Unless otherwise specifically provided, import/ export will be valid from/to any country. However, import/exports of arms and related material from/to Iraq shall be prohibited.

The above provisions shall, however, be subject to all conditionality, or requirement of licence, or permission, as may be required under Schedule II of ITC (HS).

Every application for an Import/Export licence/ certificate/permission or any other purpose should be complete in all respects as required under the relevant provisions of the Policy/Procedures and shall be signed by the applicant as defined in paragraph 9.9 of the Policy.

An incomplete application is liable to be rejected giving specific reason for rejection. However in case of manual applications, the applicant would furnish a soft copy of the application in MS word format.

The applicant shall furnish a self addressed envelope of 40 x 15 cm with postal stamp affixed on the envelope as follows for all documents required to be sent by Speed Post:

(a) Within local area Rs. 20.00
(b) Up to 200 Kms. Rs. 25.00
(c) Between 200 to 1000 Kms Rs. 30.00
(d) Beyond 1000 Kms. Rs. 50.00

An application for grant of IEC number shall be made by the Registered/Head Office of the applicant to the licensing authority under whose jurisdiction, the Registered office in case of company and Head office in case of others, falls in the form specified in Appendix-3 and shall be accompanied by documents prescribed therein. In case of STPI/ EHTP/ BTP units, the Regional Offices of the DGFT having jurisdiction over the district in which the Registered/ Head Office of the STPI unit is located shall issue or amend the IECs.

Only one IEC would be issued against a single PAN number. Any proprietor can have only one IEC number and in case there are more than one IECs allotted to a proprietor, the same may be surrendered to the licencing office for cancellation.

The Licensing Authority concerned shall issue an IEC number in the format as given in Appendix-3A. A copy of such IEC number shall be endorsed to the concerned banker (as per the details given in the IEC application form).

A consolidated statement of IEC numbers issued by the licensing authority shall be sent to the offices of the Exchange Control Department of the RBI as given in Appendix-30 as per the statement given in Appendix-3B.

A request for an import certificate shall be made in the form given in Appendix-7. The import certificate in the form given in Annexure to Appendix-7 may be issued by the ICIA directly to the importer with a copy to (i) Ministry of External Affairs (AMS Section), New Delhi, (ii) Department of Electronics, New Delhi; and (iii) Directorate General of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.

However, this import certificate will not be regarded as a substitute for an import licence/certificate/ permission in respect of the items mentioned as restricted in ITC(HS) and an import licence/certificate/permission will have to be obtained wherever required for such items.

Where the date of expiry of the licence/ certificate/ permission/ duty credit certificates falls before the last day of the month, the licence/certificate/ permission/ duty credit certificate shall be deemed to be valid until the last day of the month.

This proviso would be applicable even for a revalidated licence/ certificate/ permission/ duty credit certificates.

Notwithstanding the provisions of para 2.13 and in cases covered under paras 2.13.1 and 2.13.2 above, the revalidation would be for a period for which the Licence/ Certificate/ Permissions remains in the custody of the Customs or Licencing Authority .

An application for revalidation may be made to the licensing authority concerned in the form given in Appendix-10G. However, in such cases where revalidation of the licence/certificate/permissions is to be considered by DGFT, the original application alongwith Treasury Receipt (TR) /Demand Draft shall be submitted to the regional licensing authorities concerned and self-attested copy of the same shall be submitted to DGFT.

Where a licence/certificate/permission or an actual user duty credit certificate is lost or misplaced, an application for grant of a duplicate copy thereof may be made alongwith a copy of an affidavit, as given in Appendix-11, to the licensing authority which has issued the original licence/ certificate/ permission.

The licensing authority concerned may, on merits, issue a duplicate copy of the same after issuing an order for cancellation of the original licence/certificate/ permission and after informing the customs authority where the original licence/ certificate/permission was registered.

However, when the licence/certificate/permission has been lost by the Government agency and a proof to this effect is submitted, the documents at serial nos. (a) to (d) shall not be asked for.

In such cases, licence/certificate/permissions shall be revalidated for a period for six months from the date of endorsement, not withstanding anything stated below.

The licensing authority, before issuing the licenses, shall obtain the report regarding utilisation of the licence/ certificate/permissions from the Custom authority at the port of registration mentioned in the original licence/ certificate/permission.

The duplicate licence/ certificate/ permission shall be issued only for the balance, which remained unutilised as per the report furnished by the Customs authority at the port of registration.

The validity of duplicate licence/certificate/ permission shall be co-terminus with the original license and therefore no request shall be entertained if the validity of the original licence/ certificate/ permission has expired.

