News
Customs duty, procedure and clearance.
28stories
Customs · 1 October 2026
The Insecticides Third Amendment Rules, 2026 wrote the import-permit requirement into the Insecticides Rules, 1971. CBIC has asked customs officers to enforce it, and it names acrylonitrile.
ICEGATE has integrated with participating banks to verify AD Code and incentive bank account details electronically. For API-integrated banks, the user need not select a document type or upload a document with IRN. The advisory of 1 October 2026 lists what must match across ICEGATE, DGFT and bank records, and the common reasons a verification fails.
CBIC has told Customs field formations that an import permit from the Registration Committee is a statutory requirement for importing any substance in the Schedule to the Insecticides Act, 1968 for non-insecticidal use. The requirement comes from the Insecticides Third (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 597(E) of 8 July 2026): application in Form IA with a fee of ₹5,000.
Two Central Excise notifications dated 30 September 2026 revise the Special Additional Excise Duty on exports of diesel and Aviation Turbine Fuel with effect from 1 October 2026: diesel from ₹20 to ₹16 per litre and ATF from ₹15 to ₹10.5 per litre. The notifications issued since 3 August show the rate on diesel falling from ₹24 and on ATF from ₹22.
CBIC has substituted the tariff value tables for edible oils, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts under Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.). The new values apply from 1 October 2026. The areca nut value is unchanged at US$ 11,574 per metric ton.
CBIC has brought three more certificates onto the SWIFT 2.0 Unified Dashboard on ICEGATE. The Legal Metrology certificate of registration of importer of weights and measures is now applied for there, all over India, and no longer on the LM portal. The MNRE Concessional Customs Duty Certificate (from 7 August 2026) and the Coffee Board Export Permit Certificate (from 27 July 2026) can be tracked and downloaded.
CBIC has allowed a Special Notified Zone for rough diamonds at Surat International Diatrade Centre, 2nd Floor, Tower-B, Surat Diamond Bourse, Khajod. Imports only by air cargo, re-packing of lots within 60 days and export of unsold lots within 75 days of import. The old SNZ at Gujarat Hira Bourse, Ichhapore is to be de-notified after the new one starts.
The Finance Ministry has substituted the duty table in Notification No. 33/2022-Customs (ADD) on jute products from Bangladesh and Nepal, following DGTR’s mid-term review findings of 25 June 2026. Producer-wise duties now range from nil to US$ 155 per MT; the residual rates go up to US$ 445 per MT for Bangladesh and US$ 292 per MT for Nepal.
Circular 43/2026-Customs says a valid Origin Declaration by the UK exporter is the proof of origin, Form-I under CAROTAR is not a precondition, and an earlier denial cannot be applied to later imports without hearing the importer.
Circular 42/2026-Customs makes two qualifiers mandatory for listed fabric tariff items of Chapters 52, 55 and 60 — FR001 for flame retardant fabric and FR009 for other fabric — so that FR products can be identified for the PLI Scheme for Textiles.
CBIC has added Campbell Bay and Car Nicobar to the list of customs ports in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar. Under Notification No. 76/2026-Customs (N.T.) dated 23 September 2026, both are appointed for unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods, or any class of such goods.
The Government has cut Basic Customs Duty on crude sunflower oil from 10% to Nil and on crude soybean and crude palm oil from 10% to 5%, with matching cuts on the refined oils. Notification No. 31/2026-Customs amends six entries of Notification No. 45/2025-Customs and is in force from 24 September 2026. Industry has been asked to pass the benefit on in prices.
Two ICEGATE advisories on the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations set out the filing sequence for amending a Cargo Summary Notification and a Sea Arrival Manifest. Before Sea Entry Inwards the system applies amendments directly; after it, a Customs officer must approve. The FAQs add that consolidators can now delete a CSN before the SAM is filed.
An ICEGATE advisory dated 21 September 2026 sets out how goods registration happens automatically for factory-stuffed, e-sealed FCL export containers once the last container gates in. It is running at JNCH, Cochin and New Mangalore. Exporters must declare the exact number of containers, package details and marks and numbers in the shipping bill, and the correct destination port code in the e-seal data.
Instruction 17/2026-Customs tells field formations how to decide show cause notices that were held up because DGFT had not cancelled the instrument — in three situations the wait is no longer the rule.
FSSAI, by a notification dated 15 September 2026, has notified authorised officers at ICD Dhanakya, Jaipur (port code INDNK6) in addition to the 171 points of entry already specified for food imports. CBIC has circulated the updated list of 172 points of entry and their authorised officers through Instruction No. 16/2026-Customs.
Circular 39/2026-Customs dated 3 September 2026 rationalises the uploads under the Eligible Manufacturer Importer Scheme. CBIC also listed AEO process improvements under consideration.
Importers were stuck at clearance because their EPR certificates showed a one-year validity. CBIC has told officers to treat those certificates as one-time registrations that need no renewal, and to clear the consignments.
CBIC has asked Customs officers to clear consignments of plastic packaging, goods in plastic packaging, plastic raw material and intermediate material on verification of the importer’s EPR registration certificate. Certificates that show a one-year validity are to be treated as one-time registration certificates that need no renewal, and accepted as valid proof of EPR registration.
CBIC has trimmed the application for the Eligible Manufacturer Importer (EMI) Scheme, which gives deferred payment of customs import duty. Many data fields are dropped from Appendix-I, uploads fall from ten documents to three, and the Chartered Accountant’s certificate must now give reasons where net worth or net current assets are negative. Eligible importers can apply from 15 September 2026.
One email each working morning with the day’s tax, GST and company-law news. It is starting soon; leave your address and it comes to you from day one.