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Circular No. 18/2020 - Customs

F. No. 15021/10/2020- ICD (CBEC)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
International Customs Division
*****
Room No. 227A, North Block, New Delhi -110001
Dated: 11
TH
April, 2020
To
The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Customs,
Ahmedabad/Bengaluru/Delhi/Kolkata/Mumbai–I/Mumbai–II/Mumbai–III
Zone.
The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Customs
(Preventive),
Delhi/Patna/Tiruchirapalli.
The Principal Chief Commissioner / Chief Commissioner of Central Goods and
Service Tax,
Bhopal/Bhubaneshwar/Guwahati/Hyderabad/Meerut/Nagpur/Pune/Thiruvana
nthpuram/Visakhapatnam.
Madam / Sir,
Subject: Clearance of goods under India’s Trade Agreements
without original Certificate of Origin- regarding.
The undersigned has been directed to refer to the Trade Notice no.
62/2019-2020 issued by DGFT on 6
th
April 2020. The said Trade Notice has been
issued in consultation with CBIC and it seeks to mitigate the difficulties being
faced by importers in producing the original Certificates of Origin (CoO) on
account of disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. It is accordingly directed that in accordance with the said Trade Notice,
the import consignments, where a preferential treatment of goods under a Free
Trade Agreement has been claimed but the original hard copy of CoO has not
been submitted or only digitally signed copy or unsigned copy of CoO is
submitted, may be assessed and cleared provisionally in terms of section 18 of the

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Customs Act, 1962. The final assessment may be done subsequently on
submission of the original COO certificate by the importer. The revenue may be
secured through undertaking and appropriate security.

3. Customs field formations shall maintain a record of all cases of relaxation
allowed by them and will ensure that such provisional assessments are finalized
at the earliest and in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

Yours sincerely,

(Abhishek Kumar Sharma)
Officer on Special Duty (ICD)