However, in case when DEPB/ DFRC is lost by Customs/Licensing Authority, duplicate licence/ certificate/ permission shall be issued for a validity of six months.

However in the case of loss of DEPB not involving either the Customs or the Licencing Authorities, the duplicate DEPB issued would have a validity equivalent to the balance period of validity of the original DEPB on the date of application for the duplicate DEPB.

To facilitate collection of licence/ certificate/ permissions and other documents, identity cards may be issued to the proprietor/ partners/ directors and the authorised employees (not more than three), of the importers and exporters.

However in case of limited companies, the Head of the Regional Office may approve the allotment of more than three identity cards per company. An application for issuance of an Identity Card may be made in the form given in Appendix-5.

The documents/licence/ certificate/permissions may be delivered to the identity card holder and the officials of the DGFT shall not be responsible for any loss etc. of the documents/ licence /certificate/ permissions thereafter.

In case of loss of an identity card, a duplicate card may be issued on the basis of an affidavit. The identity card shall be issued in the format as given in Appendix-5A and shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of issuance.

In the normal circumstances, one authorized employee is allotted one identity card pertaining to the company he represents. However, to take care of cases like common directors/ partners, group company or any other similar issues, Head of the Regional Office may issue multiple identity cards to authorized employee after recording the reasons in writing.

Units other than small scale units are permitted to expand or create new capacities in respect of items reserved for the small scale sector, subject to the condition that they obtain an Industrial licence under the Industries (Development and Regulation), Act, 1951.

It is a condition of such licence that the manufacturer shall undertake export obligation as may be specified by the Ministry of Industry and the licensee is required to furnish a Legal Undertaking to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in this behalf. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade shall monitor the export obligation.

Public/Private Customs Bonded Warehouses may be set up in Domestic Tariff Area by following the procedure envisaged in Chapter-IX of the Customs Act, 1962. Such warehouses shall be permitted to import the items in terms of paragraph 2.28 of the Policy.

On receipt of goods, such warehouses shall keep the goods for a period of one year without payment of applicable customs duties. Goods can be cleared against the Bill of Entry for home consumption, on payment of applicable custom duty and on submission of licence/certificate/permission wherever required, provided the competent customs authorities have made an order for clearance of such goods for home consumption.

In case of clearance against duty free categories/ concessional duty categories, exemption/ concession from duty, as the case may be, allowed.

In case of clearance against DEPB, customs duty on imports may be adjusted against DEPB credit.

The goods can be re-exported without payment of customs duty provided (i) a shipping bill or a bill of export is presented in respect of such goods; and (ii) order for export of such goods has been made by competent customs authorities.

Import, storage, clearance or re-export are subject to the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and the Rules, Orders, Notifications or Instructions issued in respect of these provisions.

In cases of direct import before clearance of goods through customs, the licence holder shall execute a legal undertaking (LUT)/Bank Guarantee(BG) with the customs authorities in the manner as prescribed by them.

For cases of direct imports, the Licencing Authority shall endorse the following condition on the licence :

"Bank Guarantee/ LUT as applicable to be executed as per relevant Customs Notification/ Circular"

However, in case of indigenous sourcing, the licence/certificate/permission holder shall furnish Bank Guarantee/LUT to the licensing authority as prescribed below before sourcing the material from the nominated agencies or indigenous supplier:-

The preferential arrangement/schemes under which India is receiving tariff preferences for its exports are Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), Global System Of Trade Preferences (GSTP), SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA), Bangkok Agreement , India-Srilanka Free Trade Agreement (ISLFTA) and Indo- Thailand Free Trade Agreement. These arrangements/ agreements prescribe Rules of origin which have to be fulfilled for the exports to be eligible for the tariff preference.

The authorised agencies shall provide services relating to issuance of certificate of origin, including details regarding the rules of origin, list of items covered by an agreement, extent of tariff preference, verification and certification of eligibility etc. Export Inspection Council ( EIC) is the sole agency authorised to print blank certificates. The authorised agencies may charge a fee, as approved by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for services rendered.

All the exporters who are required to submit Certificate of Origin (Non Preferential) would have to apply to any of the agencies enlisted in Appendix-35B with the following documents:

The agency would ensure that the goods are of Indian origin as per the general principles governing the rules of origin before granting the Certificate of Origin(non preferential). The Certificate would be issued as per the Format of Certificate of Origin (Non Preferential) given in Annexure-II to Appendix–35B. It should be ensured that no correction/re-type is made on the certificate.

