Subject : Facility for permitting imports under DEPB Scheme at Customs bonded warehouses through TRA procedure regarding.

    During the review of Exim Policy for the year 1999-2000, Ministry of Commerce have recommended that under DEPB Scheme, imports may be allowed to clear goods stored in a custom bonded warehouse by adjusting customs duty in a DEPB scrip.  Similar facility is already available under the Advance Licensing Scheme.

2.  The issue has been examined in the Board in reference to warehouse under the jurisdiction of Commissioners of Customs who are already handling TRA facility under the jurisdiction of Commissioners of Customs who are already handling TRA facility under DEPB Scheme.

3.  Accordingly, it has been decided that against DEPB scrips registered at any of the Customs Stations mentioned in para 4 below, where TRA facility is presently permissible, clearances from the customs bonded warehouses may be permitted, provided that the custom bonded warehouse also fails within the jurisdiction over any one or more of the Customs stations listed in para 4 below.

4.  The customs stations for the purposes of the preceding para are as under :
    i)  Sea-ports at Mumbai, Calcutta, Cochin, Kandla, Mangalore, Marmugao, Chennai, Nava Sheva, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam, Haldia and Tuticorin.

    ii)  Airports at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai; and

    iii) ICDs at Bangalore, Delhi, Moradabad, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Agra, Faridabad, Guntur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Pitampur, Malanpur, Nagpur, Varanasi, Jaipur and Jodhpur.

5.  The aforesaid facility will be operated by issue of Telegraphic Release Advice (TRA) from the port of registration of the DEPB scrip to the Commissioner having jurisdiction over the warehouse from which the goods are proposed to be cleared, indicating the details of description, value and quantity of the goods, DEPB S.No., Date of issue and extent of duty entitlement in the DEPB Book/scrip against which duty debit is sought.  The TRA should also specify the details to be checked by the customs staff at the warehousing station including necessity for drawal of samples for testing / comparison etc., if any.  Jurisdiction Commissioner receiving TRA will send details of imports to the customs station issuing the TRA who will maintain these details in the relevant register.