ALC CIRCULAR NO. 1/2002-03, Dt. 10/06/2002

Export of serpentine (green marble) under Duty Exemption Scheme.

To,

i) All Regional Licensing Authorities.
ii) All Commissionerates of customs.

Subject:- Export of serpentine (green marble) under Duty Exemption Scheme.

Sir,

Attention is invited to Standard Input Output Norm (SION) entry No.A-1986 in the Handbook of Procedures,Vol.2(Part-I) which allows export of Dressed Marble Block under duty Exemption Scheme. RLAs have issued advance licences for exports of serpentine (green marble) blocks under the above entry and the customs also have allowed export of serpentine (green marble) thereunder. However, instances have come to the notice of this office that some customs authorities are interpreting the scope of the above entry is differently in the sense that according to some of them, the above entry is for dressed marble blocks and hence, it would not cover dressed serpentine (green marble) blocks. This misinterpretation is recurring because according to them, under ITC(HS) as well as Customs Classification, marble is covered under the heading 25.15 whereas serpentine marble(green marble) is covered separately under the heading 25.16 and since, the above SION entry is for dressed marble blocks, exports of serpentine(green marble) made thereunder will not be considered for discharge of export obligation in an advance licence issued for dressed marble blocks.

2. The matter regarding consideration of serpentine (green marble) as regular marble had earlier been carefully considered in consultation with the Ministry of Coal & Mines, Department of Mines, Government of India and the Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur, a subordinate office in the Department of Mines. The Bureau had given its considered views that as per the standard references, petrologically and mineralogically, “marble” denotes a metamorphic rock composed essentially of calcite, dolomite or a combination of the two and chemically, it is either pure calcium carbonate or a mixture of calcium and magnesium carbonates, but by virtue of long usage of the term by the industry world over involved in production and trading of the commodity, among others, serpentines are also included in the term. The Bureau had further clarified that as per the commercial classification of marble adopted by the American Society for Testing Materials(ASTM), commercial marble may also be classified, among others, as serpentine marble.

3. The Advance Licensing Committee in the Directorate had accepted the above views and therefore, for the purpose of clarity, it has now been decided with the approval of DGFT to clarify to all Regional Licensing Authorities as well as Commissionerates of Customs that even though regular marble and serpentine (green marble) have been classified under headings 25.15 and 25.16 of Customs Classification as well as ITC (HS) classification respectively, yet for the purpose of exports under Duty Exemption Scheme, serpentine (green marble) should be treated as regular marble only and accordingly, SION entry No. A-1986, Handbook of Procedures, Vol.2 (Part-I) would also cover dressed serpentine (green marble) block and also that exports of dressed serpentine (green marble) block should be taken into consideration for discharge of export obligation of an advance licence issued for dressed Marble Block.

4. The above instructions may be brought to the notice of all concerned for compliance.

Yours faithfully,
Sd/-
(B. Gangar)
Dy. Director General of Foreign Trade,
For Director General of Foreign Trade.

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