In the event of any agency desirous of being enlisted in Appendix-35-B, they shall submit the following documents to the office of the Director General of Foreign Trade through the Jurisdictional Regional Office of the DGFT:

In case of export by post, the exporter shall submit the following documents in lieu of documents prescribed for export by sea/air.

1) Bank Certificate of Export and Realisation as given in Appendix-22.
2) Relevant postal receipt
3) Invoice duly attested by the Customs

In cases where the exporter directly negotiates the document ( not through the authorised dealer) with the permission of the RBI, he is required to submit the following documents for availing of the benefits under the export promotion schemes:

1. Permission from RBI allowing direct negotiation of documents (however this is not required for status holders who have been granted a general permission),
2. Copy of the Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) as per Form 10-H of the Income Tax department in lieu of the BRC and
3. Statement giving details of the shipping bills/ invoice against which the FIRC was issued.

No licence/certificate/permission shall be required for Imports of bonafide technical and trade samples of items mentioned as restricted in ITC(HS) except vegetable seeds, bees and new drugs by any importer. However, samples of tea not exceeding Rs.2000 (CIF) in one consignment shall be allowed without a licence/certificate/permission by any person connected with Tea industry.

Duty free import of samples upto Rs 60000 for all exporters barring those in the gems and jewellery sector and Rs 100000 for those in the gems and jewellery sector shall be allowed as per the terms and conditions of Customs notification.

Exports of bonafide trade and technical samples of freely exportable item shall be allowed without any limit.

Permission of the licensing authority is not required for import of capital goods under lease financing. However, the condition of actual user or licence/ certificate/ permission, wherever required under the Policy or this Handbook, shall be applicable in case of import of capital goods under such lease financing.

The facility shall also be available under EPCG Scheme, EOU/SEZ scheme. The domestic supplier of capital goods to eligible categories of deemed exports shall be eligible for the benefits of deemed exports as given in paragraph 8.3 of the Policy even in such cases where the supplies are under lease financing.

Import/export of exhibits, including construction and decorative materials required for the temporary stands of the foreign/ Indian exhibitors at the exhibitions, fair or similar show or display for a period of six months on re-export/re-import basis, shall be allowed without a licence/certificate/ permission on submission of a certificate from an officer of a rank not below that of an Under Secretary/Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade to the Government of India in the Department of Commerce/ Directorate General of Foreign Trade or an officer of the Indian Trade Promotion Organization duly authorised by its Chairman in this behalf, to the effect that such exhibition, fair or similar show or display, as the case may be,

1. has been approved or sponsored by the Government of India in the Department of Commerce or the India Trade Promotion Organization; and
2. is being held in public interest.

Extension beyond six months for re-export/re-import will be considered by the Customs authorities on merits. Consumables such as paints, printed material, pamphlets, literature etc. pertaining to the exhibits need not be re-exported/re-imported.

The following items may be imported without a licence/ certificate/ permission.

Import of second hand capital goods including refurbished/reconditioned spares, shall be allowed freely, subject to conditions for the following categories:

The Import of second hand computers including personal computers and laptops are restricted for imports.

The import of refurbished/ reconditioned spares will be allowed on production of a Chartered Engineer certificate that such spares have a residual life not less than 80% of the life of the original spare.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Para 2.33 above, second hand computers, laptops and computer peripherals including printer, plotter, scanner, monitor, keyboard and storage units can be imported freely as donations by the following category of donees:

1. School run by Central or State Government or a local body,
2. Educational Institution run on non- commercial basis by any organization
3. Registered Charitable Hospital
4. Public Library
5. Public funded Research and Development Establishment
6. Community Information Centre run by the Central or State Government or local bodies
7. Adult Education Centre run by the Central or State Government or a local body
8. Organization of the Central or State Government or a Union Territory

Import of following types of ammunition are allowed against a licence/certificate/permission by licensed arms dealers subject to the conditions as may be specified:

1. Shotgun Cartridges 28 bore;
2. Revolver Cartridges of .450, .455 and .45 bores;
3. Pistol Cartridges of .25, .30 Mauser, .450 and .45 bores;
4. Rifle Cartridges of 6.5 mm, .22 savage, .22 Hornet, 300 Sherwood, 32/40, .256, .275, .280, 7m/m Mauser, 7 m/m Man Schoener, 9m/m Mauser, 9 m/m Man Schoener, 8x57, 8x57S, 9.3 m/m, 9.5 m/m, .375 Magnum, .405, .30.06, .270, .30/30 Winch, .318, .33 Winch,.275 Mag., .350 Mag., 400/350, .369 Purdey, .450/400, .470, .32 Win, .458 Win, .380 Rook, .220 Swift and .44 Win. bores.

