NOTIFICATION NO.96 /2004-CUSTOMS dated 17.9.2004

Exemption notification for Duty Entitlement Pass Book scheme (DEPB)

G.S.R. 619 (E) 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 the goods of description specified in column (2) of the Table below, when imported into India ,-
 

(a)     from so much of duty of customs leviable thereon under the  First Schedule to the  Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of  1975) as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (3) of the said Table;

(b)  from so much of additional duty leviable thereon under section 3 of the said  Customs Tariff Act, as is in excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table; 

subject to the following conditions, namely :-

(i)                   that the importer has been issued a Duty Entitlement Pass Book by the Licensing Authority in terms of paragraph 4.3 or paragraph  7.9 of the Foreign Trade Policy;

(ii)                 that the importer has been permitted credit entries in the said Duty Entitlement Pass Book by the Licensing Authority at the rates notified by the Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for the products exported;

(iii)                that the said Duty Entitlement Pass Book is produced before the proper officer of Customs for debit of the duties leviable on the goods,  but for exemption contained herein :

                        Provided that exemption from duty shall not be admissible if there is insufficient credit in the said Duty Entitlement Pass Book for debiting the duty leviable on the goods, but for this exemption.

(iv)          the said Duty Entitlement Pass Book shall be valid for twenty four months  from the date of issue or such extended period as may be granted by the Licensing Authority for import and export only, at the port of registration  which shall be one of the sea ports at   Mumbai, Kolkata, Cochin, Magdalla, Kakinada, Kandla Mangalore,     Marmagoa, Chennai,  Nhava Sheva, Paradeep, Pipavav, Sikka, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Dahej, Mundhra, Nagapattinam, Okha, Jamnagar and Muldwarka or through any of the airports at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Srinagar, Trivandrum, Varanasi, Nagpur and Cochin or through any of the Inland Container Depots at Agra, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Faridabad, Gauhati, Guntur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jallandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Moradabad, Nagpur, Pimpri (Pune), Pitampur (Indore), Surat, Tirupur, Varanasi, Nasik, Rudrapur (Nainital), Dighi (Pune), Vadodara, Daulatabad (Wanjarwadi and Maliwada), Waluj (Aurangabad), Anaparthy (Andhra Pradesh), Salem, Malanpur, Singanalur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Bhiwadi, Madurai, Bhilwara, Pondicherry, Garhi Harsaru, Bhatinda, Dappar (Dera Bassi), Chheharata (Amritsar), Karur, Miraj, Rewari, Bhusawal, Jamshedpur, Surajpur and Dadri or through the Land Customs Station at Ranaghat, Singhabad, Raxaul, Jogbani, Nautanva (Sonauli), Petrapole and Mahadipur:

                                Provided that where the expiry of the Duty Entitlement Pass Book falls before the last day of the month, such Duty Entitlement Pass Book shall be deemed to be valid till the last day of the said month:

                                Provided further that the Commissioner of Customs may, by special order and subject to such conditions as may be specified by him, permit imports and exports from any other sea port, airport, inland container depot or through any land customs station;

(v)       that where the importer does not claim exemption from the additional duty of customs leviable under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), he shall be deemed not to have availed the exemption from the duty specified in the First Schedule to the said Customs Tariff Act for the purpose of calculation of the said additional duty of customs;

(vi)               that the importer shall be entitled to avail the drawback or CENVAT credit of additional duty leviable under section 3 of the said Customs Tariff Act against the amount debited in the said Duty Entitlement Pass Book;

(vii)              that where benefit of exemption from duty is claimed by a person, who is not a Duty Entitlement Pass Book holder, such benefit shall be permissible only against specific amount of credit, not being a provisional credit, transferred by a Duty Entitlement Pass Book holder to such person.

2.             This notification shall have effect upto and inclusive of the 31^st day of March, 2005. 

TABLE

            ________________________________________________________________

S.No.   Description of goods              Standard rate                Additional  duty rate

________________________________________________________________

(1)                (2)                                       (3)                                       (4)

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1.          Goods other than                         Nil                                    Nil

              edible oils

2.          Edible oils                           50% of applied           50% of applied rate of              

                                                          rate of duty                additional duty

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Explanation, -  For the purposes of this notification, -

(i)         “Foreign Trade Policy” means Foreign Trade Policy 2004-2009 published in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry vide  No. 1/2004, dated the 31^st August, 2004;

(ii)        “Licensing Authority” means the Director General of Foreign Trade     appointed under section 6 of the Foreign Trade (Development and  Regulation) Act, 1992 (22 of 1992) or an officer authorized by him to    grant a licence under the said Act;

(iii) “applied rate of duty” means the standard rate of duty specified in the First  Schedule to the said Customs Tariff Act  with respect to the goods specified in column (2) of  the said Table, read with any other notification  (for the time being in force) issued in respect of such goods under sub-section (1) of section 25 of the said Customs Act ;

(iv) “applied rate of additional duty” means the additional duty leviable under  section 3 of the said Customs Tariff Act with respect to the goods specified in column (2) of   said Table, read with any other notification  (for the time being in force) issued in respect of such goods under sub-section (1) of section 25 of the said Customs Act.

 [ F. No.605/40/2004-DBK   ]

sd/-

( H.K. PRASAD )

Under Secretary to the Government of India.