Documents to be submitted for export clearance

Export Procedure-The exporters are required to file a shipping bill in the

prescribed form in the office of the Customs House. Every exporter has

to do this as per the Indian Customs Act. The bill has to be in quadruplicate.

Before filing a shipping bill at the Customs House, the exporters should see

whether items ought to be exported are subject to export control. If so, the

shipping bill, after being admitted by the Customs House will have to be

presented to DGFT office for export license. Unless an export license has

already been issued, the exporters should satisfy other relevant regulations

as quality control, etc. If the item of export is subject to quality control, they

should obtain inspection certificate issued by the Export Inspection Agency or

any concerned authorized agencies.

The shipping bill should be accompanied by the following documents

a. Contact with the overseas buyers in original;

b. Invoice for the goods

c. Packing specification for the goods;

d. GR Forms or PP form as prescribed under FEMA.

e. AR-4 form filed with central excise authorities where goods liable to central excise duty are sought to be exported under bond or under claim for central excise duty; and

f. A profoma showing details of drawback duty, if any, claimed

along with necessary particulars such as the description of the goods, the item number in the Drawback Schedule; the rate of drawback due and the amount of duty drawback claimed.

The following are the different types of shipping bills to be filed with customs

house:

a. For Shipping of goods on which no duty is leviable-called free shipping bills;

b. For goods which are subject to duty or cess called dutiable shipping bills ; and

c. For goods which are exported under claim for duty drawback shipping bills.



In cases where the exporters are called upon by the customs authorities to furnish necessary explanation regarding full export value declared, they should furnish all the necessary data and explain the basis on which the price indicated in the contract has been arrived at.



After the shipping bill is admitted by the customs, a serial number will be assigned to the same and the bill be scrutinized with reference to the documents above. If the bill is found to be in order or the explanation offered by the party is found to be acceptable the customs Appraiser, after examining the documents and appraising the value of the goods, endorses the duplicate copy of the shipping bill and indicates the extent of physical examination to be carried out at the docks. All the documents, except the (Guarantee Receipt) GR form, the original shipping bill and a copy of the master document are returned to the exporter or to his (Clearing & Forwarding) C&F

agent for presentation to the dock appraiser.



Then the exporter presents the Port Trust copy of the shipping bill to the shed superintendent of the Port Trust and obtains a carting order. This enables him to cart the cargo to the transit shed for physical examination. If satisfied, the dock appraiser makes an " out of charge" endorsement on the duplicate copy of the shipping bill and returns it with other documents. The duplicate copy of the shipping bill is now presented to the preventive officer of the customs department, who endorses with

"Let Ship" order.



At the time of physical verification/inspection of the goods by the customs authorities, the following aspects will be looked into:

a. Whether the contents of the packages are as described in the invoices/shipping

bills;

b. Whether the marks on the goods and the packages, wrappings tally with those

given in the export documents; and

c. Whether the quantities tally with the declaration in the export documents.



After getting the "Let Ship" order the shipping bill is handed over to the agent of the shipping company in token of authorization by the customs to accept the cargo on board the vessel. As soon as the goods are loaded on board the ship, the captain of the ship issues a receipt known as "Mate Receipt" to the shed superintendent. The exporter then pays the port charges and takes delivery of the mate receipt, which is presented to the preventive officer, who records the certificate of shipment. This certificate is recorded on all the copies of the shipping bill, AR-4 forms and railway rebate application and returned to the exporter. The mate receipt is presented by him to the shipping company for issue of a bill of lading.



the author can be contacted at sowmya_ramani@yahoo.com