Clarification on personal imports by Post

O 2 sy Oo (7 . re Office Of The Assistant i Ln Commissioner Of Custenis : “ ~ O | | p27 JUN 2018 e) - OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS - ae SPECIAL CARGO COMMISSIONERATE| - ‘@o) OO: AWAS CORPORATE POINT, MAKWANA LANE, ANDHE AIRPORT: SAHAR ANDHERI (EAST), MUMBAT400099 SAHAR MUMBAI -99. 0 F.No. Air SCC/ 0|-96/2018-19 Admn. Date: 2.0.06.2018 ‘on , - PUBLIC NOTICE NO. 04/2018 ; : . Subject: Clarification on personal imports by Post -reg. @)‘ t . Board Attention ofCircular No.the14/2018-Customs.dated importers, Custom. Brokers4t June,2018 and all coricemnedon the areabovementioned invited to the ¢ ae. 6 . subject. . a © ' | 2. In the budget of2017, Chapter heading 9804 was amended to cover ail types of m oe) :; amendedpersonal imports,to exclude whetherfrom by post,heading courier,, 9804, motorair or sea.vehicles,Note 4alcoholic to chapterbeverages 98 was alsoand Vv ' tobacco products. a O ‘?) 3. Also, the Foreign Trade Amendment Order, 2017 dated 25.0720 17 has amended clause 3(1) (i) of the Foreign Trade (Exemption from application ‘of rulés"in’ Certain , 0 . cases} Order, 1993, and nowreads as under: , . i 3, Exemption from the application of rules. ~ : ©: ; O (1) Nothing contained in the Rules shall apply to the import of any goods, ’ . ‘) ! (i) by any person through the post or otherwise for his personal use. , : subject to compliance of other Laws/Rules/ Orders/Regulations in force. ! : \ QO ‘ 4.

ly to the import of any goods, ’ . ‘) ! (i) by any person through the post or otherwise for his personal use. , : subject to compliance of other Laws/Rules/ Orders/Regulations in force. ! : \ QO ‘ 4. By issue of notification 16/2015-20 dated 12% July 2017, DGFT has removed oe) | ‘the value cap of Rs 2000.00 'w.r.t to personal imports, as well as, fully aligned the ! chapter notes in ITCHS with those enacted under Chapter 98 of the Customs Tariff. i ° : Personal. imports would be considered as “free, except those items which are | oO : appearing in the list of “restricted” items or “prohibited” items or where they are I regulated by any other law for the time being in force, subject to a de-minimus | ! clause or a clause for personal imports provided in such law, (As regards definitions | O° of the words: “restricted” and "prohibited", Chapter 9 of the Foreign Trade Policy “ 0 i 2015-20 may be referred) , 3 ‘o) ; I. "5. The net effect of all the above changes is that any personal import, whether by QO . courierCustomsor Tariff. post or by Air or Sea shall. be classified under. tariff heading 9804 of the, . . C) 6. In this connection, clarification import? has been sought as to what constitutes personal . '@) Customs Act, 1962 does not define personal import. However, the Handbook i ‘e) of Procedures carries a definition of personal imports in para 2.07 (a) (iii), which is as | , follows: Persons importing or exporting goods for personal use not connected with trade or manufacture or agriculture. ‘ 0 3 ’

definition of personal imports in para 2.07 (a) (iii), which is as | , follows: Persons importing or exporting goods for personal use not connected with trade or manufacture or agriculture. ‘ 0 3 ’

© ET oneenneeraE : '@) C 7. Further, where an IEC code becomes necessary, such as for filing a Bill ofEntry, ‘e) : the HBOP provides for using a defauit code {0100000053} for: . 7 ~ © . Persons/Institutions/Hospitals importing or _ e) exporting goods for personal use, not , connected with trade or manufacture or , ‘ 8. Accordingly, field formations are advised to rely upon the above definitions for the ’ pe @) ! purposes oO of determining whetheran import falls within the chapter heading 9804... ' a 9. Insofar as imports by post are concerned, it is recognized that Posts is a unique : : © : eco-system of clearance in comparison with other modes of clearahce of imported : fo) goods. Unlike other ecosystems, imports by post are both trackable as well as non: trackable. Manifests, as available’ in other eco-systems, containing details of ’ consignor/consignee, their addresses and value/description of goods are not being : O ; captured orexchanged universally between postal authorities, Data exchange between : : i postal authorities, globally, is at very nascent stages / pilot stages. India Post is still oO ; QO 3 in the process ofjoining data exchange systems, such as UPU-WCO's SECUREX and ‘ ! other sysiems which are being worked out bi-laterally with some other countries. In i O .

