Page 42 - ELT_1st September 2020_Vol 373_Part 5

A144 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

virtual hearing for GST appeals and said in any proceedings before appellate or
adjudicating authority, the authority “shall mandatorily indicate” that the per-
sonal hearing would take place through video conferencing facility.
“The virtual hearing through video conference will be conducted
through available applications like VIDYO, or other secured computer network.
The as- sessee should download such application in their computer system/lap-
top/mobile phone before hand for ready connectivity during virtual hearing,
and join the video conference at the time allotted to them,” the CBIC guidelines
said.
Under the guidelines, taxpayers are expected to accept personal hearing
through video conferencing mode, and only in accentuating circumstances tax-
payer would be empowered to deny such digital hearing, he added.
[Source : The Telangana Today, Hyderabad, dated 24-8-2020]

FinMin should remove irritants in in-bond manufacture
scheme

The Finance Ministry has notified new regulations easing the disciplines
for manufacture of sensitive goods like articles of gold, silver, and other precious
metals in bonded warehouses. With few more changes, in-bond manufacture can
become the favoured option for the exporters.
The scheme of bonded warehouses to enable deferment of duties is not
new. Even the Sea Customs Act, 1878, contained Chapter XI allowing deposit of
imported goods in bonded warehouse without payment of duties till their clear-
ance for exports or home consumption later. Sections 57 to 73A of the present
Customs Act, 1962 contains similar provisions. Section 65 of the Act allows in-
bond manufacture and the procedures and disciplines were notified through
Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations, 1966 (MOOWR).
This regulation was made applicable to Export-Oriented Units (EOUs) also in
1983. A key feature of the regulation was the physical control by the Customs.
This requirement was removed for EOUs in 1996.
In 2016, the EOUs were taken out of MOOWR. New licensing regula-
tions were notified for public, private, and special-bonded warehouses for sensi-
tive goods and certain specified purposes. New norms for custody and handling
of goods in such warehouses and movement of goods from one warehouse to
another were put in place. These removed physical control, except for sensitive
items and certain specified purposes.
In 2019, the Finance Ministry replaced the MOOWR, 1966 with MOOWR,
2019 dramatically simplifying the procedures for in-bond manufacture of goods,
except sensitive items. This new norm envisages duty-free import of capital
goods and inputs necessary for in-bond manufacture goods. It allows goods
manufactured in-bond to be sold in domestic market upon payment of duty
(without interest) on inputs. This change has generated a lot of interest, as there
is no need for advance authorisations or Export Promotion Capital Goods au-
thorisations and also there is no limit to net foreign exchange earnings or mini-
mum value addition for in-bond manufacture. All goods except those prohibited
in the Foreign Trade Policy can be imported in the bonded warehouses.

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