'Advance authorisations dating back 18 months can be clubbed'

We have an advance authorisation issued in January 2011. We want to club it with an advance authorisation issued in June 2012. Can we do that?
Yes. As per para 4.20.3 of the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. 1 (HB-1), you can ask for clubbing of advance authorisations that have been issued within 18 months from the date of issue of the earliest authorisation that is sought to be clubbed, whether such authorisations are valid or not. However, you must account for all the inputs as per the norms. Value addition of the authorisations so clubbed shall be the average of the minimum value addition prescribed and imposed on individual authorisations. Also, for exports made after the export obligation period of the earlier authorisation, you must pay a composition fee of 0.5 per cent of the shortfall in export obligation, as per para 4.20.4 of the HB-1.

Can we adjust a shipping bill used or counted for maintaining annual average of one EPCG authorisation for maintaining the annual average of another EPCG authorisation also? Also, can we count such a shipping bill towards discharge of specific export obligation of another EPCG authorisation?
S. No. 3 of the declaration prescribed at form ANF 5B requires you to declare that exports counted towards specific export obligation against the authorisation have not been claimed/counted for fulfilment of annual average export obligation/specific export obligation against other EPCG authorisation. So, in my opinion, you can adjust a shipping bill used or counted for maintaining annual average of one EPCG authorisation for counting the annual average of another EPCG authorisation also, but you cannot count such a shipping bill towards discharge of specific export obligation of another EPCG authorisation.

Can we, as a merchant exporter, get factory stuffing permission?
As per CBEC Circular no. 952/11/2011-CX dated September 8, 2011, the facility/option of examination and sealing of export containers by the C. Ex. Officers at the factory/warehouse/any other approved premises is available to both manufacturer-exporters and merchant-exporters. So, you can get the factory stuffing permission.

We are a limited company with head office at Kolkata and a branch at Bengaluru. We have taken service tax registration at Kolkata. We have applied for refund at Kolkata for our exports made from Bengaluru. The department is not sure if we can apply at Kolkata for shipments made from Bengaluru. Kindly advise the correct position.
It appears you have claimed rebate of the actual service tax paid on specified services, in accordance with the notification 41/2012-ST dated June 29, 2012, in respect of goods exported from Bengaluru. For such claims, if you are not a manufacturer, you should, before filing a claim for rebate of service tax, file a declaration in Form A-2, seeking allotment of service tax code to the AC/DC of C. Ex. having jurisdiction over your registered office or the head office, and thereafter exports claim the rebate from the same authority. Of course, any manufacturer registered with Central Excise must claim the rebate from his jurisdictional AC/DC of C. Ex.

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