Depb Credit Can Be Used To Pay Sil Duty Allowed Under Depb

The Union commerce ministry has decided to allow credit under the duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme to be used for payment of duty against imports made under special import licences (SILs).

The ministry has also decided that under the DEPB scheme, ports located in one place will be treated as the same for the purpose of imports and exports. For example, if exports are made from the Mumbai port, the DEPB holder will be free to import at the Jawaharlal Nehru port, Nhava Sheva or the Mumbai international airport.

The customs will issue telegraphic release advice for allowing imports under the DEPB scheme from ports other than the one from which the exports were undertaken, after verification of the duty entitlement passbook.

 

This had been demanded by exporters who make exports from one port and import at another.

Allowing credit under the DEPB scheme for import of items under SILs will help the electronics sector, which has been demanding this.

These decisions were taken at a meeting convened by commerce minister B B Ramaiah and attended by the CBEC chairman, the director general of foreign trade and senior officials of customs andthe director general of foreign trade (DGFT).

It was announced that the DEPB rates for which input output and value addition data has been available will be announced by the last week of June.

According to the DGFT, all its offices will be computerised shortly and linked with the customs house and the Reserve Bank of India to facilitate exports and check the activities of unscrupulous exporters.

Under the new scheme, which contains four in-built safeguards, an exporter will be able to claim credit as a specified percentage of the f.o.b. (free on board) value of exports made in freely convertible currency.

The credit will be available against such export products at rate specified by the DGFT trade by a public notice.

Any item, except those on the negative list of imports, can be brought in under the scheme without payment of the basic customs duty, special customs duty or additional duty of customs against the credit under a duty entitlement passbook. The holder of the DEPB will have the option to pay additional customs duty, if any, in cash as well.

The DEPB can be issued on a post-export as well as pre-export basis. On the post-export basis, it will be granted against exports already made and will be freely transferable.

However, the transfer of DEPB will be for import at the port specified in the DEPB which will be the port from where the exports have been made. Both merchant and manufacturer exporters will be eligible for it.