India Customs regulation: Mandatory requirements for Chemicals

The Customs Tariff Act 1975: 

An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to Customs Duties. This Act provides for the rates of customs duty, the basis for duty assessment where customs duty is levied, the reduction of, or the exemption from customs duty, and another system for customs duty. 

Authority: Indirect Taxes and Customs, Government of India 

It covers 13 sections and schedules as follows: 

1. Short title, extent and commencement.
2. Duties specified in the Schedules to be levied.
3. Levy of additional duty equal to excise duty, sales tax, local taxes and other charges. 3A. [Omitted.].
4. Levy of duty where standard rate and preferential rate are specified.
5. Levy of a lower rate of duty under a trade agreement.
6. Power of the Central Government to levy protective duties in certain cases.
7. Duration of protective duties and power of Central Government to alter them.
8. Emergency power to the Central Government to increase or levy export duties. 8A. Emergency power of Central Government to increase import duties. 8B. Power of Central Government to apply safeguard measures. 8C. [Omitted.].
9. Countervailing duty on subsidized articles. 9A. Anti-dumping duty on dumped articles. 9AA. Refund of anti-dumping duty in certain cases. 9B. NO levy under section 9 or section 9A in certain cases. 9C. Appeal.
10. Rules to be laid before Parliament.
11. Power of Central Government to alter duties under certain circumstances. 11A. Power of Central Government to amend First Schedule.
12. Repeal and saving. 
13. Consequential amendment of Act 52 of 1962.
14. FIRST SCHEDULE-Import Tariff.
15. SECOND SCHEDULE-Export Tariff. 

Purpose of the CUSTOMS TARIFF ACT: 

• The levy and the rates of customs duty in India are governed by the Customs Act 1962 and the CUSTOMS TARIFF ACT 1975. 
• All goods imported under India are chargeable to a duty under the Customs Act, 1962. The rates of this duty, are indicated in the first Schedule of the CUSTOMS TARIFF ACT 1975, as amended from time to time under Finance Acts. 

Schedules of the Customs Tariff Act: 

• The Customs Tariff Act of 1975 contains two schedules:
  • Schedule 1 - Classification and rate of duties for imports.
  • Schedule 2 - Classification and rates of duties for exports.
• In India, customs duties are levied on the goods at the rates specified in the Schedules to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The taxable event is the import of goods into India or its export out of India. Export duties as specified in the Second Schedule are levied on very few items only. But import duties are levied universally, barring a few items such as food grains, fertilizers, life-saving drugs and equipment, etc.
• There are 99 chapters in The Customs Tariff Act of 1975, each codifying a particular class of goods.
• Chapters 12, 28, 29, 30, 32, 38, 39, and 84 are subjected to the obligation of chemical import declaration from October 1, 2023.

The chapters are mentioned below: 

• Chapter 12: Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial

or medicinal plants; straw and fodder 

• Chapter 28: Products of the chemical or allied industries
• Chapter 29: Organic chemicals
• Chapter 30: Pharmaceutical products 
• Chapter 32: Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and

other colouring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks 

• Chapter 38: Miscellaneous chemical products
• Chapter 39: PLASTICS AND ARTICLES THEREOF; RUBBER AND ARTICLES THEREOF
• Chapter 84: Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof 

Obligation of chemical import declaration from October 1, 2023: 

In consultation with the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and in terms of the Bill of Entry (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations the IUPAC name and CAS number of constituent chemicals will be required during import declarations.

After October 15, 2023, the IUPAC name and CAS number of constituent chemicals are mandatory for import declaration.

Additional qualifiers in respect of imports (As per Circular No. 15/2023 Customs): 

• The declaration of IUPAC name and CAS number of the constituent chemicals, for imports under the chapters 28, 29, 32, 38 and 39 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.
• These additional qualifiers shall be mandatory for imports under the said chapters for all bills of entry filed on or after 01.07.2023, in the manner mentioned in Annexure-1 to this Circular. These fields shall be in addition to the existing declaration being made by importers.

Additional qualifiers with respect to exports (As per Circular No. 15/2023 Customs): 

• The declaration of the name of the medicinal plant, for exports of parts of plants under Chapter 12;
• the declaration of the name of the formulation, for exports of formulations of different streams of medicine under chapter 30;
• the declaration of the surface material that comes into contact with the chemical, for exports of various products under Chapter 84. 
• It should be provided in the manner mentioned in Annexure-2 of Circular No. 15/2023-Customs. 

Circular No. 15/2023-Customs:Circular-No-15-2023_IUPAC_CAS.pdf 

In the case of chemical categories (As per Circular No. 23/2023 Customs): 

For the commodities imported under chapters 28, 29, 32, heading 3808 and Chapter 39, it has been decided to seek additional details mandatorily at the time of filing import declarations as follows: 

Declaration on non-availability of CAS & IUPAC details: 

In case of non-availability of information for even one ingredient with the importer for the reason that information is not shared by the supplier due to confidentiality, a self-undertaking is to be provided in the Bill of Entry.