Turant Suvidha Kendra: Guidelines for storage, safe-keep and processing of documents in TSK - Customs - STANDING ORDER NO. 23/2020

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT)-I, APPRAISING GENERAL SECTION, NEW CUSTOM HOUSE, BALLARD ESTATE, MUMBAI 400 001. F.No.S/26-Misc-32/2018-19 Appr. Gen(I) Dated: 14.07.2020 STANDING ORDER NO. 23/2020 Sub: Turant Suvidha Kendra: Guidelines for storage, safe-keep and processing of documents in TSK reg. Kindly refer to the Board s Circular No. 32/2020-Customs dated 06.07.2020 issued vide F. No. 450/78/2020-Cus IV on Turant Suvidha Kendra and Other Initiatives for Contactless Customs - reg. which has extended the setting up of the Turant Suvidha Kendras pan-India as provided for in the faceless assessment procedure laid out in Circular No.28/2020-Customs, dated 05.06.2020.. 2. Accordingly, attention of all officers and staff in jurisdiction of the Mumbai Customs Zone-I is invited to Public Notice No. 42/2020 dated 14.7.2020 whereby the setting up of a Turant Suvidha Kendra (TSK) , its functions and procedure have been notified in respect of this Zone. In particular, attention is invited to paras 3 and 5 of this Public Notice for a detailed description of the functions to be performed by the TSK. 3. For the purpose of smooth roll-out of TSK, it is felt that detailed guidelines are required for functioning, storage, safe-keep and processing of documents in TSK. 4. ICES Role: A new role TSK_OFF is already available in ICES for assisting the Turant Suvidha Kendra (TSK) officers to execute designated tasks in System. This role can be used for Bond Registration, Bond Debit and Defacement of supporting documents, wherever required. Role shall be allotted by EDI. The following functions are enabled on TSK Officers Menu in ICES- a) View BE b) Bond Management c) Misc- Comments Doc Defacing d) Reports 5. Functioning of TSK- a) It is important to note that even though the trade can approach the TSK for acceptance of bond; verification, debiting, defacement of documents; or any other function assigned to it at any time between the filing of the Bill of Entry and the grant of Out of Charge (OOC) order, the Bill of Entry shall not be routed in ICES to the TSK officer. Trade would need to approach the TSK with hard copies of relevant documents so that the necessary verification etc. may be carried out and suitable remarks (that the requisite function as mandated by the Compulsory Compliance Requirements for Customs Clearance) are entered in the ICES. b) The responsibility for making sure that CCRs specified for a BE, including the functions assigned to the TSK, have actually been complied shall continue to rest with the Docks staff who shall duly verify this aspect before giving OOC. c) While all the supporting documents will be available in System for the TSK officer to check, it may be ensured that the physical copies are sought only for those documents where defacement/ debit is necessary such as Country of Origin Certificates, Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty certificate, Essentiality certificate required under an exemption notification. d) The TSK officer can select such document in the System to see what has been uploaded by the importer in e-Sanchit and mark it as defaced in System after verifying and defacing or debiting the original paper copy. Once entered in the database, the remarks entered by the TSK officer would be visible to the OOC officer. c) Even though the decision whether or not to resort to provisional assessment and the amount of Bank Guarantee shall continue to be taken by the assessing group / adjudicating authority as per existing instructions, the Bond and bank guarantee shall now be accepted by the Assistant/ Deputy Commissioner in charge of TSK instead of the Group AC or DC. Thus, it shall be the responsibility of the latter to ensure that the Bank Guarantee is submitted in the prescribed format, contains an auto-renewal clause and its time-validity is not limited. The role of different category of officers with regard to acceptance of Bond and Bank Guarantee will remain the same as per existing procedure. For instance, warehousing bonds shall be processed by the TA who shall submit them for scrutiny to the AO and for acceptance to the AC/DC in charge of TSK. Verification of documents shall be done by Appraisers posted at TSK under the supervision of AC/DC, TSK. Examining officers/ Tax Assistant posted at TSK shall assist Appraisers in performing different tasks performed in the section. d) It shall be the responsibility of the AC/ DC in charge of TSK to institutionalise a mechanism for the orderly receipt of documents at TSK counters and their transmission to the officer concerned for verification/ defacement/ debit so that there are no complaints of misplacement or loss. He shall also ensure that the Original documents are returned to the concerned member of the trade immediately on completion of verification/ debit or defacement unless they are required to remain in the safe custody of TSK as mentioned at para 7 below. 