Following the advent of special economic zones (SEZs) and a liberalised trade policy regime under which import duties are being brought down, the Revenue Department on Thursday notified timelines for various activities undertaken by 100 per cent export-oriented units (EOUs) in a bid to cut down their transaction cost and lend transparency in administering procedures.

Accordingly, the permissions to be given by the Customs/Central Excise authorities in the field to the 100 per cent export-oriented units are now set as prescribed timelines with a view to precluding arbitrariness by the officers and harassment of the exporting units.

Procurement Certificate

The circular of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) issued here prescribes that certain permissions such as issue of Procurement Certificate for duty-free import of goods, issue of CT-3 Certificate for duty-free domestic procurement, issue of certificate for broad banding of goods and exports are now required to be accorded the same day when applications are sent by the EOUs.

Similarly, other permissions such as execution and acceptance of B-17 Bond, warehousing of goods, issue of re-warehousing certificate, permission for re-export, extension of job/sub-contract are required to be given within a day.

Thus, under the new circular, issue of licence for units under EOU/Software Technology Park (STP)/Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) under Section 58 and Section 65 of Customs Act, 1962, the time for disposal of applications would be five days, while for extension/renewal of licence and broad banding of licence the permission would be granted within three days.

Again, permission for job-work/subcontract by the EOUs/EHTP/STP units would be granted within five days, while permission for re-export of rejected raw material/capital goods/consumables or renewal/extension of job work/sub-contract in case of no change in the application would be granted in a day.

Re-submission

These proposed timelines would be exclusive of holidays. It is clarified that where any deficiency is detected in the application or any additional information/action is needed, the proposed time period would apply only after correction of deficiency and re-submission of the complete application.

Reacting to the notification, the Director General, Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZ Units (EPCES), Mr L.B. Singal, said that this has been the long-standing demand of the exporting community as the delay in getting required permissions from Customs/Central Excise authorities was adversely impacting on the functioning of these exporting units.

Improving Transparency

He said the new notified timelines would go a long way in bringing about uniformity in the field of implementation of 100 per cent EOU scheme, reducing transaction cost and improving transparency so that EOUs could carry on their day-to-day operations in a methodical manner.

Mr Singal also recalled that the notification issued on December 27, 2006, about implementation of the SEZ Act 2005 and the SEZ Rules 2006 would certainly result in smooth functioning of SEZ as the SEZ circulation draws attention to Section 51 of the SEZ Act 2005 which provides that in case of any inconsistency the provisions of the SEZ Act should prevail.

G. Srinivasan