Maintenance of records in digital form - costly for small EOU
WE received this mail from a netizen -
Notification no. 52/2003-Cus provides for duty free import by EOUs. It required the EOU to work under Customs Bond. Accordingly, EOUs were obtaining Licence u/s 58 and permission u/s 65 of Customs Act. They were also required to maintain a warehousing register.
Vide notification 44/2016-Cus dated 29 July 2016, which amended the notification 52/2003-CE, the warehousing provisions have been removed.
However, in a surprising move, the Board has made maintenance of record in digital form compulsory. This is envisaged in Board Circular 35/2016-Cus dated 29 July 2016.
The digital records need to incorporate audit trail. Board says, it should incorporate:
…a secure, computer generated, time-stamped electronic record that allows for reconstruction of the course of events relating to the creation, modification, or deletion of an electronic record and includes actions at the record or system level, such as, attempts to access the system or delete or modify a record.
This is certain to create operational problems for small EOUs. They can't afford to install an ERP. It will be costly. In fact, they are unable to even maintain their records in MS Excel. The Board should allow the option of manual records.
Will CBEC react?
Customs Exemption to Flat copper wire for solar photovoltaic cells or modules
As per Sl. No. 335B of Notification No. 12/2012 - Cus dated 17.03.2012, Flat copper wire for use in the manufacture of photovoltaic ribbon (tinned copper interconnect) for manufacture of solar photovoltaic cells or modules are exempted
If, the importer at the time of import,-
(a) furnishes in all cases a certificate to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, from an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) recommending the grant of the exemption and the said officer certifies that the goods are required for the specified purpose; and
(b) furnishes an undertaking to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, to the effect that,-
(i) he shall use the imported goods for the purpose specified; and
(ii) in case he fails to comply with item (i), he shall pay an amount equal to the difference between the duty leviable on the imported goods but for the exemption under this notification and that already paid at the time of importation.
Now this condition is changed to:
If the importer follows the procedure set out in the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable Goods) Rules, 1996.
Notification No. , Dated: September 02 2016