To: Members of the Council
Sub: Verification of the Preferential Certificates of Origin and difficulties being faced by the trade in implementation of the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules (CAROTAR), 2020
Dear Member,
CBIC has issued Instruction No. 18/2021- Customs dated 17th August, 2021 for proper implementation of Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR, 2020).
Please refer Board’s letter F. No. 15021/18/2020(ICD) dated 13.11.2020 and Instruction No. 20/2020-Customs dated 17.12.2020 pursuant to issuance of Circular No. 38/2020-Customs dated 21.08.2020, where directions were issued to the field formations to ensure judicious application of CAROTAR, 2020, follow prescribed timelines strictly and avoid unnecessary delays or use of arbitrary practices during clearance of goods.
However, despite the aforesaid directions, Board has been receiving representations from the trade as well as partner countries regarding the difficulties being faced on account of implementation of CAROTAR, 2020.
It has been observed that bulk verification requests are still being consistently referred from field formations to the Board for getting the verification done from Verifying Authorities in terms of Rule 6(1)(b) of CAROTAR, 2020, without citing appropriate grounds and without mentioning any specific information to be sought from the Verification Authority. Further, CoOs, particularly of RMS interdicted consignments, are being forwarded en masse to the Board for causing verification. Such a mechanical exercise is not only adversely impacting trade facilitation but is also putting a heavy burden on the Board office and the Verification Authorities to get such requests processed and attended to in prescribed time frame.
It is to bring to the attention of the Trade that, CBIC mandates that only representative certificates should be forwarded to the Board for verification of the Preferential Certificates of Origin, thereby instructing strict compliance of Para 4 of Circular no. 38/2020 – Customs dated August 21, 2020;
Board clarifies that if the product of a given manufacturer has already been verified following the verification process, subsequent consignments of the same manufacturer imported with a claim to meet the same originating criteria, may not be considered for verification again; Highlights that upon forwarding verification request to the Board under Rule 6(1)(b) of CAROTAR, 2020, the proper officer must clearly indicate the reason to believe why goods are not meeting the prescribed origin criteria and also enlist specific information required to be obtained from the Verification Authority that the officer considers necessary to determine the origin; In this context, states that the verification requests should be communicated to the Board within the prescribed timelines of CAROTAR, 2020 and by strictly following prescribed standard procedures, formats and timelines.
Members may kindly make a note of the above.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
S. BALARAJU
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR