62. Amendment of section 28E.
In the Customs Act, in section 28E,-
(i) clause (a) shall be omitted;
(ii) for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:––
‘(b) “advance ruling” means a written decision on any of the questions referred to in section 28H raised by the applicant in his application in respect of any goods prior to its importation or exportation;’;
(iii) after clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:––
‘(ba) “Appellate Authority” means the Authority for Advance Rulings constituted under section 245-O of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961);’;
(iv) for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:––
‘(c) “applicant” means any person,––
(i) holding a valid Importer-exporter Code Number granted under section 7 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 (22 of 1992); or
(ii) exporting any goods to India; or
(iii) with a justifiable cause to the satisfaction of the Authority,
who makes an application for advance ruling under section 28H;’;
(v) for clause (e), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-
‘(e) “Authority” means the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings appointed under section 28EA;’;
(vi) in clause (f), for the word “Authority”, the words “Appellate Authority” shall be substituted;
(vii) in clause (g), for the word “Authority”, the words “Appellate Authority” shall be substituted.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 62 of the Bill seeks to amend section 28E of the Customs Act to align the definition of the term "applicant" in the advance ruling provisions with the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The definition of “applicant” is proposed to be broad based so as to include large number of importers, exporters and other people with justiciable cause to the satisfaction of the Authority. It also seeks to amend the definition of “advance ruling” so as to make it broad based covering aspects beyond mere determination of duty. The existing Authority is now being designated as “Appellate Authority” and the new Authority to be called the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings is being appointed.
