THE CUSTOMS ACT, 1962

PRESENTED BY
PRATEEK PANDEY
SHUBHAM PAL
PRASOON KUMAR
PREETI SINGH
JYOTI YADAV
STUDENT OF B.COM.LL.B.(H.)
{LAW FACULY}
DR. SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY
 CONTENTS

1. DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TERMS RELATING TO THE CUSTOMS ACT

2. Basic features of customs duty
3. Officers of customs
4. Appointment of custom ports, airports etc.
 DEFINITION OF CERTAIN TERMS RELATING TO THE
CUSTOMS ACT
1. “Adjudicating authority"
According to sec. 2(1) means any authority competent to pass any order or decision under this Act, but does not
include the Board, Commissioner (Appeals) or Appellate Tribunal;
(1A) “Aircraft" has the same meaning as in the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934);
(1B) "Appellate Tribunal" means the Customs, Excise and Service Tax (Appellate Tribunal constituted under section
129;)
2. “Assessment"
According to sec. 2(2) It includes provisional assessment, reassessment and any order of assessment in which the
duty assessed is nil;
3. “Customs area”
According to sec. 2(11) It means the area of a customs station and includes any area in which imported goods or
export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by Customs Authorities;
 CONTD.
4. “DUTIABLE GOODS”
According to sec. 2(14) It means any goods which are chargeable to duty and on which duty has not been paid;
5. “Duty”
According to sec. 2(15) It means a duty of customs leviable under this Act;
6. "export“
According to sec. 2(18) with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking out of India to a
place outside India;
7. "export goods"
According to sec. 2(19) it means any goods which are to be taken out of India to a place outside India;
8. "import"
According to sec. 2(23) with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing into India from a
place outside India;
 CONTD.
9. "imported goods"
According to sec. 2(25) it means any goods brought into India from a place outside India but does not include
goods which have been cleared for home consumption;

10."prohibited goods“
According to sec. 2(33) means any goods the import or export of which is subject to any prohibition under this Act
or any other law for the time being in force but does not include any such goods in respect of which the conditions
subject to which the goods are permitted to be imported or exported have been complied with;
11. “CUSTOMS STATION”
According to sec. 2(13) It means any customs port, customs airport or land customs station;
 BASIC FEATURES OF CUSTOMS DUTY
Types of Customs Duty

Basic Customs Duty

Basic custom duty is the duty imposed on the value of the goods at a specific rate. The duty is fixed at a specified
rate of ad-valorem basis. This duty has been imposed from 1962 and was amended from time to time and today
is regulated by the Customs Tariff Act of 1975. The Central Government has the right to exempt any goods from
the tax.

Countervailing Duty (CVD)

This duty is imposed by the Central Government when a country is paying the subsidy to the exporters who are
exporting goods to India. This amount of duty is equivalent to the subsidy paid by them. This duty is applicable
under Sec 9 of the Customs Tariff Act.
 CONTD.
Additional Customs Duty or Special CVD

In order to equalize imports with locals taxes like service tax, VAT and other domestic taxes which are imposed
from time to time, a special countervailing duty is imposed on imported goods. Hence, is imposed to bring
imports on an equal track with the goods produced or manufactured in India. This is to promote fair trade &
competition practices in our country.

Safeguard Duty

In order to make sure that no harm is caused to the domestic industries of India, a safeguard duty is imposed to
safeguard the interest of our local domestic industries. It is calculated on the basis of loss suffered by our local
industries.
 CONTD.
Anti Dumping Duty
Often, large manufacturer from abroad may export goods at very low prices compared to prices in
the domestic market. Such dumping may be with intention to cripple domestic industry or to dispose
of their excess stock. This is called ‘dumping’. In order to avoid such dumping, Central Government
can impose, under section 9A of Customs Tariff Act, anti-dumping duty up to margin of dumping on
such articles, if the goods are being sold at less than its normal value. Levy of such anti dumping
duty is permissible as per WTO agreement. Anti dumping action can be taken only when there is an
Indian industry producing ‘like articles’.

National Calamity Contingent Duty

This duty is imposed by Sec 129 of the Finance Act. The duty is levied on goods like tobacco, pan
masala or any items that are harmful for health. The rate of the tax varies from 10% to 45% and
different rates are applied for different reasons.
 CONTD.
Education Cess on Customs Duty
At the prescribed rate is levied as a percentage of aggregate duties of customs. If goods are fully exempted from
duty or are chargeable to nil duty or are cleared without payment of duty under prescribed procedure such as
clearance under bond, no cess would be levied.

