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Union of India - Section
Section 33 in Rules of Determination of Origin of Goods under the Preferential Trading Agreement between the Republic of India and the Republic of Chile Rules, 2007
33.
Each Party shall adopt or maintain measures that provide for the imposition of civil, administrative, and, where appropriate, criminal sanctions for violations of its customs laws and regulations, including those governing tariff classification, customs valuation, rules of origin, and the entitlement to preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement.]| 17.(1) Regardless of the presentation of an origin certificate in accordance with the Rules of Origin under these Rules, the customs authorities of the importing Party may, in the cases of reasonable doubt, request the relevant government authorities of the exporting Party any additional information necessary for the verification of the authenticity of a certificate, as well as the veracity of the information contained therein. This shall not preclude the application of the respective national legislation relating to breach of customs law.(2) Compliance with the request for additional information according to this Article shall only be made with reference to the registers and documents available in Government offices or institutions authorized to issue origin certificates. Copies of the documentation necessary for the issuing of origin certificates can be made available.(3) This Article, however, does not restrain the conclusion of Customs Cooperation Agreements between the Parties.(4) The reasons for the doubts concerning the authenticity of the certificate or the veracity of its data shall be put forward in a clear and concrete way. For this purpose, the consultations thereon shall be carried out by a specific office of the customs authorities designated by each Party.(5) The customs authorities of the importing Party shall not suspend the importation operations of the goods. However, they may deny preferential tariff treatment, request a guarantee in any of its modalities or may take any action necessary in order to preserve fiscal interests, as a pre-condition for the completion of the importation operations.(6) If a guarantee is required, its amount shall not be higher than the value of the applicable custom duties concerning the importation of the product from third countries, according to the legislation of the importing country.18.The competent authorities from the exporting Party shall provide the requested information according to Article 17 within thirty (30) days, from the date of the receipt of the request. Such period can be extended through mutual consultation for a period no more than thirty (30) days in justified cases. If this information is satisfactory, the said authorities shall release the importer from the guarantee referred to in Article 17 within thirty (30) days or shall promptly refund the duty paid in excess, in accordance with domestic laws of the Parties.19.The information obtained under the conditions of the present Chapter shall be confidential in character, in accordance with its law, and shall protect such information from disclosure that could prejudice the competitive position of the persons providing the information. It shall be utilized with a view to clarifying the matter under investigation by the competent authorities of the importing Party as well as during the investigation and legal proceedings.20.In the cases in which the information requested under Article 17 is not provided within the deadline established in Article 18 or is insufficient to clarify any doubt concerning the origin of the good, the competent authorities of the importing Contracting Party may initiate an investigation on the matter within sixty (60) days, from the date of the request for the information.21.(1) During the period of investigation, the customs authorities of the importing Party shall not suspend new importing operations relating to identical goods from the same exporter or producer. However, they may deny preferential tariff treatment, request a guarantee in any of its modalities or may take any action necessary in order to preserve fiscal interests, as a pre?condition for the completion of new importation operations.(2) The guarantee amount, whenever it is requested, shall be established according to Article 17(6).22.The customs authorities of the importing Party shall immediately notify the importer and the competent authorities of the exporting Party of the initiation of the origin investigation, in accordance with the procedures established in Article 23.23.(1) During the investigation proceedings, the competent authorities of the importing Party may:(a) request, through the competent authorities of the exporting Party, new information, as well as any copy of the documentation in possession of the certifying offices or authorized institutions which issued the origin certificate under investigation, according to Article 17, which may be deemed necessary for verifying the authenticity of the said certificates and the veracity of the information contained therein. In such a request, the number and the date of the issue of the origin certificate under investigation shall be indicated;(b) for the purposes of verification of the contents of the local or regional added value, the producer or exporter shall facilitate the access to any information or documentation necessary for establishing the CIF value of the non?originating goods used in the production of the goods under investigation;(c) for the purposes of verification of the characteristics of certain production processes, the exporter or producer shall facilitate the access to any information and documentation that allow the confirmation of such processes;(d) send to the competent authorities of the exporting Party a written questionnaire to be passed on to the exporter or producer, indicating the origin certificate under investigation;(e) request to the competent authorities of the exporting Parties to facilitate visits to the premises of the producer, with a view to examining the production processes, as well as the equipment and tools utilized in the manufacture of the product under investigation;(f) the competent authorities of the Contracting Party shall accompany the authorities of the importing Contracting Party in their above?mentioned visit, which may include the participation of specialists who shall act as observers. Each Party could designate specialists, who shall be neutral and have no interest whatsoever in the investigation. Each Party may deny the participation of such specialists whenever the latter represent the interests of the companies or institutions involved in the investigation;(g) once the visit is concluded, the participants shall subscribe the minutes of it, in which it shall be indicated that it was carried out according to the conditions established in these Rules. The said minutes shall contain, in addition, the following information: date and place of the carrying out of the visit; identification of