Customs - CBEC Prescribes More Ease of Doing Business - No Piece meal queries
CBEC Notes:
1. Trade facilitation has been accorded priority by the Government since it is critical for Ease of Doing Business in India. The progress in Ease of Doing Business is being monitored at the highest level.
2. In order to facilitate genuine trade and to reduce dwell time, it is necessary to streamline the procedures at every stage of assessment till out of charge of goods is given by Proper Officer of Customs.
3. Increasing number of queries and resultant delay in assessment process is a matter of concern.
4. Further, instances have come to notice that in cases, during re-assessment of Bill of Entry by the proper officer, the queries seeking clarification from importer are raised in a piece meal manner.
5. There is also no mechanism to monitor the time taken in raising queries and completing re-assessment by the officers.
6. The C&AG in its report on Trade Facilitation of Import and Export through Ports has highlighted this point and desired that a system of periodical review and analysis of queries raised must be devised by the Department.
7. Further, the areas where maximum number of queries are raised should be identified which could be disseminated for the benefit of trade so that they could take preventive action.
Board decides and desires that:
1. genuine clarification sought by officers from importers/exporters are raised in one go and not in a piece meal manner.
2. field formation could consider listing of the queries frequently raised in course of assessment and disseminate them through Public Notice or sensitize trade about the same so that importers could take preventive action to avoid such queries or be better prepared to reply to such queries.
3. the time taken after answering the queries should be further curtailed and in fact documents that are delayed are accorded priority after receipt of satisfactory reply from importers.
Board directs that:
1. All Chief Commissioners to instruct officers under their jurisdiction to strictly adhere to aforementioned guidelines.
2. Commissioner of Customs may also devise a mechanism for monthly update/review of the same. The review must include type and frequency of queries raised by the proper officers.
3. Chief Commissioners should also consider suitable sensitization of importers about most common errors so that avoidable delays in completion of reassessment by proper officer may be avoided in future.
CBEC Circular No. 22/2015-Customs., Dated: September 03, 2015