Special provisions relating to stores :
The term “stores” has got a special significance in the course of import and export under the Customs Act. The term “stores” has been defined under section2(38) of the Customs Act to mean “goods for use in a vessel or aircraft, and includes fuel and spare parts and other articles of equipment, whether or not for immediate fitting”.
The ambit of the term “stores” can be understood if the following needs of the vessel or conveyance are taken into account:
(i) The food, drink and other needs of the passengers and crew and other human beings on board the vessel, aircraft or conveyance.
(ii) Stock of the fuel necessary for running the vessel, aircraft, conveyance, for example diesel oil and furnace oil for ships, aviation, turbine fuel for the aircrafts, petrol or diesel or automobiles run on road, coal, diesel of locomotive etc.
(iii) The conveyance has to carry with it certain essential spare parts for the maintenance and repair of the conveyance during the journey.
(iv) Certain essential medical items like first aid boxes, medicine chest, oxygen etc are also necessary during the voyage.
(v) Life saving things, life boats, life belts, etc. are also statutorily required to be kept on board the vessel/conveyance.
(vi) If the voyage is long and tedious, certain entertainment to keep the passengers engaged is a commercial requirement. They include alcoholic liquors, musical instruments/ videos/radio systems, small games, toys and other entertainment items for the children, long chain, etc. on ocean liners etc.
The emphasis is that all these items are not imported into or exported out of India in the course of international trade, but by the very fact of their being brought into India from a place outside India, and vice versa, they attract the rigours of the controls on import and export of goods. This has necessitated special provisions to deal with such stores. Sections 85 to 90 of the Customs Act contain detailed provisions relating to treatment of Stores under the Act.