An import licence/certificate/permission shall be issued at 5% of the value of the annual average sales turnover of ammunition (whether indigenous or imported) during the preceding three licensing years subject to a minimum of Rs. 2000.

An application for grant of a licence/ certificate/ permission for items listed in paragraph 2.34 above may be made to the licensing authority in the form given in Appendix-8 alongwith the documents prescribed therein.

Hotels, including tourist hotels, recognised by the Director General of Tourism, Government of India or a State Government shall be entitled to import licence/ certificate/permissions upto a value of 25% of the foreign exchange earned by them from foreign tourists during the preceding licensing year.

Such licence/certificate/ permissions shall be granted for the import of essential goods related to the hotel and tourism industry.

Travel agents, tour operators, restaurants, and tourist transport operators and other units for tourism, like adventure/wildlife and convention units, recognized by the Director General of Tourism, Government of India, shall be entitled to import licence/ certificate/ permissions up to a value of 10% of the foreign exchange earned by them during the preceding licensing year.

Such licence/ certificate/ permissions shall be granted for the import of essential goods which are restricted for imports related to the travel and tourism industry, including office and other equipment required for their own professional use.

The goods imported against such licence/ certificate/ permission shall not be transferred to anyone within a period of 2 years from the date of their import without the prior permission of the Director General of Foreign Trade.

No permission for transfer will be required in case the imported goods are re-exported. However, the re-export shall be subject to all conditionality, or requirement of licence, or permission, as may be required under Schedule II of ITC(HS) Classification

Restricted item licence/certificate/permission may be granted by the Director General of Foreign Trade or any other licensing authority authorised by him in this behalf. The DGFT/ Licensing authority may take the assistance and advice of a facilitation committee.

The Facilitation Committee will consist of representatives of technical authorities and Departments/ Ministries concerned.

In terms of the provisions contained in paragraph 2.19 of the Policy, an application for grant of Customs Clearance Permit for import as gifts of items appearing as restricted for imports in ITC(HS) shall be made to the Director General of Foreign Trade in the form given in Appendix-8 along with documents prescribed therein.

However, where the recipient of a gift is a charitable, religious or an educational institution registered under a law relating to the registration of societies or trusts or otherwise approved by the Central or a State Government and the gift sought to be imported has been exempted from payment of customs duty by the Ministry of Finance, such import shall be allowed by the customs authorities without a Customs Clearance Permit.

Air India, Indian Airlines, Vayudoot, Pawan Hans Ltd. and scheduled domestic private airlines, private sector/public sector companies and State Governments operating executive/ training aircraft or those engaged in the aerial spraying of crops and non scheduled airlines and charter service operators will be eligible to import, without a licence/ certificate/permission, reconditioned/ second hand aircraft spares on the recommendation of the Director General of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

Foreign airlines shall also be eligible to import without a licence/ certificate/ permission, reconditioned/second hand aircraft spares on the recommendation of the Director General of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

Goods or parts thereof on being imported and found defective or otherwise unfit for use or which have been damaged after import may be exported without a licence/ certificate/ permission, and goods in replacement thereof may be supplied free of charge by the foreign suppliers or imported against a marine insurance or marine-cum-erection insurance claim settled by an insurance company. Such goods shall be allowed clearance by the customs authorities without an import licence/certificate/permission provided that:

1. The shipment of replacement goods is made within 24 months from the date of clearance of the previously imported goods through the Customs or within the guarantee period in the case of machines or parts thereof where such period is more than 24 months; and
   
   
2. No remittance shall be allowed except for payment of insurance and freight charges where the replacement of goods by foreign suppliers is subject to payment of insurance and/or freight by the importer and documentary evidence to this effect is produced at the time of making the remittance.

The importer shall also have the option to claim refund of payment, if any, already made to the foreign supplier, instead of obtaining replacement of goods referred to above.

In such cases where the goods have been found short-shipped, short-landed or lost in transit prior to actual import and/or detected as such at the time of customs clearance, import of replacement goods will be permitted on the strength of the certificate issued by the customs authorities without an import licence/ certificate/ permission.

