on the goods for a period of five years from the date of imposition of the provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, the 19th April 2010.

This definitive anti dumping would end on 19th April 2015. But this time around they were well aware of the sunset and extended the life of the notification Just In Time (JIT), just a day before the expiry. Board deserves our kudos!

Notification No.14/2015 - Cus.(ADD), Dated: April 17, 2015

FTP - Export Policy of Sugar to EU and US - Free

GOVERNMENT has amended Chapter 17 of Schedule 2 of ITC(HS) Classification of Export and Import Items, by which Export of Preferential Quota sugar to EU and USA has been moved from “STE” to “Free” regime subject to certain conditions.

DGFT Notification No. 3/2015-2020., Dated: April 20, 2015

Want to meet DGFT Officers?

IT has been under consideration for some time that the meetings between the officers of DGFT and the Members of Trade/Public in respect of pending issues/grievances etc be made more fruitful and result oriented. To achieve this objective, DGFT has decided to streamline the procedure for interaction and in so far as DGFT Headquarters is concerned, visiting hours between 3 P.M. - 5 P.M. each working day would be earmarked for meetings with non officials/ Members of Trade.

While, visitors would be free to seek meetings with the officers of DGFT, who are authorised to interact, during the visiting hours, yet it would be more beneficial if prior appointment is fixed and the specific issues proposed to be discussed are spelt out in advance. This would enable the officers to prepare beforehand for the meeting and also inform the prospective visitors of their pre-occupation (if any) enabling alternative appointment.

This would help in saving the time of the visitors who otherwise have to waste their time waiting for a particular officer when such an officer may be pre-occupied elsewhere or be on tour or on leave.

This arrangement is applicable only for meetings with officers working in DGFT Headquarters. The DGFT has advised the RAs to issue similar trade notices at the local level.

It is great that a Government Department is concerned about the waste of time of the citizens.

Maybe the Revenue Departments should learn from this. Often assessees are asked to attend offices and when they arrive, the concerned officers are not available. Many babus in the Revenue get a kind of pleasure in making people wait. Some of them don't even bother to inform the assessee or his counsel when they cancel ‘personal hearings' without a concern for the time of others.

Recently a lawyer told me,

I had a hearing before the Commissioner who was the Commissioner for Central Excise and Service tax. On the date of hearing, I called up the Adjudication Superintendent, who was in charge of Central Excise. He told me that the Commissioner was not available and hearings on Central Excise matters are postponed, but he did know about Service Tax. Mine was a service tax case; so I asked him about my case. He said he didn't know about that - you should ask the Service tax Superintendent. He gave me the information that Commissioner was on leave and away in his native place a thousand miles away, but he cannot tell me about the hearing in Service Tax cases!

Sometimes, Counsels travel from distant places only to be told in the last moment that the officer is not available.

As far as possible, the Courts inform the public whenever a judge is going to be absent - but babus are not mere judges.

DGFT Trade Notice 1/2015., Dated: April 20, 2015

Until Tomorrow with more DDT

Have a nice day.

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