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2020 ] INDIAN CUSTOMS LAW — RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A REVAMP A73

Notifications, Exemption Notifications which is not frequently changed will def-
initely reduce protracted litigation.
Section 25(1) of Customs Act, 1962 empowers the Central Government to
exempt either fully or partially, which could be subject to certain conditions,
such goods from the applicability of Customs duty either wholly or partially.
Accordingly, Customs Law has provided a number of exempt notifications from
time-to-time. However, the time has come to revisit all of them due to misuse of
them or its non-relevancy to step with caused to change of time. A comprehen-
sive study of the prevailing Customs Laws will enable one to understand the in-
tricacies of ‘Exemption Notifications’, its usage as well as misuse by trade and
industry. Misuse of ‘Exemption Notifications’ can be categorised under three
categories which require the Central Government’s urgent attention. They were -
(1) Incorrect application of General Exemption Notifications
• Short-levy of duty on certain imports.
• Short-levy of duty due to incorrect exemption granted.
• Short-levy of duty due to irregular concessions on imports,
etc.
(2) Misclassification of imports
• Seeds of herbaceous plant principally cultivated for flowers
but misclassified as other seeds.
• Short-levy of duty due to misclassification of seaweed extract
powder.
• Brush cutters, reapers, and other parts misclassified as me-
chanical appliances.
(3) Incorrect levy of applicable levies and other charges
• Imports of motor spirit without levying additional duty.
• Short insurance taken by the custodian of Inland Container
Depot.
• Short-levy of duty on Mobile phones on imports.
The Central Government may carry a detailed study on the aforesaid is-
sues and carry suitable changes, amendments, issuance of strict instructions and
circulars along with severe penal provisions under both civil and criminal laws.
Conclusion
As a proactive measure, the Central Government has introduced ‘Elec-
tronic Sealing for Containers by Exporters’, ‘RFID Technology’ and ‘Nationwide
E-Assessment or Faceless Assessment Project’ called ‘Turant’ recently, which will
go a long way in reducing the exports and imports related compliances. Another
proactive measure by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
(C.B.I. & C.), the Apex body of Customs Law, constituted three Working Groups
during February, 2019 to recommend suitable measures to facilitate trade, pro-
mote exports and improve compliance among others. The Terms of Reference
(ToR) of the Working Groups were -
(1) Improving the legislative structure of Customs tariff,
(2) Comprehensive Export tariff structure,

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