This procedure shall also apply to cases in which short-shipment of goods is certified by the foreign supplier and he has agreed to replace the goods free of cost

Goods, which are importable without restriction, can be transferred by sale or otherwise by the importer freely. Transfer of imported goods, which are subject to Actual User condition under the Policy and have become surplus to the needs of the Actual User, shall be made only with the prior permission of the licensing authority concerned. The following information alongwith supporting documents shall be furnished with the request for grant of permission for transfer, to the licensing authority concerned:

1. Reasons for transfer of imported material;
2. Name, address, IEC number and industrial licence/ certificate/ permission/ registration, if any, of the transferee;
3. Description, quantity and value of the goods imported and those sought to be transferred;
4. Copies of import licence/ certificate/ permission and bills of entry relating to the imports made;
5. Terms and conditions of the transfer as agreed upon between buyer and the seller.

An application for grant of Export licence/ certificate/ permission in respect of items mentioned in Schedule 2 of ITC(HS) may be made in the form given in Appendix-16 or 16A, as the case may be, to the Director General of Foreign Trade and shall be accompanied by the documents prescribed therein. The Foreign Trade Facilitation Committee shall consider applications on merits for issue of export licence/certificate/permissions.

An Inter-Ministerial Working Group in DGFT shall consider applications for export of Special Chemicals, Organism, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) as specified in Schedule 2, Appendix-3 of ITC(HS) on the basis of guidelines issued in this regard from time to time.

DGFT may also issue, on application, Free Sale Certificate as per guidelines in force on medical and surgical equipments.

All the exports made in non physical form by using communication links including high speed data communication links, internet, telephone line or any other channel which do not involve the Customs authorities has to be compulsorily reported on quarterly basis to the Electronic and Software Export Promotion Council in the proforma given in Appendix-4B.

These provisions shall be applicable to all the exporting units located anywhere in the country including those located in STP, SEZ, EHTP and under 100% EOU scheme.

Duty free import of goods (as specified in the list 28 of Customs notification No.21/2002 dated 1.3.2002, as amended from time to time) upto 25% of the FOB value of exports during the preceding licensing year, shall be allowed to the manufacturer exporters having Research and Development wing which is registered with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in the Ministry of Science and Technology subject to fulfillment of condition number 53(ii) of the said notification.

The eligible unit may furnish an application given in Appendix-34 to the Regional Licensing Authorities under whose jurisdiction the registered office of company or head office of the firm is located.

The Regional Licensing Authority shall verify the application on the basis of the declaration given by the unit and countersigned by Chartered Accountant.

Duty free imports of goods as specified in list 28A of Customs notification No. 21/2002 dated 1.3.2002, (as amended from time to time) upto 1% of the FOB value of exports made during the preceding licensing year, shall be allowed to agro chemicals sector unit having export turnover of Rs. 20 crore or above during preceding licensing year. Such facility shall be available only to a manufacturer having a research and development wing registered with Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in Ministry of Science and Technology subject to fulfilment of condition no.53A of the said notification.

The eligible unit shall apply in the form given in Appendix-34A to the Regional Licensing Authorities under whose jurisdiction the registered office of company or head office of the firm is located.

The Regional Licensing authority shall verify the application on the basis of the declaration given by the unit and countersigned by Chartered Accountant.

Subject to the specific approval of the Reserve Bank of India, any payables , or equity investment made by a licence holder under any export promotion scheme, can be used to offset receipts of his export proceeds. In such cases, the offsetting would be equal to the realisation of the export proceeds and the exporter would have to submit the following additional documents:

a) Appendix-22B in lieu of the Bank Realisation Certificate.
b) Specific permission of the Reserve Bank of India.

The list of such agencies authorised to grant quality certification is given in Appendix-28A.

Any of the agencies desirous of enlistment in Appendix -28A may forward a request to the office of the Director General of Foreign Trade with the following documents:

1. A valid accreditation certificate for quality management from National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) or any other agency.
2. List of firms/companies (whether Indian or foreign) granted certification by the applicant,
3. Details on the logistical/infrastructural setup of the agency,
4. An undertaking to the effect that "in case of any liability arising out of certification, the agency in India would be liable to the penal provisions under the FTDR Act or any other allied Acts".

However, in the case of foreign agencies accredited by a nodal agency in the parent country desirous of enlistment in Appendix-28-A, the following documents may be forwarded to the office of DGFT:

1. A copy of the valid accreditation certificate of the foreign agency as also mentioning whether the accreditation agency is a member of IAF( International Accreditation Forum),
2. Details of the Indian partner/agency/branch operating in India on behalf of the parent company,
3. List of foreign and Indian agencies granted certification,
4. An undertaking to the effect that "in case of any liability arising out of certification, the parent company and its partner/agency/ branch in India would be liable to Indian laws in Indian courts".