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CUSTOMS TARIFF (DETERMINATION OF ORIGIN OF GOODS UNDER
THE AGREEMENT ON SAARC PREFERENTIAL TRADING ARRANGEMENT) RULES,
1995
Notification No. 73/95-Cus. (N.T.), dated 7-12-1995 as
amended by Notification No. 7/97-Cus. (N.T.), dated 1-3-1997,
Notification No. 29/99-Cus (N.T.), dated 11-05-1999,
Notification No. 68/2000-Cus (N.T.), dated 10-11-2000
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of
section 5 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), the
Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely :-
1. Short title and commencement. - (1) These
rules may be called the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin
of Goods under the Agreement on SAARC Preferential Trading
Arrangement) Rules, 1995.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their
publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Application. - These rules shall apply to
products consigned from any Contracting State.
3. Definitions. - In these rules, unless the
context otherwise requires -
- (a) "SAPTA" means the Agreement on SAARC Preferential
Trading Arrangement, signed at Dhaka, Bangladesh on the
llth day of April, 1993;
- (b) "Contracting State" means any Member State of SAARC
listed in Appendix I or Appendix II to the notification of the
Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of
Revenue) No. 15/97 - Customs, dated 1st March,1997;
- (c) "Preferential concession", in relation to any product
means the exemption granted under the notification of the
Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of
Revenue) No. 15/97 - Customs, dated 1st March, 1997;
- (d) Words and expressions used in these rules and not
defined, but defined in the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962),
shall have the meanings, respectively, assigned to them in that
Act.
4. Determination of Origin. - No product shall
be deemed to be the produce or manufacture of a Contracting State
unless the Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy
Commissioner of Customs is satisfied that the conditions specified
in the Schedule to these rules are complied with in relation to
such products.
5. Claim at the time of importation. - The
importer of the products shall at the time of importation, -
(a) make a claim that the products are the produce or
manufacture of the Contracting State from which they are imported
and such products are eligible for preferential concession; and
(b) produce the evidence specified in the Schedule to these
rules
THE SCHEDULE
(See Rules 4 and 5)
1. Originating products. - Products covered by
preferential trading arrangements within the framework of the
SAPTA imported into the territory of a Contracting State from
another Contracting State which are consigned directly within the
meaning of paragraph 5, hereof, shall be eligible for
preferential concessions if they conform to the origin
requirements under any one of the following conditions, namely :-
- (a) products wholly produced or obtained in the exporting
Contracting State as denied in paragraph 2; or
- (b) products not wholly produced or obtained, in the
exporting Contracting State, provided that the said products are
eligible under paragraph 4.
2. Wholly produced or obtained. - Within the
meaning of paragraph 1(a) the following shall be considered as
wholly produced or obtained in the exporting Contracting State,
namely :-
- (a) raw or mineral products extracted from its soil, its water or
its seabeds;
(b) agricultural products harvested there,
(c) animals born and raised there;
(d) products obtained from animals referred to in clause
(c) above;
(e) products obtained by hunting or fishing conducted
there;
(f) products of sea fishing and other marine products
taken from the high seas by its vessels;
(g) products processed and/or made on board its factory
ships exclusively from products referred to in clause (f) above;
(h) used articles collected there, fit only for the
recovery of raw materials;
(i) waste and scrap resulting from manufacturing
operations conducted there;
(j) goods produced there exclusively from the products
referred to in clauses (a) to (i) above.
3. Not wholly produced or obtained.-
- (a) Within
the meaning of paragraph 1(b), products worked on or processed as
a result of which the total value of the materials, parts or
produce originating from non-Contracting States or of undetermined
origin used does not exceed 60 per cent of the f.o.b. value of the
products produced or obtained and the final process of manufacture
is performed within the territory of the exporting Contracting
State shall be eligible for preferential concessions subject to
the provisions of clause (c) of paragraph 3 and paragraph 4;
- (b) Sectoral agreements;
- (c) The value of the non-originating materials, parts or
produce shall be -
-
(i) the c.i.f. value at the time of importation of materials,
parts or produce where this can be proven; or
(ii) the earliest ascertainable price paid for the
materials, parts or produce of undetermined origin in the
territory of the Contracting State where the working or
processing takes place.
4. Cumulative rules of origin. - Products which
comply with origin requirements provided for in paragraph 1 and
which are used by a Contracting State as input for a finished
product eligible for preferential treatment by another Contracting
State shall be considered as a product originating in the
territory of the Contracting State where working or processing of
the finished product has taken place provided the aggregate
content originating in the territory of the Contracting State is
not less than 50 per cent of its f.o.b. value.
5. Direct consignment. - The following shall be
considered as directly consigned from the exporting Contracting
State to the importing Contracting State, namely :-
(a) if the products are transported without passing through the
territory of any non-Contracting State;
(b) the products whose transport involves transit through
one or more intermediate non-Contracting States with or without
transhipment or temporary storage in such countries :
Provided that -
-
(i) the transit entry is justified for geographical reason or by
considerations related exclusively to transport requirements;
(ii) the products have not entered into trade or
consumption there; and
(iii) the products have not undergone any operation there
other than unloading and reloading or any operation required to
keep them in good condition.
6. Treatment of packing. - When determining the
origin of products, packing shall be considered as forming a whole
with the product it contains, unless packing has to be treated
separately under the national legislation.
7. Certificate of Origin. - Products eligible
for preferential concessions shall be supported by a Certificate
of Origin, in the form annexed, issued by an authority designated
by the government of the exporting Contracting State and notified
to the other Contracting States in accordance with the
Certification Procedures mentioned below the form annexed.
8.(a) In conformity with Article 15 of the
SAPTA and national legislations, any Contracting State may
prohibit importation of products containing any inputs
originating from States with which it does not have economic and
commercial relations.
(b) Contracting States will do their best to
cooperate in order to specify origin of inputs in the Certificate
of Origin.
9. Review. - These Rules may be reviewed as and
when necessary upon request of one-third of the Contracting
States and may be open to such modifications as may be agreed
upon.
10. Special criteria percentage. - Products
originating in Least Developed Contracting States can be allowed
a favourable 10 percentage points applied to the percentage
established in paragraphs 3 and 4. Thus, for paragraph 3, the
percentage would not exceed 70 per cent, and for paragraph 4, the
percentage would not be less than 40 per cent.
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