Rules Regarding Postal Parcels & Letter Packets from Foreign Ports in/out of India :

Landing: The rules and regulations under the old Sea Customs Act (which are valid under the Customs Act) provide that the boxes or bags containing the parcels would be labelled, like “Postal Parcels” “Parcel Mail” “Letter Mail”. They would be allowed to land at

(i) Foreign Post Dept. at G.P.O. Calcutta

(ii) Foreign Post Dept. at Bombay.

(iii) Foreign Post Office at G.P.O. Madras

(iv) Sorting air mail office at Delhi.

(v) Foreign Post Dept. at New Delhi.

(vi) Foreign Parcel department of Golakganj.

Clearing: The procedure to be followed is as under:

1. The Postmaster at Foreign Post Department will prepare in relation to all post parcels subject to customs scrutiny a list or sheeet containing

(i) Parcel Nos.

(ii) Parcel Bills/sender‟s declarations/labels/despatch notes

(iii) Any other information relevant to the assessment of the parcels.

2. The mail bags other than those containing registered mail are checked in the s orting office as soon as they are received in India, to eliminate and detail mail containing dutiable or prohibited goods.

3. On receipt of the parcels, the customs appraiser would segregate them into the following

(a) those that can be assessed to customs duty on the basis of the label or customs declaration;

(b) those that can be assessed to customs duty after opening the parcel and physical examination of the goods;

(c) those for which further information or further documents are necessary for determining the customs duty, restrictions on importation etc. These documents will be called from the addressee of the letter mail article.

(i) The parcels to be opened will be opened by the postal authorities in the presence of the customs authorities and after the customs authorities have ascertained the necessary details for determination of the duty and prohibition aspects they shall close the letter mail articles or the parcels as the case may be.

(ii) In the case of parcels, letter mail articles, detained for further details or information a letter of call will be issued by the customs authorities. The postal
articles will be presented to the customs authorities once again as soon as the requisite information is received.

(iii) As soon as the parcels are assessed to duty, the customs will indicate on the parcel assessment sheet, the value of the goods, description of the goods and the duty recoverable on the goods. The postal authorities shall inscribe the duty amount on the label of the parcel.

(iv) The postal authorities will collect the duty when the parcel s are delivered to the addressee.

(v) The duty amount is credited to the customs authorities periodically. The duty amount is collected at the time of delivery of the postal article to the addressee.

Section 13 of the Post Office Act provides that customs duty paid as postage is recoverable as postage. This provision states that when a postal article, on which any duty of customs is payable, has been received by post from any place beyond the limits of India, and the duty has been paid by the postal authorities, at any customs port or elsewhere, the amount of duty shall be recoverable as if it were postage due under the (Post Office) Act.

Imports through courier service: The provisions applicable for postal goods do not apply to imports/exports made through courier agencies. They are governed by Courier Import and Exports (Clearance) Regulations, 1998.

The Courier Imports and Exports (Clearance) Regulations 1998 provide for the following:

1. Import through courier by air is permitted from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Kolkatta and from any land customs station except two stations in West Bengal.

2. The weight of an individual package should not exceed 70 kgs.

3. Import through courier requiring testing of samples of animals and parts thereof, plants and parts thereof, perishables, publications containing maps depicting incorrect boundaries of India, precious and semi-precious stones, gold or silver in any form thereof on reference to the relevant statutory authorities or experts before their clearance is not allowed.

4. The authorized courier must be registered with the Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner of Customs and should disclose all information to the authorities in connection with the imported goods.

5. The courier bags should be kept separately and shall be dealt only as per the directions of the Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner of Customs.

6. The authorized courier is required to submit a declaration in the prescribed form and has to file a bill of entry.

7. Export through courier is permitted by air from the same places as in the case of import and the courier has to file a statement before the departure of any flight along with the Courier Shipping Bill.

8. The system of export through courier is not available for items which attract export duty, export under claim for drawback, export under various other export promotion schemes where the value of consignment is more than ` 25000 and the transaction involves foreign exchange.

9. Samples upto ` 50000 in respect of exports and ` 10000 for imports and free gifts upto ` 25000 in respect of exports and ` 10000 for imports per consignment is allowed.

10. Import of gems and jewellery of EOU/SEZ is and export of cut and polished diamonds, gems and jewellery is permitted provided the value of each consignment does not exceed ` 25 Lakhs.

11. A person who intends to operate as an authorized courier should make an application to the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the area from where the goods are to be imported or exported. The authorized courier who is registered shall transact the business in all customs station within the country subject to intimation in a specified form to the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner of Customs having jurisdiction over the customs station where he has to transact business.

12. A courier files a consolidated bill of entry.