Foreign Trade Policy restrictions on State Trading Enterprises shall not apply to Special Economic Zone manufacturing Units – Special Economic Zone Rules, 2006 Amended to incorporate these provisions and much more
The Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 have been amended as follows:
In Chapter II in Rule 11, after sub-rule (11), the following sub-rule is inserted:
“(12) The Central Government may lay down guidelines for development, operation and maintenance of Special Economic Zones”.
Does it mean that all along the guidelines issued by the Government in matters related to SEZ under these Rules in the last three years are without any sanction of such a rule as is introduced now?
In Chapter III, in Rule 17, after sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule is inserted:
“(2A) The Approval Committee shall meet once in every fortnight on a fixed pre-determined day”.
In Chapter IV, in Rule 26, after the second proviso, the following provisos are inserted:
“Provided also that the Foreign Trade Policy restrictions on State Trading Enterprises shall not apply to Special Economic Zone manufacturing Units.”
Provided also that export of iron-ore shall be subject to the conditions as imposed by the Central Government.”
In Chapter IV, in Rule 27, in sub-rule (9), after the first proviso, the following proviso is inserted:
“Provided further that the goods which are sent outside the Special Economic Zone for repairs are returned to the Special Economic Zone, within 180 days from the date of removal from the Special Economic Zone, under intimation to the specified officer. In case goods are sent out for replacement then on replaced goods, no Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme, duty drawback or other export incentives shall be claimed for this purpose”
In Chapter IV, in Rule 39 for sub-rule (4) the following sub-rule is substituted:
“Where any goods procured from Domestic Tariff Area under claim of drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme credit or under any export promotion scheme are destroyed due to natural calamities, the zone unit shall be required to pay drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme credit or any other export incentive claimed on such goods:
Provided that in case where the Unit has procured the goods from Domestic Tariff Area against payment of foreign exchange, the Unit shall not be liable to pay back drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme credit or any export incentive claimed on such goods.”
Earlier this sub-rule (4) read as follows:
4) Where any goods procured from Domestic Tariff Area under claim of drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme Credit or any other export incentive or under any export promotion scheme are destroyed due to natural calamities, the zone unit shall be required to pay drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme Credit or any other export incentive claimed on such goods:
Provided that in case where the Unit has procured the goods from Domestic Tariff Area against payment of foreign exchange, the Unit shall not be liable to pay back drawback or Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme credit or any export incentive claimed on such goods.
While the words ‘or any other export incentive' are deleted in the introductory part of the sub-rule, this phrase continues to exist in the rest of the sub-rule including the proviso.
In Chapter IV, for Rule 40, the following rule is substituted:
“The movement of goods to and from non-processing area to a processing area and from one processing area of Special Economic Zone to a different processing area of the same Special Economic Zone shall be under serially numbered challans pre-authenticated by the owner or Managing Director or working partner or the company secretary or by any person duly authorised in this behalf by the unit or developer, as the case may be, and the challans shall contain complete description of goods.”
Earlier Rule 40 of the said Rules, read as follows:
“The movement of goods to and from non-processing area to a processing area and from one processing area of Special Economic Zone to a different processing area of the same Special Economic Zone shall be under serially numbered challans pre- authenticated by the owner or Managing Director or working partner or the company secretary or by any person duly authorized in this behalf by the company or firm, as the case may be, and the challans shall contain complete description of goods.”
In Chapter IV, in Rule 46, in sub-rule (8), for the proviso the following proviso is substituted:
“Provided that the items not sold abroad may be re-imported within a period of three hundred and sixty five days from the date of their export.”
Earlier this proviso read as follows:
“Provided that the items not sold abroad may be re-imported within a period of three hundred and sixty five days from the date of their export inclusive of the period of forty-five days.”
In Chapter VIII, in Rule 70, in sub-rule (2), after the proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“The identity card shall be valid upto a period of five years and shall be issued, in the format given in Form K, to the entrepreneurs and regular employees of the Units:
Provided that when any employee who has been issued an identity card ceases to be in employment of the Unit or Developer, the said identity card shall be surrendered forthwith and shall be deemed to be invalid from such date:
Provided further that when the Unit ceases to hold a valid Letter of Approval, all identity cards issued to the Entrepreneurs and employees of such Unit shall be deemed to be invalid and shall be surrendered forthwith.”
NOTIFICATION No. NIL Dated: August 3, 2009