Circular- 10/2016-Customs
F.No.450/147/2015-Cus-IV
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
(Central Board of Excise and Customs)
Dated: the 15
th
March, 2016
To,
All Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive),
All Chief Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise,
All Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Preventive),
All Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise.
Sir/Madam,
Subject: Implementing Integrated Declaration under the Indian Customs Single
Window- reg.
Kind reference is invited to Board’s Circulars No. 09/2015 dated 31.03.2015
and Circular No. 03/2016 dated 03.02.2016 regarding the Indian Customs Single
Window. To re-capitulate, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has
taken-up the task of implementing ‘Indian Customs Single Window Project’ to
facilitate trade. This project envisages that the importers and exporters would
electronically lodge their Customs clearance documents at a single point only with
the Customs. The required permission, if any, from Partner Government Agencies
(PGAs) such as Animal Quarantine, Plant Quarantine, Drug Controller, Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India, Textile Committee etc. would be obtained online
without the importer/exporter having to separately approach these agencies. This
would be possible through a common, seamlessly integrated IT systems utilized by
all regulatory agencies, logistics service providers and the importers/exporters. The
Single Window would thus provide the importers/exporters a single point interface for
clearance of import and export goods thereby reducing dwell time and cost of doing
business.
Online Clearance from Participating Government Agencies (PGAs)
2. In this backdrop the Board has issued the circulars referred to above, to
introduce a system of online clearance between Customs and the Department of
Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage (DPPQ&S), Food Safety Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI), Drug Controller (CDSCO), Animal Quarantine (AQCS),
Wild Life Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Textile C ommittee. With the
introduction of this facility, clearance from these regulatory agencies is flowing
online, and the hard-copy of ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) is no longer required
for clearance of goods. This online clearance under Single Window Project has been
rolled out at main ports and airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai so far. It
will be gradually extended across the country.
Integrated Declaration under Customs Single Window Project
3. CBEC has since developed the ‘Integrated Declara tion’, under which all
information required for import clearance by the concerned government agencies
has been incorporated into the electronic format of the Bill of Entry. The Customs
Broker or Importer shall submit the “Integrated Declaration” electronically to a single
entry point, i.e. the Customs Gateway (ICEGATE). Separate application forms
required by different PGAs like Drug Controller, AQCS, WCCB, PQIS and FSSAI
would be dispensed with.
4. The Message Format specifications of the Integrated Declaration, which is to
be filed electronically has been published on ICEGATE. The Integrated Declaration
captures the particulars of items required by each PGA. The Integrated Declaration
will be applicable for consignments to be cleared under the Indian Customs EDI
Systems. For the clearance of imported goods in the manual mode, separate
documents prescribed by the respective agencies will continue to apply.
5. Since over half of the data required by the PGAs was common with the Bill of
Entry, the Integrated Declaration includes a set of standardized and rationalized
data, resulting in a 60 percent reduction in the total number of data fields that the
trade had to manage in their systems or in hardcopy. Besides, the integrated
Declaration replaces 9 separate forms that an importer or his broker was supposed
to file with various agencies. These are Customs Bill of Entry, Customs valuation
declaration, Application for import of livestock products, Application for import of pet
animals/aquatic/other animals, birds and poultry (chicks), Application for quarantine
inspection and clearance of imported plants/plant products, ADC Drug sheet for
import (Appendix – II), Additional ADC Sheet for drug category and composition,
Application for post shipment examination by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, and
Application form for NOC from FSSAI for food items imported into India.
Declarations and Undertakings
6. Apart from incorporating the forms mentioned in para 5 above, the Integrated
Declaration will also include different types of undertakings, declarations, and letters
of guarantee that are presently required to be submitted on company letter heads.
The Integrated Declaration has a portion to capture the text of these declarations,
undertakings and letters of guarantee etc. in the form of statements. These
statements have been standardized and codified, so that while submitting the
Integrated Declaration, the importer specify the statement codes, and the printed
copies of the Bills of Entry will contain the corresponding standardized texts.
Supporting Documents
7. The Integrated Declaration has a separate section on the particulars of
supporting documents to be provided along with the Bill of Entry. The Importer or his
Customs Brokers can also provide details of the supporting documents using this
section.
8. CBEC is in the process of procuring IT infrastructure to capture digitally
signed copies of the supporting documents. Once this facility is implemented, the
need to provide hardcopies of supporting documents will be dispensed with.
Risk-based Inspection under Integrated Declaration
9. The Integrated Declaration would also gather dat a/information for
implementation of a system of selective inspection and testing by all PGAs, which is
crucial for promoting “Ease of Doing Business”. Following the decision of the
Committee of Secretaries, all PGAs will select consignments for documentary
examination, physical inspection and testing based on risk, and all PGAs will use
CBEC’s Risk Management System in which, the necessary selectivity criteria will be
introduced.
10. The Risk Management Division has developed a mo dule for introducing a
dynamic, risk-based selection of consignments. This module will incorporate criteria
developed in consultation with the PGAs. The module will determine whether the bill
of entry should be referred to a PGA for NOC, what kind of documentary
examination, physical inspection of goods, and testing will be necessary. This
module will also implement the rules of delegation of authority from PGAs to
Customs for inspection of goods, verification of documents and drawl of samples.
Processing of bill of entry under Integrated Declaration
11. Upon filing of the Integrated Declaration, the bill of entry will automatically be
referred to concerned agency, if required, based on risk. The system has been
modified to enable simultaneous processing of bill of entry by PGA and Customs.
Implementation Schedule
12. The specifications of bill of entry format for the Integrated Declaration along
with the agency-wise guidelines have been uploaded on the ICEGATE website. The
Single Window Project (SWP) team has already held number of familiarization
session with the stakeholders, including the service providers who responsible for
maintaining the Remote EDI System software on behalf of importers and brokers.
13. The ICEGATE facility will be available for testing of the integrated declaration
with effect from 15/3/2016, March, 2016. The Integrated Declaration will go live with
effect from 1
st
April, 2016.
Training/ Familiarization with Integrated Declaration and Single Window
Project
14. All stakeholders are requested to carefully go through the Integrated
Declaration Form and the process outlined. This is a major initiative of the
Department and is expected to significantly simplify and expedite the clearance
process. In this regard, the Single Window project team has addressed several
gatherings of trade at different forums in order to explain the concept of the Single
Window and the Integrated Declaration. To further familiarize the trade about the
content of Integrated Declaration, detailed presentations and interactive sessions will
be held at all major Custom locations across the country in the third week of March,
2016. The schedules and venues for these training sessions will be notified
separately by the respective Commissioner.
Monitoring and Feed back
15. To facilitate smooth roll out of Integrated Declaration, feedback and queries
may be addressed by email to meena.rajendra@nic.in and
Nsm.ices@icegate.gov.in. References in hardcopy may be sent to Commissioner
(Single Window), Centre Of Excellence, Tower 3&4, NBCC Plaza, PushpVihar,
Sector-5, Saket, New Delhi-110077, Fax No. 011-29563902.
Yours faithfully,
A.K. Sapra
OSD (Cus. IV)
