Clearing doubts on carrier claims, re-export and import monitoring

Customs warehousing waivers, import monitoring timelines and bill of lading rights hinge on strict statutory interpretation

We want to import certain goods for export to another country. Can we file an in-bond bill of entry and, simultaneously, file an ex-bond shipping bill under Section 69 of the Customs Act, 1962, and seek waiver of physical warehousing from Customs? 

This is a workable request in some Customs formations, but not a clean statutory entitlement. CBEC Circular F. No. 473/16/88-Cus.VII dated 15 June 1988 allowed waiver of physical warehousing in re-export cases, i.e. goods imported for supply to other foreign countries. However, the audit later objected that Section 69 permits export only of “warehoused goods”, and Section 2(44) defines “warehoused goods” as goods deposited in a warehouse. On that strict reading, unless goods are actually deposited in a bonded warehouse, Section 69 cannot be invoked. That said, JNCH PTFC minutes dated 29 July 2019 record that waiver of physical warehousing was being granted only for re-exported goods under Section 69, on the written request of the exporter. Therefore, importers may seek such waiver but should not treat it as a vested right. In my view, the government should give clear legal force to such waiver, as compulsory physical warehousing causes avoidable double handling, cost, and delay where goods are only being re-exported.

 

Under the Import Monitoring Systems, can we obtain registration after arrival of cargo but before Customs clearance of the goods? 

Under different monitoring systems, different timelines are prescribed for registration. Some notifications expressly permit registration up to the date of arrival of the vessel, for example, Coal IMS and non-ferrous metal IMS. Others require advance registration before expected arrival, such as Steel IMS, Paper IMS, Renewable Energy Equipment MIS, and Yellow Peas IMS, though the number of days and the triggering event may differ. Some notifications also prescribe different timelines for air, sea, or land consignments, or for imports from specified countries. Therefore, registration after arrival but before Customs clearance is valid only where the notification applicable to that item permits it. Importers should check the item-specific notification and portal condition before shipment, rather than assume that pre-clearance registration will always cure the delay.

 

We have received a bill of lading endorsed by the shipper in our name. Do we have a right to sue the carrier for short-landed or damaged cargo? 

A: Yes, if the statutory conditions are satisfied. Section 2 of the Bills of Lading Act, 2025 says that every consignee named in a bill of lading, and every endorsee of a bill of lading to whom property in the goods passes upon or by reason of such consignment or endorsement, shall have transferred to and vested in him all rights of suit, and shall be subject to the same liabilities in respect of such goods as if the contract contained in the bill of lading had been made with him. Thus, endorsement can transfer the right to sue the carrier, but the passing of property in the goods should be demonstrable in any later claim or dispute against the carrier.