Goods for use in aquaculture farms and on export of aquaculture products produced therefrom - exemption on import
8-12-1994
Notification No. 196/94-Customs
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), the Central
Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods specified in the Table
below (hereinafter referred to as the goods), when imported into India, or procured from a Public Warehouse or a Private
Warehouse appointed or licensed, as the case may be, under section 57 or section 58 of the said Customs Act, or procured
from international exhibitions held in India, for use in an aquaculture farm in connection with the operational requirements of
such acquaculture farm and for export of aquaculture products produced from such goods (hereinafter referred to as the said
purpose) by hundred per cent Export Oriented Units approved by the Board of Approvals for hundred per cent Export Oriented
Undertakings, appointed by the notification of Government of India in the former Ministry of Industry and Civil Supplies,
(Department of Industrial Development) No. S.0.163(E)/RLIU/10(2)76, dated the 3rd March, 1976 or the Development
Commissioner concerned as the case may be (hereinafter referred to as the Board), from the whole of the duty of customs
leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) and the additional duty, if any leviable
thereon under section 3 of the second mentioned Act, subject to the following conditions, namely: -
(1) the importer has been granted necessary approval for the import of the goods for the said purpose;
(2) the importer at the time of import or procurement of the said goods, executes a bond in such a form and for such a sum as
may be prescribed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs binding himself -
(a) to produce a Certificate from the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise or Deputy Commissioner of Central Excise
having jurisdiction over his unit certifying receipt of the said goods in the unit and goods having been entered in the record
prescribed for this purpose;
(b) to fulfil the export obligations and comply with the conditions stipulated in this notification and in the Export and Import Policy
and to pay on demand an amount equal to the duty leviable on the goods and interest at the rate of fifteen percent per annum
on the said duty from the date of importation or procurement of the said goods till the date of payment of such duty, if -
(i) in the case of capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or
Deputy Commissioner of Customs to have been installed or otherwise used within the zone or re-exported within a period of
one year from the date of importation or procurement thereof or within such extended period not exceeding five years as the
Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs .may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient
cause for not using them as above within the said period, allow;
(ii) in the case of goods other than capital goods, such goods are not proved to the satisfaction of the Assistant Commissioner
of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs to have been used in connection with the production or packaging of goods
for export out of India or re-exported or cleared for home consumption within a period of one year from the date of importation
or procurement thereof or within such extended period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of
Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not using them as above, allow;
(iii) in the case of -
(a) goods produced or packaged, such goods have not been exported out of India, and-
(b) unused goods (including containers, suitable for repeated use) as have not been exported or cleared for home
consumption, within a period of one year from the date of importation or procurement of such goods or within such extended
period as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, on being satisfied that there is
sufficient cause for not exporting such goods within the said period, allow;
(iv) in the case of raw materials, components, spares and consumables (other than capital goods) imported or procured duty
free, the unit fails to achieve Net Foreign Exchange Earning as a Percentage of Exports (NFEP) and Export Performance (EP)
as specified in Appendix-1 of the Export and Import Policy, within one year of importation or procurement of such goods or
within such extended period not exceeding one year as the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of
Customs may, on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause, allow :
Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may extend the period for achievement of Net Foreign Exchange as a
Percentage of Exports (NFEP) or Export Performance (EP) for further period not exceeding five years from the date of
importation or procurement;
(3) the importer uses the goods for the purpose of production of acquaculture products and exports out of India hundred per
cent or such other percentage, as may be fixed by the Board, of acquaculture products produced from the goods for a period of
10 years or such extended period as may be specified by the Board;
(4) the importer shall maintain a proper account of import, consumption and and utilization of the said goods and of exports
made by him, and shall submit such account periodically to the Development Commissioner of the Zone, and in such form and
in such manner as may be laid down by the Development Commissioner.
(5) the importer, at the time of import of the goods, produces to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy
Commissioner a certificate from the Development Commissioner to the effect that the importer has executed a bond in such
form and for such sum binding himself to fulfil the export obligations and conditions as may be specified for this purpose in the
Export and Import Policy;
(6) notwithstanding anything contained in this notification the exemption con- tained herewith shall also apply to those goods
which on importation into India are used for the purpose of production of acquaculture products within hundred per cent Export-
Oriented undertakings approved by the Board and such products (including rejects, waste and scrap material arising in the
course of production) even if not exported out of India, are allowed to be sold in India, under and in accordance with the Export
and Import Policy, as amended from time to time, and in such quantity and subject to such other limitations and conditions as
may be specified in this behalf by the Development Commissioner, on payment of duty of excise leviable on such articles under
section 3 of the Central Excise and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) or where such articles (including rejects, waste and scrap
material) are not excisable, customs duty equal in amount to that leviable on the inputs obtained under this notification and
used for the purpose of manufacture or production of such articles, which would have been paid but for the exemption under
this notification, shall be payable at the time of clearance of such articles.
