Faceless Assessment – Anonymized Escalation Mechanism & extension of Standard Examination Orders through RMS

Circular No. 23/2022-Customs

No.450/155/2020-Cus. IV(Pt)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
(Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs)
*****

Room No.227B, North Block,
New Delhi, dated 3^rd November, 2022.

To,

All Principal Chief Commissioners/ Chief Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive)
/ Customs & Central Tax
All Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Customs/ Customs (Preventive)
All Principal Directors General/ Directors General, under CBIC.

Madam/Sir,

Subject: Faceless Assessment – Anonymized Escalation Mechanism & extension of Standard Examination Orders through RMS (Phase 1, Part 2) – reg.

The attention of field formations is drawn to Board’s Circular No.14/2021-Customs dated 07.07.2021 in consequence of which an initial Anonymized Escalation Mechanism (AEM) was introduced by the Directorate of Systems’ ICEGATE Advisory dated 02.08.2022. The undersigned is directed to say that keeping in view that the said AEM operates after IGM number with date is recorded in bill of entry (i.e. after arrival of goods), the Board hereby sensitizes the Pr.Chief/Chief Commissioners, in their roles as Zone and / or NAC heads, to the necessity of their monitoring to ensuring that an aspect lodged in the said AEM is not allowed to linger and that all successive actions are quickly taken without loss of time no sooner the aspect has been lodged in said AEM. They should devise whatever means are necessary for doing this. The Pr.Chief/Chief Commissioners should also keep note of the root cause(s) that needed to be redressed and the administrative/systemic actions to be adopted to achieve that redress, so that sustained improvements are made towards expediting customs clearances.

2. Your attention is also drawn to Board’s Circular No. 16/2022-Customs dated 29.08.2022 regarding phased implementation of Standard Examination Orders. To harmonize the examination orders across FAGs, the Board had decided to implement system-generated centralized examination orders in a phased manner. The Phase 1 referred to case of risk-based selection for examination after assessment (second check examination). Initially, in Part 1 of this phase, the goods under Assessment Group 4 in all Customs Stations were covered with effect from 05.09.2022. Based on the feedback received, from the National Customs Targeting Centre (NCTC), regarding the readiness for further rollout of the implementation of Standard Examination Orders through the Risk Management System, the Board has decided that in Part 2 of Phase 1, from 15.11.2022 the goods under Assessment Group 5 (Chapter 84) shall also be covered. Accordingly, the Circular No. 16/2022-Customs stands modified.

3. Difficulties, if any, in the implementation may be brought to the notice of the Board. The Hindi version follows.

Yours faithfully,

(Ananth Rathakrishnan)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India