Delay in remission of duty and destruction of goods rendered unfit for consumption or for marketing - CBEC Clarifies
BOARD has noticed that there is considerable delay in the disposal of applications for remission of duty under Rule 21 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002 and destruction of excisable goods claimed as unfit for consumption or for marketing, by the field formations. Such avoidable delay causes inconvenience to the assessees by way of risk of contamination and infection apart from occupation of valuable storage space.
Board clarifies that “The procedures for remission of duty and, the manner of destruction of excisable goods rendered unfit for consumption or for marketing, are contained in Part-I of Chapter 18 of CBEC's Central Excise Manual of Supplementary Instructions, 2005. The permission for destruction and remission is to be granted by the competent authority, depending upon the amount of duty sought to be remitted and subject to such conditions as may be imposed by him. Where only physical verification is required, the same has to be conducted by the remission granting authority and upon his satisfaction, destruction of goods and remission of duty can be allowed. In case of doubt, sample has to be drawn and tested by the specified laboratories. Ordinarily, the claim of the assessee that the goods are rendered unfit for consumption or marketing, should be accepted and the permission for remission and destruction should be granted within a period of 21 days or earlier. Where samples are required to be tested, for reason to be recorded in writing, such permission should be granted within a period of 45 days. There should not be inordinate delay in destruction of the goods under the supervision of the proper officer, once the permission for destruction and remission is granted.”
Board reiterates the above instructions to ensure that the prescribed time limits are adhered to by the field formations and there is no unreasonable delay in granting permission for remission of duty and physical destruction of the goods on which duty has been remitted by the proper officer.
We had reported a case where the Department did not reply to the assessee for over a year and when the assessee destroyed the goods, slapped it with a Show Cause Notice and demand. Please see 2009-TIOL-809-CESTAT-BANG.
CBEC Letter in F. No. 201/03/2010-CX.6; Dated: February 15, 2011