RULE 173N. Procedure in respect of warehoused goods

In relation to such excisable goods as are covered by this Chapter and are notified under rule 139, the provisions of Chapter VII of these rules shall apply subject to the following modifications, namely: -

(1) For rule 141, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: -"141. Receipt of goods in warehouse. -All goods brought for warehousing shall be weighed, measured or gauged and assessed to duty by the registered person himself prior to entry into the warehouse, and the quantity and description of goods, the marks and numbers of the pack- ages, the number and date of the permit, gate pass or certificate and the amount of duty leviable thereon, shall be noted in the warehouse register by the registered person. All goods received into a warehouse shall be kept separate from other goods until such goods have been taken into account by the registered person as aforesaid. The registered person shall inform the proper officer in writing in the proper form regarding receipt of each consignment in the warehouse within twenty-four hours of its receipt or within such further period not exceeding ten days, as the Commissioner may, on sufficient cause being shown, permit in any particular case.".

(2) For rules 143 and 144, the following rules shall be substituted, namely: -

"143. Owners power to deal with warehoused goods. -In accordance with such instructions as the Commissioner may, from time to time, issue in writing in this behalf and after informing the proper officer in writing at least twenty-four hours in advance any owner of goods lodged in a warehouse may sort, separate, pack and repack the goods and make such alterations therein as may be necessary for the preservation, sale or disposal thereof. After the goods have been so separated and repacked, any refuse or damaged goods remaining after such sorting, packing and repacking shall be stored separately. The owner shall inform the proper officer in writing the quantity of such refuse or damaged goods and the date on which he proposes to destroy them at least seven days in advance and may destroy or otherwise dispose of such refuse or damaged goods in the manner and in accordance with the conditions as may be prescribed by the 4 [Commissioner by a general or special order. Thereupon the proper officer may remit the duty on such refuse or damaged goods.

144. Goods not to be taken out of warehouse except as provided by these rules. - No goods shall be removed from any warehouse except on payment of duty , or, where so permitted by the Central Government by notification in this behalf, for removal to another warehouse or for export from India and accompanied by a gate pass under rule 52A and/ or on writ- ten application prescribed in rule 158 or in rule 173-0 as the case may be."

(3) in rule 148, for the words "quantity or weight reported by the Officer who has assessed the goods", the words" quantity or weight as recorded by the registered person at the time of warehousing or rewarehousing" shall be substituted.

(4) For rule 149, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: - "149. Destruction of unusable material, waste and other refuse. -Every owner of the goods stored in a warehouse who wishes to claim immunity from duty in respect of any goods unfit for consumption or manufacture shall inform the proper officer in writing the quantity of such goods , and the date on which he proposes to destroy them at least seven days in advance, and may destroy or otherwise dispose of such goods in the manner and in accordance with the conditions as may be prescribed by the Commissioner by a general or special order in writing, or shall show, if so required to the satisfaction of the proper officer that such goods are being applied to some purpose which renders them eligible for remission of duty."

(5)

(6) For rules 156A, 156B and 157, the following rules shall be substituted, namely: -

"156A. Procedure in respect of excisable goods removed from one factory or a ware- house to another -(1) The consignor shall prepare an application for removal of goods from a factory or a warehouse to another warehouse in quadruplicate in the proper form, mentioning clearly such information as the Commissioner may by general or special order, require.

(2) The consignor shall also prepare a gate pass in the proper form in respect of the goods proposed to be removed from his factory or ware- house.

(3) The consignor shall send the original, duplicate and triplicate application and original gate pass along with the consignment to the ware- house of destination.

(4) The consignor shall send quadruplicate application along with a copy of the gate pass to the Officer-in-charge of his factory or warehouse within twenty-four hours of removal of the consignment.

(5) On arrival of the goods at the warehouse of destination, the consignee shall, within twenty-four hours of the arrival of goods, verify the same with all the three copies of the application. The consignee shall send the original application to the Officer-in-charge of his warehouse, duplicate to the consignor and retain the triplicate for his record.

(6) The Officer-in-charge of the warehouse of destination shall countersign the application received by him and send it to the Officer-in-charge of the factory or warehouse of removal.

(7) The consignor shall retain the duplicate application duly endorsed by the consignee for his record.

156B. Failure to receive rewarehousing certificate. -(1) In case the certificate of rewarehousing is not received back by the consignor within ninety days of the removal of the goods or such extended period as the Commissioner may allow to an assessee or class of assessees, the consignor shall pay the duty leviable on the consignment by a debit in his account-current:

Provided that where such duty has been paid and proof of rewarehousing is produced by the consignor to the satisfaction of the proper officer, such consignor shall, on making an application to the proper officer, be entitled to a refund of the duty so paid.

(2) If the original application endorsed with the rewarehousing certificate is not received by the Officer-in-charge of the factory or warehouse of removal or if received, it shows a shortage not explained to the satisfaction of the proper officer, the consignor shall, on demand by the proper officer, pay the duty leviable on such goods, within ten days of the notice of demand and if the duty is not so paid, he shall not be permitted to make fresh removals of any warehoused goods from his factory or warehouse to another warehouse until the duty is paid or until the certificate of rewarehousing is resented to the Officer-in-char e of the factory or warehouse of removal to his satisfaction.

157. Clearance of goods for home consumption. -Any owner of goods ware- housed may, at any time within the period during which such goods can be left or are permitted to remain in a warehouse under rule 145, clear the goods for home consumption by paying-

(a) the duty thereon assessed prior to entry or reassessed under rule 159, and

(b) all rent, penalties, interest and other charges payable in respect of such goods.

The goods shall then be assessed and cleared in the manner described in rule 173F read with rule 173G."

(7) For rule 162, the following rule shall be substituted, namely: -

"162. Noting removal of goods. -(1) When any goods are taken out of any warehouse, the owner of such goods shall note the fact in the ware- house register.

(2) Every note so made shall specify the quantity and description of the goods, the marks and numbers of the packages, the name of the person removing them, the number and date of application for clearance and/ or of gate pass and the amount of duty paid, if any."

(8) After rule 162, the following rule shall be inserted, namely: -

"162A. Power to relax conditions. -(1) The Central Board of Excise and Customs may, by order1 in writing, relax any of the provisions of this Chapter in respect of excisable goods falling under Chapter273 [and the goods of the following description, namely, benzene, toluene and xylene, falling within Chapter 29 of the Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986)."