the origin certificates which led to the investigation; identification of the goods under investigation; identification of the participants, including indications of the organs and institutions to which they belong; a visit report;(h) the exporting Party may request the postponement of a verification visit for a period not more than thirty (30) days; and(i) carry out other actions as agreed upon between the Parties involved in the case under investigation.24.The competent authorities of the exporting Party shall provide the information and documentation requested according to Article 23(a) and d), within thirty (30) days from the date of the receipt of the request.25.Regarding the proceedings as foreseen in Article 23, the competent authorities of the importing Party may request the competent authority of the exporting Party the participation or advice of specialists concerning the matter under investigation.26.In the cases in which the information or documentation requested to the competent authorities of the exporting Party is not produced within the stipulated deadline, or if the answer does not contain enough information or documentation for determining origin, the authenticity or veracity of the origin certificate under investigation, or still, if the producers do not agree to the visit, the competent authorities of the importing Party may consider that the products under investigation do not fulfil the origin requirements, and may, as a result deny preferential tariff treatment to the products mentioned in the origin certificate under investigation according to Article 20, and thus conclude such investigation.27.(1) The competent authorities of the importing Party shall engage to conclude the investigation in a period not more than ninety (90) days, from the date of the receipt of all the information requested in accordance with Article 23.(2) If it is considered that new investigative actions or the presentation of more information are necessary, the competent authorities of the importing Party shall communicate the fact to the competent authorities of the exporting Party. The term for the execution of such new actions or for the presentation of additional information shall be not more than ninety (90) days, from the date of the receipt of all the additional information, according to Article 23.(3) If the investigation is not concluded within ninety (90) days after all the information has been provided, the importer shall be released from the payment of the guarantee, regardless of the continuation of the investigation. Duties paid in excess shall be promptly refunded in accordance with the domestic legislation of the Parties.28.(1) The customs authorities of the importing Party shall inform the importers and the competent authorities of the exporting Party of the conclusion of the investigation process, as well as the reasons that led to its decision.(2) The customs authority of the importing Party shall grant the competent authority of the exporting Party, access to the investigation files, in accordance with its legislation.29.During the investigation process, occasional modifications in the manufacturing conditions made by the companies under investigation shall be taken into account for future shipments.30.Once the investigation for the qualification of the origin concludes with a determination in favour of the importer, the importer shall be released from the guarantees requested in Articles 17 and 21, within no more than thirty (30) days or shall be promptly refunded the duties paid in excess in accordance with the domestic legislation of the Parties.31.(1) Once the investigation establishes the non?qualification of the origin criterion of the goods contained in the origin certificate, the duties shall be levied as if the goods were imported from third countries and the sanctions foreseen in this Agreement and/or the ones foreseen in the legislation in force in each Party shall be applied.(2) In such a case, the competent authorities of the importing Party may deny preferential tariff treatment to new imports relating to identical good from the same producer, until it is clearly demonstrated that the manufacturing conditions were modified so as to fulfil the origin requirements of the Rules of Origin of .(3) Once the competent authorities of the exporting Party has sent the information demonstrating that the manufacturing conditions were modified and goods fulfil the origin criterion, the competent authorities of the importing Party shall have forty five (45) days, from the date of the receipt of the said information, to communicate its decision there upon, or a maximum of ninety (90) days if a new verification visit to the producer's premises, according to Article 23 (e), is deemed necessary.(4) If the competent authorities of the importing and the exporting Parties fail to agree on the demonstration of the modification of the manufacturing conditions, they may make use of the Dispute Settlement Procedure established as per Article XVIII of the Preferential Trade Agreement between the Republic of India and the Republic of Chile.32.(1) A Party may request another Party to investigate the origin of a good imported by the latter from other Party, whenever there are well-founded reasons for suspecting that its products undergo competition from imported products with preferential tariff treatment which do not fulfil the Origin Rules of this Agreement.(2) For such purposes, the competent authorities of the Party requesting the investigation shall bring to the notice of the authorities of the importing Party the relevant information within forty five (45) days, from the date of the request. Once this information is received, the importing Contracting Party may initiate the proceedings established in this Rules, giving notice of this to the Party that requested the initiation of the investigation.33.The proceedings of verification and control of origin as foreseen in these Rules may also apply to the goods already cleared for home consumption.34.Within sixty (60) days, from the receipt of the communication as provided in Article 28 or in the third paragraph of Article 31, in case the measure is inconsistent, the exporting Party may request for consultation to the Committee, stating the technical and legal reasons that would indicate that the measure adopted by the competent authorities of the importing Party are not consistent with these Rules; and/or request a technical advice with the aim of establishing whether the goods under investigation fulfil the origin rules of this Agreement.35.The time periods set in these Rules shall be calculated on a consecutive day basis as from the day following the fact or event which they refer to.36. Penalties.- Each Party shall adopt or maintain measures that provide for the imposition of civil, administrative, and, where appropriate, criminal sanctions for violations of its customs laws and regulations, including those governing tariff classification, customs valuation, rules of origin, and the entitlement to preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement. |