Customs Acts 1962, Chapter- IX, Warehousing.
CHAPTER IX - WAREHOUSING
Appointing of public warehouses
Licensing of private warehouses
Warehousing bond.
Omitted
Permission for deposit of goods in a warehouse
Control over warehoused goods
Payment of rent and warehouse charges.
Owner's right to deal with warehoused goods
Manufacture and other operations in relation to goods in a warehouse
Power to exempt imported materials used in the manufacture of goods in
warehouse
Removal of goods from one warehouse to another.
Clearance of warehoused goods for home consumption
Clearance of warehoused goods for exportation
Allowance in case of volatile goods.
Goods not to be taken out of warehouse except as provided by this Act.
Goods improperly removed from warehouse, etc.
Cancellation and return of warehousing bond.
CHAPTER IX - WAREHOUSING
- Appointing of public warehouses. - At any warehousing
station, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of
Customs, may appoint public warehouses wherein dutiable goods may be
deposited.
- Licensing of private warehouses. -
- At any warehousing station, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or
Deputy Commissioner of Customs may license private warehouses wherein
dutiable goods imported by or on behalf of the licensee, or any other
imported goods in respect of which facilities for deposit in a public
warehouse are not available, may be deposited.
- The Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of
Customs may cancel a license granted under sub-section (1) -
- by giving one month's notice in writing to the licensee; or
- if the licensee has contravened any provision of this Act or the
rules or regulations or committed breach of any of the conditions of
the license :
Provided that before any license is cancelled under clause (b), the
licensee shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
- Pending an enquiry whether a license granted under sub-section (1)
should be cancelled under clause (b) of sub-section (2), the Assistant
Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may suspend
the license.
- Warehousing bond. -
- The importer of any goods specified in sub-section (1) of section
61, which have been entered for warehousing and assessed to duty under
section 17 or section 18 shall execute a bond binding himself in a sum
equal to twice the amount of the duty assessed on such goods—
- to observe all the provisions of this Act and the rules and
regulations in respect of such goods;
- to pay on or before a date specified in a notice of demand,—
- all duties, and interest, if any, payable under sub-section
(2) of section 61;
- rent and charges claimable on account of such goods under
this Act, together with interest on the same from the date so
specified at such rate, not below eighteen per cent. and not
exceeding thirty-six per cent. per annum, as is for the time
being fixed by the Central Government, by notification in the
Official Gazette; and
- to discharge all penalties incurred for violation of the
provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations in respect of
such goods.
- For the purposes of sub-section (1), the Assistant Commissioner of
Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may permit an importer to
enter into a general bond in such amount as the Assistant Commissioner
of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs may approve in respect of
the warehousing of goods to be imported by him within a specified
period.
- A bond executed under this section by an importer in respect of any
goods shall continue in force notwithstanding the transfer of the goods
to any other person or the removal of the goods to another warehouse :
Provided that where the whole of the goods or any part thereof are
transferred to another person, the proper officer may accept a fresh
bond from the transferee in a sum equal to twice the amount of duty
assessed on the goods transferred and thereupon the bond executed by the
transferor shall be enforceable only for a sum mentioned therein less
the amount for which a fresh bond is accepted from the transferee.
59A. - Omitted
- Permission for deposit of goods in a warehouse. - When
the provisions of section 59 have been complied with in respect of any
goods, the proper officer may make an order permitting the deposit of the
goods in a warehouse.
- Period for which goods may remain warehoused. —
- Any warehoused goods may be left in the warehouse in which they are
deposited or in any warehouse to which they may be removed, -
- in the case of capital goods intended for use in any hundred per
cent export oriented undertaking, till the expiry of five years;
(aa) in the case of goods other than capital goods intended for use
in any hundred per cent export oriented undertaking , till the
expiry of three years; and;
- in the case of any other goods, till the expiry of one year,
after the date on which the proper officer has made an order under
section 60 permitting the deposit of the goods in a warehouse :
Provided that -
- in the case of any goods which are not likely to
deteriorate, the period specified in clause (a) or clause (aa)
or clause (b) may, on sufficient cause being shown, be extended-
- in the case of such goods intended for use in any
hundred per cent. Export oriented undertaking, by the
Commissioner of Customs, for such periods he may deem fit;
and
- in any other case, by the Commissioner of customs, for a
period not exceeding six months and by the Chief
Commissioner of Customs for such further period as he may
deem fit;
- in the case of any goods referred to in clause (b), if they
are likely to deteriorate, the aforesaid period of one year may
be reduced by the Commissioner of Customs to such shorter period
as he may deem fit:
Provided further that when the license for any private warehouse
is cancelled, the owner of any goods warehoused therein shall,
within seven days from the date on which notice of such
cancellation is given or within such extended period as the
proper officer may allow, remove the goods from such warehouse
to another warehouse or clear them for home consumption or
exportation.
