Page 72 - ELT_1st September 2020_Vol 373_Part 5

T82 EXCISE LAW TIMES [ Vol. 373

under a trade agreement, information may be sought from the importer during
the course of customs clearance or thereafter (e.g. during subsequent
investigations or post-clearance audit). Likewise, a verification request may be
made to an exporting country during the course of customs clearance of
imported goods or thereafter. While the Act provides that information may be
sought within a period of five years from the date of claim of preferential rate of
duty by the importer, this time limit is subject to any other time limit as may be
specified for this purpose under the trade agreement.
6. The Rules of Origin under various trade agreements lay down the
format of the certificate of origin, the period of validity, manner of obtaining the
certificate and the procedure for verification of origin. One of the usual
conditions for accepting the certificate is that it should be signed by the
authorized signatories whose name, signature and seal have been communicated
by the partner country through agreed channels. At present, the signatures and
seals are received by the Board, either directly from the government of the
partner country or through the Department of Commerce.
6.1 The Directorate General of Systems has built an online repository
on ICES for storing the signatures/seals to facilitate comparison by the assessing
officers. DRI has been tasked with uploading the data in the database.
6.2 For the benefit of non-EDI customs locations, copies of specimen
signatures and seals will be circulated by DRI. For other locations, the ICES
online repository may be utilized.
6.3 In case the specimen seal/signature is not available in the ICES
online repository, the issue may be referred to the Board for verification.
7. In terms of Rule 6(5) of CAROTAR, 2020, Board has designated
Director (ICD), CBIC as the nodal point for taking up verification of origin with
partner countries. Hence all requests for verification should be addressed to :

Director (International Customs Division),
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs,
Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance,
Room No. 49, North Block,
New Delhi - 110001.
011- 2309 3380 (off); 011-2309 3760 (fax.)
Email : ftaroo-cbic@gov.in

7.1 To help reduce time taken in communication of requests for
verification of preferential country of Origin, it is advised to email all verification
related correspondence to Board on ftaroo-cbic@gov.in. It may be noted that
request through nic/icegate email ids will only be accepted. Such emails should
include signed copy of the office letter and legible scanned copies of all relevant
documents.
7.2 Where the information requested in terms of Rule 6 is received, the
proper officer should within the prescribed timelines either restore preferential
claim or issue notice for denying the claim in terms of Section 28DA, read with
section 28 of the Act where required, in order to conclude the verification.

EXCISE LAW TIMES  1st September 2020  72