Clearance of Warehoused Goods - Filing of Ex-bond Bill of Entry - CBEC Instructions
SECTION 68 of the Customs Act requires the filing of a bill of entry (ex-bond bill of entry) for clearance of any warehoused goods for home consumption. At present, the ex-bond bills of entry are being filed with the Commissionerates having jurisdiction over the warehouses and in large number of cases, manually.
Board has decided that the importer or owner of the warehoused goods seeking to clear goods for home consumption under section 68 shall henceforth file ex-bond bills of entry on ICES and the customs station of import shall assess the Bill of Entry for clearance of the warehoused goods for home consumption.
The importer or owner of the goods shall produce a copy of the assessed ex-bond bill of entry with the order for clearance of goods for home consumption given by the proper officer, to the jurisdictional bond officer assigned to the warehouse, for permitting clearance of the warehoused goods. Upon the importer or owner producing the ex-bond bill of entry for home consumption, the bond officer shall permit the removal of goods from the warehouse for home consumption.
The Board has already issued a circular providing that the bonds to be executed by the importer while filing a Bill of Entry for warehousing shall be executed at the customs station of import itself. Furthermore, with the imminent introduction of the system of providing a warehouse code at the into-bond bill of entry stage (circular no. ), the warehouse where goods are to be deposited will also be available in EDI.
With the introduction of EDI based monitoring, the systems managers at the customs stations will be able to identify Bills of Entry where the initial period of warehousing is near expiry for initiating necessary action.
Board says these measures are expected to leverage the benefits of automation for facilitating trade; it will enable the department to monitor the permitted period for which goods remain in the warehouse; provide a single point for the importer or owner to seek extension of the warehousing period; and pay duties online.
The new procedure will come into effect from 15th June 2016.
CBEC Circular No. 22/2016-Customs., Dated: May 31, 2016