n India, the Customs Act, 1962 is the primary law for levy and collection of customs duty on imports and exports of goods from India. Apart from earning revenue, customs duty also aims to restrict imports for conserving foreign exchange, prohibit imports and exports of goods for achieving the policy objectives of the Government and regulate exports. The Customs Tariff Act, 1975 prescribes the rates of Customs Duty on import and export of various goods. For the protection of the domestic industry and facilitating trade, a strict import control regime was implemented with the provisions of Custom clearance. The Customs Act, 1962 contains provisions of confiscation in respect of export goods. The central government has been empowered to make rules in order to carry out the purposes of the Act. Several rules have been framed under this Act, such as Customs Valuation Rules, 1988 for valuation of imported goods for calculating custom duty payable, Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rule, 1971 for calculating rates of duties as drawbacks on exports, etc. However, in case of any conflict between the provisions of the Act and Rules, the provisions of the act shall prevail. With the emergence of economic globalization and growth of international business, international trade facilitation has become an issue of common concern. Without security measures like the provisions of Custom duties, facilitation of trade cannot be achieved. The Central Board of Excise and Customs is a division of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India which undertakes the tasks of formulation of policy concerning levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties, prevention of smuggling and administration of matters relating to Customs, Central Excise and Narcotics under the purview of the CEBC.
