Circular No. 21/2020-Customs Dated 21/04/2020
Review of Circular No. 17/2020 dated 03.04.2020 namely, 'Measures to facilitate trade during the lockdown period- section 143 AA of the Customs Act, 1962-
Kind attention is invited to Board’s Circular No. 17/2020 dated 03.04.2020 on
‘Measures to facilitate trade during the lockdown period- section 143AA of the
Customs Act, 1962’ wherein relaxation was given to accept an undertaking in
lieu of a bond required during customs clearance upto 30.04.2020, subject to
conditions as underlined in the circular. The said circular was issued in the
context of lockdown announced by the Government for the period 25.03.2020 to I
4.04.2020 due to COVID- 19 pandemic.
2. In the background of the recent announcement by the Government extending the
lockdown till 03.05.2020 and taking into consideration that it might take
sometime after the end of the lockdown for the situation to normalise, the Board
has decided to further extend the facility of accepting undertaking in lieu of
bond for the period till 15.05.2020. Consequently, the date for
submission of proper bond in lieu of which the undertaking is being temporarily
accepted is extended till 30.05.2020. This relaxation will be reviewed by the
hoard at the end of the lockdown period.
3. Furthermore, in reference to para 3.3 (ii) of the circular, the undertaking
in lieu of bond is to be submitted by the registered email ID of the IEC holder
or their authorised Customs Broker. In addition to this requirement, but not in
substitution, customs zones may prescribe uploading of the undertaking on e-Sanchit.
4. With the exception of the above, all other conditions underlined in Circular
No.17/2020 dated 03.04.2020 stand as they are.
5. Suitable Trade Notice/ Standing Order may be issued to guide the trade and industry. Difficulty, if any, faced in implementation of this circular may be brought to the notice of Board immediately.
(BulloMamu)
OSD (LC)