I am bcom passed i want to know that what is the procedure to apply custom licence exam, how to apply and fees, m i eligible to give exam, when it held in mumbai, give me full details
23 January 2013
Section 146 of the Customs Act, 1962 states that no person shall carry on business as an agent relating to entry or departure of a conveyance or the import or export of goods at any Customs station unless such person holds a licence granted in this behalf in accordance with regulations made in this regard by the Board. Thus, any person desirous to carry on business as a Custom House Agent relating to entry or departure of a conveyance or import or export of goods at any Customs station is required to obtain a licence, which is referred to as the CHA licence and the person concerned as the Custom House Agent (CHA).
Section 146 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with the Custom House Agents Licensing Regulations (CHALR), 2004 governs all legal and procedural aspects of the grant of CHA licence as well as the obligations and responsibilities of a CHA.
Application for CHA licence and eligibility: ********************************************
Regulation 4 of CHALR, 2004 provides for invitation of applications for grant of CHA licence by the concerned Commissioner of Customs for grant of a such licences as assessed by him in the month of January every year by means of a Public Notice and also through publications in at least two newspapers. Ideally no restriction should be placed on the number of CHAs operating in the Custom Houses and market forces should govern the number of proficient and qualified persons required to carry out the job of CHA commensurate with the volume of import / export cargo. There is no justification in prescribing a turnover based criteria for ascertaining the number of CHA licences required to be issued at particular Custom House / station. No numeric criterion has also been fixed governing the number of CHA licences being issued.
[Refer Circular No.9/2010-Cus., dated 8-4-2010]
The eligibility condition as per Regulation 6 of CHALR, 2004 is that an applicant should be a citizen of India having a financial viability supported by a certificate issued by a scheduled bank or such other proof acceptable to Commissioner of Customs evidencing possession of assets of value of not less than 2 lakhs. Further, the applicant or his authorized employee should be a graduate from a recognized University or possesses a professional degree i.e. C.A., M.B.A., L.L..B., Diploma in Customs clearance work from any institute or University recognized by the Government with a working knowledge of Computers and Customs procedure, or is a graduate having three experience in transacting CHA work as ‘G’ card holder, or a person who has passed the examination referred to in Regulation 8 or is retired Group A officer from Indian Customs and Central Excise Service having a minimum of 10 years of experience in Group A.
MBA degree or the equivalent degree PGDM, granted by an institute or university recognized by Government / AICTE under Ministry of HRD shall be acceptable qualification for the degree holders to appear in the examination under CHALR, 2004.
[Refer Circular No.16/2010-Cus., dated 29-6-2010]
Qualifying examinations: ************************
Any applicant who satisfies the criteria of Regu- -lations 5 and 6 of CHALR, 2004 and has applied for grant of licence under Regulation 4 shall be required to appear in the written as well as the oral examination conducted by the Directorate General of Inspection (Customs & Central Excise) at select centers annually for which intimation will be sent in advance. The applicant who has passed the written examination will be called for oral examination and has to pass the same within 2 years of passing of related written examination without any limitation of chances and in the event of failing to do so, he shall be treated as having failed in the examination. An applicant will however be allowed a maximum period of seven years within which he shall pass both the written and oral examination. The examination may include questions on the following:
(a) preparation of various kinds of bills of entry and shipping bills; (b) arrival entry and clearance of vessels; (c) tariff classification and rates of duty; (d) determination of value for assessment; (e) conversion of currency; (f) Nature and description of documents to be filed with various kinds of bills of entry and shipping bills; (g) procedure for assessment and payment of duty; (h) examination of merchandise at the Customs Stations; (i) provisions of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, the Patents Act, 1970 and the Copy Rights Act, 1957; (j) prohibitions on import and export; (k) bonding procedure and clearance from bond; (l) re-importation and conditions for free re-entry; (m) Drawback and export promotion schemes;
(n) offences under the Act; (o) the provisions of allied Acts including the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992, the Central Excise Act, 1944, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2000, the Indian Explosives Act, 1884, the Arms Act, 1959, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914, the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930, in so far as they are relevant to the clearance of goods through Customs; (p) provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; (q) procedure in the matter of refund of duty paid, appeals and revision petitions under the Act; and (r) on-line filing of electronic shipping bills or bills of entry and Indian Customs and Central Excise Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data interchange Gateway (ICEGATE) and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange Systems (ICES).
The Commissioner of Customs shall also satisfy whether the applicant who is an individual possesses in case of a company or firms, the directors or partners of the company / firm, possess satisfactory knowledge of English and local language of the Customs station. In case of person deputed to work exclusively in the docks, knowledge of English will not be compulsory. Knowledge of Hindi will be considered as desirable qualification.
Before granting the licence under the Regulation 9 of CHALR, 2004, the Commissioner of Customs shall require the applicant to enter into a bond prescribed in this regard for due observance of these regulations and shall also require to furnish a bank Guarantee, Postal Security or National Saving Certificate in the name of Commissioner of Customs for an amount of Rs.75,000/- for carrying out the business as a Custom House Agent.
The licence granted under Regulation 9 shall be valid for a period of 10 years from the date of issue and shall be renewed from time to time if the performance of the licensee is found to be satisfactory with reference inter alia to (1) the quantity or value of goods cleared by such licensee conforming to norms as may be specified by the Commissioner (2) absence of instances of any complaints of misconduct including non compliance of any obligations as mandated in the said regulations. Every Licence granted or renewed under CHALR, 2004, shall be deemed to have been granted or renewed in favour of the licensee and no licence shall be transferred or sold otherwise.
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