dia Post is still oO ; QO 3 in the process ofjoining data exchange systems, such as UPU-WCO's SECUREX and ‘ ! other sysiems which are being worked out bi-laterally with some other countries. In i O . other words, the basic prerequisite of release of goods, namely, filing of declaration : ; ’ ‘e) 4 environmenand deposi t . of duty, cannat be provided with any consistence in the current postal , , ‘e | 10, Keeping the above in view, chapter XI of the Customs Act was amended by , : '®) ; deleting section 82, while section 84 was amended ‘to provide for issue of regulations i; an ° : to provide a form and manner for malang entry in respect of imports and exports by ‘ i ; © : post, However, compliance to a system for filing of declaration for Personal imports : C) requires a robust electronic communication systein between an importer and : .i Customs/Post. Such a system requires. added functionalities in postal tracking '?) , system, which are still undefway, and therefore the traditional system of relying upon : e) i CN 22 and CN 23 will continie for the time being. It may be noted that under ‘ : notification 50/2017 - Cus dated 1.72017 (Sl, No. 608A} bonafide gifts up to a CIF i ‘ ©) ; value of Rs 500000 (Rs. -Five Thousand only) intended for personal use nave been : exempted from duty. , i} 0 ; 11. _Inview of the amendments carried out to heading 9804, it follows by printiple of exclusion, that imports by a legal person (firms, companies, other forms of business - ‘o) ; ‘e) | ; entities) or which are for trade, manufacture or agriculture, cannot be regarded as | . .

tiple of exclusion, that imports by a legal person (firms, companies, other forms of business - ‘o) ; ‘e) | ; entities) or which are for trade, manufacture or agriculture, cannot be regarded as | . . Personal imports and shall not fall within CTH 9804. Such imports by post shall be | 0 i classified as per Customs Tariff and shall require an IEC, except as Provided under : para 207 of the HBoP 2015-20, : '@) . 12. Since any import other than personal would be in furtherance of business, there ° O : is a requirement of filing a declaration, payment of customs duties & IGST, which is to Oo ' be available as crédit to the importer. Also, compliance of foreigm exchange remittance : for imported goods requires a customs declaration, Ailthese requirements necessitate : Oo 7; ) 2/3 . - [ 0 | | O

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en2) | ° O f° -% i we filing of a bill of entry, which is not possible in the postal clearance .eco-system. QO . ‘e./ |; ‘Accordingly,manufacture orimports agricultureby legal wouldpersons require thator importsthe importerconnected file a billwith oftrade entryor at . QO a jurisdictional customs station with EDI facility for payment of daties provided 7 that the CIF value exceeds Rs 1000 (Rupess Gne Thousand only) [notification O 50/2017 SI. Na: 610 refers]. : : QO “i 13. It may also be noted that import of commercial samples under notification . O :j| . limited154/94-Cus dated 13.7.1994, as amended, warrants filing a BIN ofEutry as it ts O-a limits. to IEC holders and subject to various other, conditions including4 vaine; : | © 14.

ication . O :j| . limited154/94-Cus dated 13.7.1994, as amended, warrants filing a BIN ofEutry as it ts O-a limits. to IEC holders and subject to various other, conditions including4 vaine; : | © 14. This Public Notice comes into effect from 21 Jone,2018, 15. Difficulties, if any may also be brought to the notice of undersigned on Phone '@) . 4 No: (022}-29202610 or of Fax No. 022-29202703 or on email ID i ‘e) admintechapso@gmail.com or Deputy / Assistant Commissioner im charge of APSO : through email apso.mumbei,custom@gov.in / on Phone No : 022-26156063. . O SS a , fe) : . COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, APSC, MUMBAL , a To: 4 . rns . aan 1.Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone- I. , '@) : 2.Chief Post Master Generals (Chief PMG}/Post Master Genterals(PMG) ofMaharashtra : eo) . &Circle, Dharwad Madhya with Pradesh a requestCircle,to circulate Chhattisgarh this noticeCircle, amongst.general Hyderabad City, public Belgaunt, & the Hubli - : postal ficld staff posted wander you for compliance and mecessary action at your end C) .in respect ofpersonal import parcels booked through the post offices under your jurisdiction so as to avoid public inconvenience with effect from 21st June, 2018. ©)@) r! 4,3. All All Addi. the Commissioner of/Joint CommissionersCustoms, of MumbaiCustoms, Zone-IIl, Mumbai Zone- Ill,. , ; | 5. Deputy/Asstt. Commissioners of. Customs, APSC, Mumbai Zone- II. 0 6. DC/EDI, APSC for uploading on the APSC website for wider publicity ro i paste in on Notice Board. 0 : 7. DC, APSO with a request to make necessary orangements for. wide publicity & 8.

Zone- II. 0 6. DC/EDI, APSC for uploading on the APSC website for wider publicity ro i paste in on Notice Board. 0 : 7. DC, APSO with a request to make necessary orangements for. wide publicity & 8. Trade Associations ‘e) | i , 9. Custom House Agent Association ° © | : , @) :

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