Duty drawbacks

As per Board Circular No. 05/2009-Cus (dated February 2, 2009) and the corresponding Public Notice No. 11/2009 (dated March 9, 2009), the requirement for exporters regarding the submission of certificates for the period from January 1, 2004, onwards is as follows:

Requirement Details

• Scope: Exporters filing Shipping Bills under the Duty Drawback scheme must furnish a certificate (or a "negative statement") from their Authorized Dealer (AD) or a Chartered Accountant.

• Time Period: This requirement applies to all Drawback Shipping Bills with Let Export Order (LEO) dates from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2007, as well as subsequent periods.

• Format: The certificate must be submitted in the prescribed Annexure format. It should provide details of export proceeds against shipping bills that were either not realized or were realized beyond the statutory time limit set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• Frequency: Exporters are required to submit these statements on a 6-monthly basis (separately for each period: January–June and July–December) for every year starting from 2004.

• Consolidation: The authorities have explicitly directed exporters to refrain from submitting consolidated statements for multiple years. Separate statements must be filed for each 6-month period to ensure proper monitoring and record-keeping in the EDI system.

Summary

If you are an exporter, you are indeed required to furnish 6-monthly certificates (from an Authorized Dealer or Chartered Accountant) for all drawback shipments from January 1, 2004, onwards. These must be filed separately for each 6-month period (Jan–June and July–Dec) as per the guidelines laid out in the 2009 circulars. Submitting one single certificate for the entire period from 2004 to date is not compliant with these instructions.