Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020

SR.NO.

HEADING

PARTICULARS

Definitions

a. "Act" means the Customs Act, 1962.

b. "Preferential rate of duty" means rate at which customs duty is charged in accordance with a trade agreement.

c. "Preferential tariff treatment" means allowing preferential rate of duty to goods imported into India in accordance with a trade agreement.

d. "Rules of Origin" means rules notified for a trade agreement in terms of sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

e. "Tariff notification" means notification issued under sub- section (1) of section 25 of the Act specifying preferential rates of customs duty in accordance with a trade agreement.

f. "Verification" means verifying genuineness of a certificate of origin or correctness of the information contained therein in the manner prescribed by the respective Rules of Origin.

g. "Verification Authority" means the authority in exporting country or country of origin, designated to respond to verification request under a trade agreement.

The words and expressions used herein and not defined in these rules but defined in the Act shall have the same meanings respectively as assigned to them in the Act.

Preferential tariff claim

1. To claim preferential rate of duty under a trade agreement, the

importer or his agent shall, at the time of filing bill of entry-

(a) make a declaration in the bill of entry that the goods qualify as originating goods for preferential rate of duty under that agreement;

(b) indicate in the bill of entry the respective tariff notification against each item on which preferential rate of duty is claimed;

(c) produce certificate of origin covering each item on which preferential rate of duty is claimed; and

(d) enter details of certificate of origin in the bill of entry, namely:

(i) certificate of origin reference number;

(ii) date of issuance of certificate of origin;

(iii) originating criteria;

(iv) indicate if accumulation/cumulation is applied;

(v) indicate if the certificate of origin is issued by a third country (back-to-back); and

(vi) indicate if goods have been transported directly from country of origin.

2. Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, the claim of preferential rate of duty may be denied by the proper officer without verification if the certificate of origin-

(a) is incomplete and not in accordance with the format as prescribed by the Rules of Origin;

(b) has any alteration not authenticated by the Issuing Authority;

(c) is produced after its validity period has expired; or

(d) is issued for an item which is not eligible for preferential tariff treatment under the trade agreement;

and in all such cases, the certificate shall be marked as "INAPPLICABLE".

Origin related information to be possessed by importer

The importer claiming preferential rate of duty shall-

(a) possess information, as indicated in Form I, to demonstrate the manner in which country of origin criteria, including the regional value content and product specific criteria, specified in the Rules of Origin, are satisfied, and submit the same to the proper officer on request.

(b) keep all supporting documents related to Form I for at least five years from date of filing of bill of entry and submit the same to the proper officer on request.

(c) exercise reasonable care to ensure the accuracy and truthfulness of the aforesaid information and documents.

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Requisition of information from the importer

1. Where, during the course of customs clearance or thereafter, the proper officer has reason to believe that origin criteria prescribed in the respective Rules of Origin have not been met, he may seek information and supporting documents, as may be deemed necessary, from the importer in terms of rule 4 to ascertain correctness of the claim.

2. Where the importer is asked to furnish information or documents, he shall provide the same to the proper officer within ten working days from the date of such information or documents being sought.

3. Where, on the basis of information and documents received, the proper officer is satisfied that the origin criteria prescribed in the

respective Rules of Origin have been met, he shall accept the claim and inform the importer in writing within fifteen working days from the date of receipt of said information and documents.

4. Where the importer fails to provide requisite information and documents by the prescribed due date or where the information and documents received from the importer are found to be insufficient to conclude that the origin criteria prescribed in the respective Rules of Origin have been met, the proper officer shall forward a verification proposal in terms of rule 6 to the nodal officer nominated for this purpose.

5. Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, disallow the claim of preferential rate of duty without further verification, where:

(a) the importer relinquishes the claim; or

(b) the information and documents furnished by the importer and available on record provide sufficient evidence to prove that goods do not meet the origin criteria prescribed in the respective Rules of Origin.

