Imported goods not to be unloaded from vessel until entry inwards granted [Section 31]:

This section provides that the master of a vessel shall not permit the unloading of any goods until an order has been given by the proper officer granting ENTRY INWARDS to such vessels. This is specified only for vessels and not for aircrafts or vehicles.

Entry inwards is a term used to denote colloquially that the ship‟s entry papers like arrival report, manifest etc have been received and they have been found to be in order, the person in charge of the conveyance can commence further import operations namely unloading of the cargo and disembarking of the passengers. The overt action for this permission, is assigning a rotation number (a serial No) for the conveyance. All the documents and papers relating to imports by this conveyance will be docketed and processed under this rotation number.

Date of entry inward is the date on which the vessel found a berthing place for discharge of cargo. There is no provision requiring grant of entry inward forthwith, nor a duty cast on the Customs Officer to forthwith grant entry inward when IGM is presented. [Devpal Dhir v. B. V. Kumar, Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) 1987 (32) ELT 459 (Bom)]

Section 31(2) provides that Entry Inwards shall not be given until the import manifest has been delivered or the proper officer is satisfied that a valid reason is given for not delivering it. Grant of Entry Inwards is an acknowledgement of the fact that Customs Department is ready to supervise the unloading of the cargo, and is prepared to assess the goods to duty, as an d when the concerned importer comes forward to clear the imported goods. Nothing in this section shall apply to the unloading of baggage accompanying a passenger or a member of the crew, mail bags, animals, perishable goods and hazardous goods.

The provision is in two parts:- one where there is a full satisfaction that the ship‟s papers are in order and the import operations can be allowed. The second part relates to a situation where the IGM or import report is not complete or is defective. This can be cured within a given time, i.e. the required documents and/or information can be obtained and given within a short time. An indemnity bond/undertaking is taken from the master of the vehicles/local agent to provide the requisite documents and/or material within a prescribed period, the entry inwards is then granted.

Though the master of the vessel cannot allow the goods to be unloaded until the grant of Entry Inwards, subsection (3) of section 31 provides that this provision is not applicable to unloading of baggage accompanying a passenger or a member of the crew, mail bags, animals, perishable goods and hazardous goods. Entry inwards date is crucial for the calculation of applicable rate of duty whenever bill of entry has been filed in advance.