Protective Duties
Tariff Commission has been established under Tariff Commission Act, 1951. If the Tariff Commission recommends
and Central Government is satisfied that immediate action is necessary to protect interests of Indian industry,
protective customs duty at the rate recommended may be imposed under section 6 of Customs Tariff Act. The
protective duty will be valid till the date prescribed in the notification.
 OFFICERS OF CUSTOMS
Classes of officers of customs — :
There shall be the following classes of officers of customs, namely :-
(a) Chief Commissioners of Customs;
(b) Commissioners of Customs;
(c) Commissioners of Customs (Appeals);(cc) Joint Commissioners of Customs;
(d) Deputy Commissioners of Customs; 3[(e) Assistant Commissioners of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of
Customs;]
(f) such other class of officers of customs as may be appointed for the purposes of this Act.]

Appointment of Officers of Customs –:

(1) The Central Government may appoint such persons as it thinks fit to be officers of customs.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1),

the Central Government may authorise the Board, a Commissioner of
Customs or a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs to appoint officers of
customs below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Customs.
 CONTD.
Powers of officers of customs – :
(1) Subject to such conditions and limitations as the Board may impose, an officer of customs may
exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed on him under this Act.
(2) An officer of customs may exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed
under this Act on any other officer of customs who is subordinate to him.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, a [Commissioner ( Appeals)] shall not
exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed on an officer of customs other
than those specified in Chapter XV and section 108.

Entrustment of functions of Board and customs officers to certain

other officers - :
The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, entrust either conditionally or
unconditionally to any officer of the Central or the State Government or a local authority any
functions of the Board or any officer of customs under this Act.
 APPOINTMENT OF CUSTOM PORTS, AIRPORTS ETC.

Appointment of Customs Ports, Airports, Etc. - :

The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint - (a) the ports and airports which
alone shall be customs ports or customs airports for the unloading of imported goods and the loading of export
goods or any class of such goods;
(aa) the places which alone shall be inland container depots for the unloading of imported goods and the loading
of export goods or any class of such goods;
(b) the places which alone shall be land customs stations for the clearance of goods imported or to be exported by
land or inland water or any class of such goods;
(c) the routes by which alone goods or any class of goods specified in the notification may pass by land or inland
water into or out of India, or to or from any land customs station from or to any land frontier;
(d) the ports which alone shall be coastal ports for the carrying on of trade in coastal goods or any class of such
goods with all or any specified ports in India.
 CONTD.

Appointment of customs ports, airports, warehousing stations, etc. - :

The entry/exit of carriers/passengers etc., is regulated in India by the Customs Act, 1962 which
governs/regulates this entry/exit of different categories of vessels/crafts/goods/ passengers etc., into or outside
the country.

Under the Customs Act, Government has given powers to appoint Customs ports and airports where alone the
imported goods can be brought in for unloading or export goods loaded on ships or air crafts. Similar powers have
been given to the Government to notify the places which alone shall be the Land Customs Stations for clearance of
imported goods or goods to be exported by land or by inland water. Even the routes of passage by land and
inland water into or out of the country can be regulated and these provisions have been made use of specially for
regulating traffic for our neighboring countries like Nepal.
 CONTD.
Customs port, airport, etc. - :

Section 2(10) defines a customs airport as any airport appointed under clause (a) of Section 7 to be a customs airport and
includes a place appointed under clause (aa) of that section [as mentioned below] to be an air freight station.

Section 2(11) defines a customs area to mean the area of a customs station and includes any area in which imported goods or
export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by customs authorities.

Section 2(13) defines a customs station to mean any customs port, customs airport or land customs station.

Section 7 of the Customs Act, 1962 empowers the Board to appoint by notification in
the Official Gazette - :

(a) customs ports and customs airports,

(aa) inland container depots or air freight stations, for the unloading of imported goods and the loading of export goods or any
class of such goods,

(b) land customs stations for the clearance of goods imported or to be exported by land or inland water or any class of such
goods,
 CONTD.
(c) the routes by which alone goods or any class of goods specified in the not ification may pass by land or inland
water into or out of India, or to or from any land customs station from or to any land frontier,

(d) the coastal ports for the carrying on of trade in coastal goods or any class of such goods with all or any
specified ports in India.

Some of the notified customs ports are Port Blair, Vishakhapatnam, Daman and Diu, Panaji Port, Kandla,
Porbandar, New Mangalore, Cochin, etc.

Some of the notified customs airports are Port Blair Hyderabad Borjhar (Guwahati) Patna Delhi Ahmedabad
Srinagar Bangalore Cochin, etc.

Some of the Inland Container Depots are at Hyderabad, Tuglakbad (Delhi), Ahmedabad, Baroda, Faridabad,
Bangalore Balasore, Amritsar, etc.
THANK YOU.