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| Import rules take effect on security-risk cellphones |
| TNC Rajagopalan / New Delhi Oct 26, 2009, 00:54 IST |
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The commerce ministry has prohibited import of mobile phone handsets (classified under ITC (HS) Code ‘8517’) without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number or with all zeroes’ IMEI, with immediate effect from October 14, 2009. Import of ‘CDMA mobile phones’ (classified under ITC (HS) Code ‘8517’) without Electronic Serial Number (ESN)/Mobile Equipment Identifier (MEID) or with all zeroes as ESN/MEID is also prohibited with immediate effect from the same date.
The prohibition comes in the wake of increasing security concerns regarding cheap ‘Made in China’ mobile handsets that have no IMEI/MEID numbers or same/fake IMEI numbers that make it very difficult for the security agencies to trace the phone calls to the callers or block the handset or obtain the call details from the retrieved handsets.
Import of raw fur-skins (including heads, tails, paws and other pieces or cuttings, suitable for furriers’ use), of mink, lamb, fox, etc, is free under the import policy, but these will now be subject to Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and CITES (Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species). The move follows pressures to be in compliance with international conventions.
The commerce ministry has also notified the Policy for issue of licences for import of restricted items such as “Marble and Travertine — Crude or Roughly trimmed, Merely cut, by sawing or otherwise, into blocks or slabs of a rectangular (including square) shape & other calcareous stone”, covered under ITC (HS) Code numbers 25151100, 25151210, 25151220 and 25151290. The usual conditions such as established manufacturers, entitlement ceilings and floor prices have been prescribed. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has also issued a Policy circular specifying documents to be submitted.
The DGFT has clarified that the Policy circular dated April 11, 2008, regarding reimbursement of education cess and secondary higher education cess paid along with excise duty for supplies made under claim of deemed export benefits will operate with retrospective effect. A Policy circular has also been issued regarding procurement of spares beyond 5 per cent of the value of capital goods by export-oriented units in the granite sector. The DEPB rates have also been revised for agricultural tractors and polyester staple fibre.
The finance ministry has issued directions under Section 11AC of the Central Excise Act, 1944, that packing materials like printed cartons of paper or paper board, metal containers, high density polyethylene woven sacks, adhesive tapes, stickers, pilfer proof caps, crown corks, metal labels, plastic bags and printed laminated rolls manufactured by a unit, where the manufacturer has affixed the specified goods with a brand name or a trade name of another person who is not eligible for grant of exemption under the relevant notification, and has not paid the excise duty leviable thereon on the reasonable belief that he was entitled to the benefit of said notification, but for the said practice, shall not be required to pay the excise duty from 1987 onwards in accordance with the then prevalent practice.
This will bring great relief to all small manufacturers availing the benefit of SSI exemption facing litigation.
E-mail: tncr@sify.com
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