Customs and Excise - Exemption to Bunker Fuels
GOVERNMENT had exempted the following bunker fuels from the whole of the Customs Duty by an amending Notification No. , Dated: November 11, 2014:
(i) IFO 180 CST;
(ii) IFO 380 CST.
The exemption is subject to the conditions:
(i) the bunker fuels are imported for use in ships or vessels which are registered under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) and fly the Indian flag only;
(ii) such ships or vessels carry cargo between two or more Indian ports (including an intermediate foreign port);
(iii) such ships or vessels carry either containerised export-import cargo or empty containers or both between such ports;
(iv) such ships or vessels do not file any cargo related documentation under the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) with the Customs authorities, other than an import manifest (IGM) or an export manifest (EGM), as the case may be;
(v) the Master of the vessel or his authorised agent and the importer submit a declaration-cum-undertaking stating the quantity of bunker fuels required under this notification to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, based on a document certifying the consumption rate of fuel issued by any classification society which is a member of International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and the distance proposed to be covered by the vessel during its voyage;
(vi) the Master of the vessel or his authorised agent and the importer submit an undertaking to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, to pay, in the event of his failure to comply with any of the aforesaid conditions, an amount equal to the duty leviable on such goods but for the exemption contained therein, along with the applicable interest thereon.
IFO 180 CST means Intermediate Fuel Oil (IFO) with 180 centistoke (cst) viscosity.
A similar exemption is given in Central Excise also by an amending Notification No. , Dated: November 11, 2014.
Now the Government has substituted Conditions iii and iv above as:
(iii) such ships or vessels carry containerised cargo namely, export-import cargo or empty containers or domestic cargo, between such ports;
(iv) such ships or vessels file an import manifest (IGM) or an export manifest (EGM), as the case may be , in each leg of the voyage.
Notification No. , Dated: September 17, 2015 and
Notification No. , Dated: September 17, 2015