At present, there is a large number of export consignments that fall outside the monitoring mechanism of the Export Outstanding Statement (XOS) received from the RBI. Following the central banks latest guidelines, the shipment details of goods worth Rs 10 lakhs are no longer reported through this statement. Under the duty drawback scheme, exporters are given customs duty refund for inputs used in manufacture of exported goods.

In this regard, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has now developed a software called BRC (Bank Realisation Certificate) for tracking the realisation of export proceeds in respect of Drawback Shipping bills. Exporters will now have to submit a certificate from the authorised dealer(s) providing details of shipment, which remain outstanding beyond the prescribed time limit including the extended time on a quarterly basis to the concerned authorities. According to an official statement, the tracking mechanism will be operationalised from April 1, 2008.

The status holders and other exporters who are permitted to realise export proceeds within a period of 12 months or more may submit these certificates once in six months. The certificates have to be furnished port-wise.

The software will issue alerts against the shipping bills where the BRC or negative statement has not been furnished by the exporter within the prescribed date. The customs department will issue notices to recover drawback paid on export consignments when the export proceeds have not been realised.

This would help the authorities monitor drawback utilisation better. At present realisation of export proceeds for goods exported under the Drawback Scheme is done on the basis the XOS which provides a consolidated half-yearly statement with details of all export bills outstanding beyond the period prescribed for realisation.