India - Transition Period for Sea Cargo Manifest Regulations

Further to our earlier CustomerNEWS which provided details on India Sea Cargo Manifest Regulation (SCMT) changes, Customs have now agreed to grant a transition period of 45 days for this regulation, i.e. up to September 15, 2019.

Subsequent to meetings with CBIC, it was clarified by Customs Officials that in addition to the mandatory information of HS Code, IEC Code and PAN Number, following details are to be mandatorily declared in the Manifest, but not required to be shown on the Bills of Lading:

Invoice value of consignment
Currency code of Invoice value

Consequently, in order to ensure we can incorporate above information in the manifest, you are kindly requested to provide the required details on your Shipping Instructions.
Furthermore, and for ease of reference, we like to remind you of the key highlights of the revised regulation as summarized below:

Arrival Manifest Requirement
Submit the IGM relevant information, House Bill of Lading, preferred CFS details etc. to Hapag-Lloyd at least 72 hours prior to vessel sailing from last port of call before calling India ports.

Departure Manifest Requirement

You are requested to submit Shipping Bill to Hapag-Lloyd at least 48 hours prior vessel departure from Indian Port of Loading.

Discussion with Customs Authorities on the technical aspect of manifest data submission are still ongoing; we will keep you informed of vital updates accordingly.