CBIC issued procedure for amendment in Bill of entry [download pdf]

CBIC has issued a notification for the process of amendment in bill of entry. The procedure will be based on various amendments as per their nature.

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Self approval-

5.1 Board vide Notification No. 36/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 29.03.2021 notified that the amendment viz. “supplementing of Bill of Lading details in the Bill of Entry”. presented under the second proviso to the sub section (3) of Section 46 of the said Act, may be done by the Importer/Customs Broker on the Common Portal.

Accordingly, the additions made in the supporting documents table and Bill of Lading details in advance/prior bills of entry are auto approved as per ICES Advisory 17/2020 dated 20.05.2020 and Public Notice 70/2020 dated 22.05.2020. An automated approval by the Customs Automated System is supported by Section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, amended vide Finance Act, 2021. Since all such amendments would be auto approved by the Customs Automated System, these would not be subject to levy of fees under the Levy of Fees (Customs Documents) Regulations, 1970, as amended.

Approval by the officer

All other amendments in a bill of entry including the deletion/modification in supporting documents require approval by the proper officer (i.e. AC/DC of the Group concerned). Based on the factors like amendment filed before or after Out of Charge (OOC) and the nature of amendment, the following scenarios may arise:

Scenario A: Amendment is filed before assessment:

In this scenario, the Customs Automated System would route the request to the concerned FAG for approval or rejection, and conseguent re-assessment, if needed. Vide Notification No.96/2020-Customsdated 12.10.2020, FAG officers have been notified as proper officers under Section 149 of Customs Act, 1962. No prior approval of PAG is required in this scenario.

Scenario B: Amendment is filled after assessment but before Out of Charge and it impacts assessment:

In this scenario, the Customs Automated System would queue the request before the proper officer of the FAG. In case of any difficulty, PAG officer shall take necessary action, which includes recalling and resending it to the FAG concerned.

Scenario C: Amendment is filed after assessment but before Out of Charge and it does not impact assessment:

This scenario covers requests for amendments like change in details of invoice based on documentary evidence, short shipment, change in BLIAWB or fulfilment of conditionalities decided by assessment like Bond conditions etc. In this scenario, the request would be queued before the proper officer of the PAG for further processing.

Scenario D: Amendment is filed after Out of Charge:

Out of Charge is required to be cancelled with the approval of the AdditionalJoint Commissioner, and thereafter the bill of entry has to be recalled for amendment. All amendments after O0C are dealt with by the PAG for further processing.

Scenario E: Amendments in RMS facilitated Bills of Entry

All the amendment requests for RMS facilitated Bills of Entry are dealt with by the PAG.

The amendment requests can be broadly divided into three categories:

a.Category l:

All changes emanating from IGM amendment: Once an amendment in IGM has been approved by the proper officer, the consequent amendment in the corresponding bill of entry shall be allowed by the Group concerned, based on the amended IGM particulars and the corresponding approval given by the proper oficer. There appears to be no need for re-verification of the documents by the Group in such cases. The Importer/Customs Broker can upload the duly approved IGM amendment documents and proof of the amendment approval in e- Sanchit with the Code: Registration Document (Code 101000).

b. Category Il:

Minor amendments on account of typographical errors: The amendment requests on account of typographical errors, which can be verified from the originally uploaded documents in e-Sanchit, should be treated as minor amendments and can be verified from the already uploaded documents. The Importer/Customs Broker should mention the amendment required and the already uploaded documents on the basis of which the amendment is required their application.

c. Category llI:

Major amendments on account of wrong uploadinon-upload of documents: These amendments require greater scrutiny along with the verification of the suppoting documentslconfirmations uploaded in e-Sanchit. The importer/Custom Broker should submit the amendment request along with proper justification and the required documents in e-sanchit. The proper officer will examine the request in conjunction with the uploaded documents for making a decision. Such illustrative amendments are enlisted in Annexure-ll to this Public Notice.

Download copy of notification-