The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs vide its notification dated 13th April 2020 has issued sailent features of the secure electronic communication of the Final electronic Out of Charge (eOoC) copy of Bill of Entry (BoE) and the eGatepass to the importers/Customs Brokers.
The CBIC has already taken a number of measures to facilitate and expedite customs clearance process making it more and more contact-less in order to mitigate the unprecedented situation due to COVID-19 pandemic. These measures include the facility to clear goods on the basis of an undertaking (not bond) and acceptance of electronic country of origin certificate.
The Salient features of the secure electronic communication of the Final eOoC copy of BoE and the eGatepass are as follows:
- CBIC has decided to enable electronic communication of PDF-based Final eOoC (electronic Out of Charge) copy of BoE (Bill of Entry) and e-gate pass to the importers/customs brokers.
- The PDF version will bear a digitally signed and encrypted QR code which can be scanned to verify the authenticity of the document using Mobile App ICETRAK.
- The e-gate pass copy will be used by the gate officer or the custodian to allow physical exit of the imported goods from the customs area.
- eGatepass shall contain only the details referred to by the Custodian or the Gate officer to allow actual movement of goods – like details of IGM/Bill of Lading, Containers, packages etc.
- There will be two types of QR codes (i) for entire eGatepass document, and (ii) for each container/package covered under the Gatepass.
The electronic communication of the Final eOoC copy of BoE and eGatepass copy is expected to bring immense benefits in terms of time and cost of compliance and reduction in interface for the trade while providing enhanced security features for verification of authenticity and validity of the electronic documents.
This measure shall be made effective from 15th April 2020.
Click here to read the Notification.