(7) the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions as may be
prescribed by him to re-export the goods;
(8) without prejudice to any other provisions contained in this notification the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy
Commissioner of Customs may, subject to such conditions and limitations as he may deem fit to impose under the
circumstances of the case for the proper safeguard of the revenue interest and also subject to such permission of the
Development Commissioner or the Board of Approvals where it is exclusively required under the Export-Import Policy, allow
the said unit to clear any of the said goods; for being taken to any other place in India in accordance with the Export and Import
Policy, as amended from time to time (hereinafter in this notification referred to as the said Export and Import Policy) :-
(a) such clearance of capital goods, material handling equip equipments and captive power plants may be allowed on payment
of an amount equal to the customs duty leviable on such goods on the depredated value thereof and at the rate in force on the
date
of payment of such duty;
Provided that in the case of capital goods, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs May,
subject to such conditions as he may specify, permit destruction of such capital goods without payment of duty inside the unit,
or outside the said unit, where it is not possible or permissible to destroy the same within the said unit, in the presence of
custom officer.
(b) such clearance of goods (including containers suitable for repeated use) other than those specified in clause (a), may be
allowed on payment of customs duty on the value at the time of import and at rates in force on the date of payment of such
customs duty;
(c) such clearance of used packing materials such as cardboard boxes, polythelene bags of a kind unsuitable for repeated use
may be allowed without payment of any customs duty :
Provided that the importer shall not be eligible to avail of the exemption applicable to goods falling under heading number
98.01 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), or the exemption available to the imported goods
under any Export Promotion scheme other than the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme permitting import of capital
goods at the rate of duty of 5% ad valorem in terms of notifications in force at the time of debonding.
Explanation. - The depreciation in respect of goods covered by clause (a) shall be allowed for the period from the date of
commencement of commercial production of the unit or where such goods have been imported after such commencement,
from the date such goods have come into use for commercial production, upto the date of payment of duty.
(9) (i) the notification No. 188-Customs/93, dated the 27th December, 1993, of the Government of India in the Ministry of
Finance, Department of Revenue is hereby rescinded.
(ii) Notwithstanding such rescission, anything done or action taken under the notification so rescinded shall be deemed to have
been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this notification.
Explanation.- For the purpose of this notification,
(a) "Export-Import Policy" means the Export and import policy, 1
st
April, 2002-31
st
March, 2007 published by the
Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide notification No. 1/2002-07, dated 31
st
March, 2002, as
amended from time to time.
(b) "Handbook of Procedures, Volume I" means the Handbook of Procedures, Volume I, 2002-2007 published by the
Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide Public Notice No. 1/2002-07, dated the 31
st
March, 2002.
Sl.No.Description of Goods
1.
Capital Goods including plant and machinery for packaging, conveyor belts and accessories, spares and consumables
including lubricants therefor for spawning Hatchery, Aqua Farm, Processing Plant, Chilling unit (cold storage) and Feed
plant.
2.
Material handling equipments, namely, fork-lifts, over-head cranes, mobile cranes, crawler cranes, hoists and stackers
and spares, consumables including lubricants therefor.
3
Captive power plant including power generating set up to a capacity of 1000 KVA as recommended by the
Development Commissioner and accessories.
3A.
Captive power plant including power generating set of a capacity exceeding 1000 KVA as recommended by the said
Board of Approval and accessories;
4.Tools, Jigs, Gauges, Fixtures, Moulds, Dyes, Instruments and accessories.
5.Cold room apparels.
6.
Chemicals for water treatment. Zeolite, Teaseed powder/cake, waste digesters, pesticides, fungicides, veterinary
medicines including vaccines.
7.Office equipments, spares and consumables thereof.
8.Feed for prawns/fish and other aquatic animals including Artemia (Brain Shrimp eggs) and other Hatchery feeds.
9.
Raw-materials for feeds for aquatic animals, namely, meals of fish and other aquatic invertibrates like squid/prawns in
liquid, powder or other forms, fish lipid oil, squid oil, veterinary grade premix of vitamins/ minerals not suitable for
human consumption, sea weed powder, kalp Meal, Molasses, yeast, choline chloride, Antioxidants excluding Vitamins,
Licithin, Di-clacium Phosphate and Calcium Lactate which are capable of use in other than veterinary application.
10.Preservatives, pre-mix taste makers, battering materials, special cooking medium, bread crumbs/powder.
11.Packaging materials, all sorts.
12.Catfish-eggs, fries and fingerlings
13.High Speed Diesel for use in the power gwnerating sets as recommended by the Board of Approvals.
Notification No. 196/94-Cus., dated 8-12-1994 as amended by Notifications No. 83/95-Cus.,dated 31-3-1995;
No. 101/95-Cus., dated 26-5-1995; No. 117/95-Cus., dated 12-6-1995; No. 171/95-Cus.,dated 26-12-1995;
No. 33/97-Cus., dated 1-4-1997; No. 12/98-Cus., dated 27-4-1998; No. 38/98-Cus., dated 26-6-1998;
No. 65/99-Cus., dated 19-5-1999 No. 9/2000-Cus., dated 28-1-2000
and No. 71/2000-Cus., dated 22-5-2000 , No.56/2001 dated 18-05-2001.and No. 64/2002-cus dated 24-6-2002.
