India - Clarification of Sea Cargo Manifest Regulations

Further to recent updates communicated on the India Sea Cargo Manifest (SCMT) Regulations, please be advised that in a post meeting with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on August 26, 2019, following was clarified with regards to Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) and Sea Departure Manifest (SDM):

• PCIN (Primary Cargo Identification Number) will be generated by Customs whenever an actual shipper and consignee manifest the House Bill of Lading for Imports or the LEO (Let Order Export) Shipping Bill for Export cargoes.
• CSN (Cargo Summary Notification) will be generated by Customs when a forwarder/consolidator files the House Bill of Lading (HBL)details using CSN format.
  
• MCIN (Master Cargo Identification Number) will be generated by Customs when details of HBL matches with details of Master Bill of Lading (MBL) with respective CSN or SAM / SDM file.

Implementation Deadline:

• The SCMT came into force with effect from 1st August 2019. However, CBIC have granted a grace period until September 15, 2019 to allow all stakeholders to arrange required process- and system changes.
• As from September 16, 2019 Shipping lines have to carry out parallel filing of customs manifest, both as per the SCMT and existing regulations.
• Effective November 1, 2019 only the SCMT regulations are to be adhered to.

• HSN Code (6 digit numeric)
• IEC (Importer Exporter Code) of the Consignee (If IEC not available, PAN of Consignee should be mentioned)
• PAN (Permanant Account Number) of Notify/consignee
• Invoice value & Currency
  

The House Bill of Lading (HBL) information needs to be declared in the SAM prior departure from the last port of call.

Arrival Manifest Requirement

Submit all IGM/SCMT relevant information, House Bill of Lading (HBL) or Cargo Summary Notification (CSN) preferred Container Freight Station (CFS) details etc. to Hapag-Lloyd at least 72 hours prior to vessel sailing from last port of call before calling Indian ports.

Important note: - For transshipment and in-transit (FROB) containers, above data elements are not required. However, complete Bill of Lading information is required to be available 72 hours prior to vessel sailing from the last port of call.

Sea Departure Manifest (SDM)

Export manifest will now be known as Departure Manifest and Shipping Lines will be required to submit details of all export containers to Indian Customs prior to departure of the vessel.

Departure Manifest (SDM) should also include following data elements –

• HSN Code (6 digits - numeric)
• IEC code of Shipper/Consignor (if IEC not available, PAN of shipper/consignor should be mentioned).