In exercise of powers conferred under paragraph 4.11 of the Export and Import Policy, 1997-2002, as notified in the Gazette of India extraordinary, Part-II- Section 3-Sub- section (ii) vide S.O No. 283(E) dated 31.3.97, the Director General of Foreign Trade hereby makes the followig amendment in the Handbook of Procedures (Vol.1) (RE-99), 1997-2002.

1. Paragraph 4.25 shall be amended to read as under:

The generalised system of Preferences (GSP) is a system under which Indian goods receive preferential tariff treatment upon imports into developed markets such as Member States of European Union, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Russia etc. The GSP schemes of various countries are notified by them from time to time. These are unilateral schemes and as such India need not accord the same preferential treatment to the goods of developed countries, on reciprocal basis. The list of agencies authorised to issue GSP certificate is given in Appendix- 51.

In addition, India is a participant to Global system of Trade Preference (GSTP), Bangkok agreement (BA), SAARC preferential trading arrangement (SAPTA) under which India grants and receives tariff concessions on imports and exports. To avail of the tariff preference, it is to be ensured that import or export qualifies for the preference in accordance with the rules of original requirement of the agreement concerned. The Government has notified the agencies authorised to issue Certificate of Origin for each of the agreement. Export Inspection Council (EIC) is the sole agency authorised to issue Certificate of Origin under GSTP. The list of agencies authorised to issue Certificate of Origin under BA and SAPTA is provided in Appendix- 51A. The authorised agencies shall provide services relating to issuance of Certificate of Origin including details regarding the rules of origin, list of items covered by an agreement, extent of tariff preference, verification and certification of eligibility etc. EIC is a sole agency authorised to print blank certificates. The authorised agencies may charge a fee, as approved by Ministry of Commerce , for services rendered.

The Government has also nominated certain authorised agencies to issue non-preferential Certificate of Origin in accordance with the Article II of Inter-National Convention relating to simplification of Customs formalities, 1923. These Certificate of Origin evidence the origin of goods and do not bestow any right to preferential tariffs. The list of these agencies is provided in Appendix- 51B.

2. The following shall be added as Appendix- 51:

Appendix- 51

*Note: Development Commissioner of these EPZ’s have recently been authorised and will be in a position to issue Certificate of Origin shortly.

3. The heading in Appendix 51B-"List of agencies to issue Certificate of Origin for GSP scheme" and the seven agencies listed therein stands deleted and Appendix-51 B shall now relate only to "List of agencies authorised to issue Certificate of Origin-non preferential".

4. First two sentence in paragraph 1(e) of Appendix-42 shall be amended to read as under:

"An application for sale of goods and rejects above 5% in DTA as per paragraph 9.9 of the Policy by the EOUs shall be submitted to the Development Commissioner of the EPZ concerned in the form given at Annexure-A. The application shall be certified by the independent Cost/Chartered/Cost and Works Accountant and endorsed by the Bond officer of Customs/Central Excise having jurisdiction over the unit."

5. Paragraph 1(k) of Appendix-42 stands deleted.
6. The following shall be added as a new paragraph after S.No.1(m) of Appendix-42 as under:

1(n) DTA sale of instant tea will be allowed upto 20% of fob value of exports in the form of tea bags or bulk.

7. The following shall be added as agency after S.No.23 of Appendix 32 B.

M/s. AIB Vincotte Inter

A DROUARTLAAN 27-29,

B 1160, BRUSSELS.

BELGIUM

8. The address of agency mentioned at S.No.5 under the heading "New Delhi" appearing in Appendix-51 B shall be corrected to read as under

5. Indian Chemicals Manufacturer Association,

508, Gagandeep Rajendra Place,

New Delhi-110008.

9. The following shall be added as an agency in Appendix 51-B under the heading "Madhya Pradesh."

1. The paragraph 21 appearing in public notice No.10(RE-99)97-2002 dated 7.6.99 shall be corrected to read as under:

S.No. 9 of Appendix-44 pertaining to the STP scheme shall be amended to read as under:

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