- Where any warehoused goods -
- specified in sub-clause (a) or sub clause (aa) of sub-section
(1), remain in a warehouse beyond the period specified in that
sub-section by reason of extension of the aforesaid period or
otherwise, interest at such rate as is specified in section 47 shall
be payable, on the amount of duty payable at the time of clearance
of the goods in accordance with the provisions of section 15 on the
warehoused goods, for the period from the expiry of the said
warehousing period till the date of payment of duty on the
warehoused goods;
- specified in sub-clause (b) of sub-section (1), remain in a
warehouse beyond a period of Ninety Days, interest shall be payable
at such rate or rates not exceeding the rate specified in section
47, as may be fixed by the Board, on the amount of duty payable at
the time of clearance of the goods in accordance with the provisions
of section 15 on the warehoused goods, for the period from the
expiry of the said ninety days till the date of payment of duty on
the warehoused goods:
Provided that the Board may, if it considers it necessary so to do
in the public interest, by order and under circumstances of an
exceptional nature, to be specified in such order, waive the whole
or part of any interest payable under this section in respect of any
warehoused goods :
Provided further that the Board may, if it is satisfied that it is
necessary so to do in the public interest, by notification in the
Official Gazette, specify the class of goods in respect of which no
interest shall be charged under this section.
Explanation. — For the purposes of this section, "hundred per cent
export oriented undertaking" has the same meaning as in Explanation
2 to sub-section (1)of section 3 of the Central Excises and Salt
Act, 1944 (1 of 1944).
- Control over warehoused goods. -
- All warehoused goods shall be subject to the control of the proper
officer.
- No person shall enter a warehouse or remove any goods therefrom
without the permission of the proper officer.
- The proper officer may cause any warehouse to be locked with the
lock of the Customs Department and no person shall remove or break such
lock.
- The proper officer shall have access to every part of a warehouse
and power to examine the goods therein.
- Payment of rent and warehouse charges. -
- The owner of any warehoused goods shall pay to the warehouse-keeper
rent and warehouse charges at the rates fixed under any law for the time
being in force or where no rates are so fixed, at such rates as may be
fixed by the Commissioner of Customs.
- If any rent or warehouse charges are not paid within ten days from
the date when they became due, the warehouse-keeper may, after notice to
the owner of the warehoused goods and with the permission of the proper
officer cause to be sold (any transfer of the warehoused goods
notwithstanding) such sufficient portion of the goods as the
warehouse-keeper may select.
- Owner's right to deal with warehoused goods.
- With the
sanction of the proper officer and on payment of the prescribed fees, the
owner of any goods may either before or after warehousing the same -
- inspect the goods;
- separate damaged or deteriorated goods from the rest;
- sort the goods or change their containers for the purpose of
preservation, sale, export or disposal of the goods;
- deal with the goods and their containers in such manner as may be
necessary to prevent loss or deterioration or damage to the goods;
- show the goods for sale; or
- take samples of goods without entry for home consumption, and if the
proper officer so permits, without payment of duty on such samples.
-
Manufacture and other operations in relation to goods in a
warehouse. -
- With the sanction of the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy
Commissioner of Customs and subject to such conditions and on payment of
such fees as may be prescribed, the owner of any warehoused goods may
carry on any manufacturing process or other operations in the warehouse
in relation to such goods.
- Where in the course of any operations permissible in relation to any
warehoused goods under sub-section (1), there is any waste or refuse,
the following provisions shall apply : -
- if the whole or any part of the goods resulting from such
operations are exported, import duty shall be remitted on the
quantity of the warehoused goods contained in so much of the waste
or refuse as has arisen from the operations carried on in relation
to the goods exported :
Provided that such waste or refuse is either destroyed or duty is
paid on such waste or refuse as if it had been imported into India
in that form;
- if the whole or any part of the goods resulting from such
operations are cleared from the warehouse for home consumption,
import duty shall be charged on the quantity of the warehoused goods
contained in so much of the waste or refuse as has arisen from the
operations carried on in relation to the goods cleared for home
consumption.