6. E-Sanchit - E-Storage and computerised handling allows the trader to upload all supporting documents accompanying a Bill of Entry digitally for obtaining clearances. It shall be ensured that all types of Bonds and Bank Guarantees as well as other documents verified/ debited or defaced by the TSK are uploaded on E- Sanchit before acceptance of the same so that there is a permanent record on the System. The Document/ Image Reference Number (DRN or IRN) generated when uploading the Bond or Bank Guarantee on e-Sanchit should invariably be cited on the hard copy of the Bond and Bank Guarantee. They should ensure that remarks with regard to verification of documents are entered in the system only if the documents so verified have been uploaded. 7. Storage of Documents- It is reiterated that recent initiatives like Turant Customs and Faceless Assessment highlight CBICs focus on enhanced automation in order to make Customs Paperless. However, keeping physical copies of Bonds, BGs, Undertakings, Certificate for Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of duty etc. for their validity is mandated by existing instructions. Such documents shall be stored in a systematic manner. Guidelines for storage as detailed below should be followed: a) BOND/BG- (i) Bonds and BGs received by TSK shall be stored in separate cupboards/ safety vaults designated for each. (ii) The Bond and BG shall be stored as per their type. (iii) The numbering will be according to the Serial Number generated by EDI for each type. (iv) Proper entry of Bond/BG details in respective registers Bond register, Bank Guarantee register shall be done and the same shall be signed /endorsed by the AC/TSK. Location code of each Bond/BG should also be entered in the register so that the physical copy of the same may be retrieved easily as and when required. (v) TSK shall initiate new Registers for the above purpose. The registers existing at present will remain with the Assessment Groups. b) Certificates and Other Documents- These documents should be stored as per existing structure of Assessment Groups which are based on different Chapter Heads of Customs Tariff Act. However, month wise files can be created for each group and all documents received during the month for a particular group can be stored in that file. c) Safe-Custody of Documents- Appraising Officer in TSK shall be the custodian of all the documents received in the section and he shall be assisted by EO/TA in ensuring that all the documents are securely kept. 8. Reports: Daily Report regarding pendency of documents with TSK shall be forwarded by concerned AC before 6 pm to respective JC/ ADC. It shall also be published on the NCH website as a highlight Document Pendency at TSK so that the trade is aware and can take necessary action for expeditious submission. 9. Disputes regarding applicability of documents: For the sake of clarity, it is emphasized again that the purpose of TSK is limited to bond management/verification/debiting/defacing of documents as per the Compulsory Compliance Verification requirements for assessment as specified in the system/ or as per the instructions of the assessment group in ICES for any additional documents to be verified. Any disputes regarding applicability of any certificates/documents, the issue shall be handled by the existing Assessment groups. For example, if the system prompts for verification of BIS for a particular Bill of Entry and the Importer contends that BIS is not applicable for the said goods, then this issue shall be examined by the concerned Group. 10. Feedback regarding functioning of TSK: This being a new initiative and an important step in launch of Faceless Assessment in near future, AC/DC TSK need to ensure that any difficulties faced by the officers or trade are compiled and sent on daily basis for initial one month i.e till 15.8.2020. These issues will be examined by the concerned JC/ADC in consultation with Commissioner. 11. The above guidelines are to be strictly observed by officers of TSK. -Sd/ Manoj Kumar Kedia Commissioner of Customs New Customs House, Mumbai Zone-1