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Verification request

1. The proper officer may, during the course of customs clearance or thereafter, request for verification of certificate of origin from Verification Authority where:

(a) there is a doubt regarding genuineness or authenticity of the certificate of origin for reasons such as mismatch of signatures or seal when compared with specimens of seals and signatures received from the exporting country in terms of the trade agreement;

(b) there is reason to believe that the country of origin criterion stated in the certificate of origin has not been met or the claim of preferential rate of duty made by importer is invalid; or

(c) verification is being undertaken on random basis, as a measure of due diligence to verify whether the goods meet the origin criteria as claimed:

Provided that a verification request in terms of clause (b) may be made only where the importer fails to provide the requisite information sought under rule 5 by the prescribed due date or the information provided by importer is found to be insufficient. Such a request shall seek specific information from the Verification Authority as may be necessary to determine the origin of goods.

2. Where information received in terms of sub-rule (1) is incomplete or non-specific, request for additional information or verification visit may be made to the Verification Authority, in such manner as provided in the Rules of Origin of the specific trade agreement, under which the importer has sought preferential tariff treatment.

3. When a verification request is made in terms of this rule, the following timeline for furnishing the response shall be brought to the notice of the Verification Authority while sending the request:

(a) timeline as prescribed in the respective trade agreement; or

(b) in absence of such timeline in the agreement, sixty days from the request having been communicated.

4. Where verification in terms of clause (a) or (b) of sub-rule (1) is initiated during the course of customs clearance of imported goods,

(a) the preferential tariff treatment of such goods may be suspended till conclusion of the verification;

(b) the Verification Authority shall be informed of reasons for suspension of preferential tariff treatment while making request of verification; and

(c) the proper officer may, on the request of the importer, provisionally assess and clear the goods, subject to importer furnishing a security amount equal to the difference between the duty provisionally assessed under section 18 of the Act and the preferential duty claimed.

5. All requests for verification under this rule shall be made through a nodal office as designated by the Board.

6. Where the information requested in this rule is received within the prescribed timeline, the proper officer shall conclude the verification within forty five days of receipt of the information, or within such extended period as the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs may allow: Provided that where a timeline to finalize verification is prescribed in the respective Rules of Origin, the proper officer shall finalize the verification within such timeline.

7. The proper officer may deny claim of preferential rate of duty without further verification where:

(a) the Verification Authority fails to respond to verification request within prescribed timelines;

(b) the Verification Authority does not provide the requested information in the manner as provided in this rule read with the Rules of Origin; or

(c) the information and documents furnished by the Verification Authority and available on record provide sufficient evidence to prove that goods do not meet the origin criteria prescribed in the respective Rules of Origin.

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Identical goods

1. Where it is determined that goods originating from an exporter or producer do not meet the origin criteria prescribed in the Rules of Origin, the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs may, without further verification, reject other claims of preferential rate of duty, filed prior to or after such determination, for identical goods imported from the same exporter or producer.

2. Where a claim on identical goods is rejected under sub-rule (1), the Principal Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner of Customs shall,

(a) inform the importer the reasons of rejection in writing including the detail of the cases wherein it was established that the identical goods from the same exporter or producer did not satisfy the origin criteria; and

(b) restore preferential tariff treatment on identical goods with prospective effect, after it is demonstrated on the basis of information and documents received, that the manufacturing or other origin related conditions have been modified by the exporter

or producer so as to fulfill the origin requirement of the Rules of Origin under the trade agreement.

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Miscellaneous

1. Where an importer fails to provide requisite information and documents by the due date prescribed under rule 5, or where it is established that he has failed to exercise reasonable care to ensure the accuracy and truthfulness of the information furnished under these rules, the proper officer shall, notwithstanding any other action required to be taken under these rules and the Act, verify assessment of all subsequent bills of entry filed with the claim of preferential rate of duty by the importer, in terms of sub-section

(2) of section 17 of the Act, in order to prevent any possible misuse of a trade agreement. The system of compulsory verification of assessment shall be discontinued once the importer demonstrates that he is taking reasonable care, as required under section 28DA of the Act, through adequate record-based controls.

2. Where it is established that an importer has suppressed the facts, made wilful misstatement or colluded with the seller or any other person, with the intention to avail undue benefit of a trade agreement, his claim of preferential rate of duty shall be disallowed and he shall be liable to penal action under the Act or any other law for the time being in force.

3. In the event of a conflict between a provision of these rules and a provision of the Rules of Origin, the provision of the Rules of Origin shall prevail to the extent of the conflict.

4. The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, relax such provisions of these rules for such class of persons as may be deemed necessary.