-
Power to exempt imported materials used in the manufacture of
goods in warehouse. - If any imported materials are used in
accordance with the provisions of section 65 for the manufacture of any
goods and the rate of duty leviable on the imported materials exceeds the
rate of duty leviable on such goods, the Central Government, if satisfied
that in the interests of the establishment or development of any domestic
industry it is necessary so to do, may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, exempt the imported materials from the whole or part of the excess
rate of duty.
- Removal of goods from one warehouse to another.
- The
owner of any warehoused goods may, with the permission of the proper
officer, remove them from one warehouse to another, subject to such
conditions as may be prescribed for the due arrival of the warehoused goods
at the warehouse to which removal is permitted.
- Clearance of warehoused goods for home consumption. -
The importer of any warehoused goods may clear them for home consumption, if
-
- a bill of entry for home consumption in respect of such goods has
been presented in the prescribed form;
- the import duty leviable on such goods and all penalties, rent,
interest and other charges payable in respect of such goods have been
paid; and
- an order for clearance of such goods for home consumption has been
made by the proper officer.
Provided that the owner of any warehouse goods may, at any time before
an order for clearance of goods for whom consumption has been made in
respect of such goods, relinquish his title to the goods upon payment of
rent, interest, other charges and penalties that may be payable in
respect of the goods and upon such relinquishment, he shall not be
liable to pay duty thereon.
- Clearance of warehoused goods for exportation. -
- Any warehoused goods may be exported to a place outside India
without payment of import duty if -
- a shipping bill or a bill of export has been presented in
respect of such goods in the prescribed form;
- the export duty, penalties, rent, interest and other charges
payable in respect of such goods have been paid; and
- an order for clearance of such goods for exportation has been
made by the proper officer.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), if the
Central Government is of opinion that warehoused goods of any specified
description are likely to be smuggled back into India, it may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, direct that such goods shall not
be exported to any place outside India without payment of duty or may be
allowed to be so exported subject to such restrictions and conditions as
may be specified in the notification.
- Allowance in case of volatile goods. -
- When any warehoused goods to which this section applies are at the
time of delivery from a warehouse found to be deficient in quantity on
account of natural loss, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy
Commissioner of Customs may remit the duty on such deficiency.
- This section applies to such warehoused goods as the—Central
Government, having regard to the volatility of the goods and the manner
of their storage, may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
-
Goods not to be taken out of warehouse except as provided by
this Act. - No warehoused goods shall be taken out of a warehouse
except on clearance for home consumption or re-exportation, or for removal
to another warehouse, or as otherwise provided by this Act.
- Goods improperly removed from warehouse, etc.
-
- In any of the following cases, that is to say, -
- where any warehoused goods are removed from a warehouse in
contravention of section 71;
- where any warehoused goods have not been removed from a
warehouse at the expiration of the period during which such goods
are permitted under section 61 to remain in a warehouse;
- where any warehoused goods have been taken under section 64 as
samples without payment of duty;
- where any goods in respect of which a bond has been executed
under section 59 and which have not been cleared for home
consumption or exportation are not duly accounted for to the
satisfaction of the proper officer,
the proper officer may demand, and the owner of such goods shall
forthwith pay, the full amount of duty chargeable on account of such
goods together wih all penalties, rent, interest and other charges
payable in respect of such goods.
- If any owner fails to pay any amount demanded under sub-section (1),
the proper officer may, without prejudice to any other remedy, cause to
be detained and sold, after notice to the owner (any transfer of the
goods notwithstanding) such sufficient portion of his goods, if any, in
the warehouse, as the said officer may select.
- Cancellation and return of warehousing bond.
- When the
whole of the goods covered by any bond executed under section 59 have been
cleared for home consumption or exported or are otherwise duly accounted
for, and when all amounts due on account of such goods have been paid, the
proper officer shall cancel the bond as discharged in full, and shall on
demand deliver it, so cancelled, to the person who has executed or is
entitled to receive it