Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024

Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024

CBIC has notified phase-wise implementation of the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transshipment Regulations (SCMTR) vide Notification No. 57/2024-Customs (N.T.) dated 31st August, 2024.

The SCMTR seeks to bring about transparency, predictability of movement, advance collection of information for expeditious risk-based Customs clearance. The regulations stipulate the obligations, the roles and responsibilities, for the various stakeholders involved in the movement of imported/exported goods. The regulations also specify the changes to the formats and timelines for filing the manifest declarations. As the transitional provision under Regulation 15 (2), the old formats have continued to be accepted, thereby giving sufficient time for complying with the new formats in a phased manner. CBIC Circular No. 43/2020- Customs dated 30th September, 2020 had elaborated more on the above aspects.

CBIC has issued Circular No. 12/2024 Customs dated 31^st August 2024 which states that Board has decided to implement SCMTR in a phased manner in terms of the Notification No. 57/2024-Customs (N.T.) dated 31st August, 2024. Implementation of the SCMTR at different ports shall be as follows:

According to the circular, as per the dates mentioned in column no. (3) of the table above, filing only in the new format as per SCMTR will become mandatory. Therefore, the stakeholders have been advised to start filing immediately in the new format on a parallel basis on priority, as failure of the same may negatively impact the cargo clearance times for those consignments after the same becomes mandatory on effective date.

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