CBIC notifies Pan-India roll-out of Faceless Assessment from 31st October 2020 vide Circular No.40/2020-Customs dated 4th September, 2020

Kind reference is invited to Board Circulars No.28/2020-Customs, dated 05.06.2020 and No. 34/2020-Customs, dated 30.07.2020, launching Phases I and II of Faceless Assessment, respectively, under the umbrella of the next generational Turant Customs programme.

2. The key elements of the Turant Customs programme are Faceless, Contactless and Paperless Customs clearance processes. This includes faceless or anonymised assessment, self-registration of goods by importers, automated clearances of bills of entry, digitisation of Customs documents, etc. The objectives sought to be achieved are exponentially faster clearance of goods, reduced interface between trade and Customs officers and enhanced ease of doing business.

The phased launch of the Turant Customs programme in select ports of import was aimed at testing in a real-life environment, the IT capabilities as well as the responsiveness of the trade and Customs officers to the various initiatives. The results have been reviewed and these have confirmed that the stated objectives are being met. The stage is now set for extending the Turant Customs programme across all Customs ports pan India. Thereby ushering in a more modern, efficient, and professional Customs administration with resultant benefits for trade and industry.

3. Faceless Assessment, duly supported by Paperless and Contactless Customs clearance processes, is a critical reform. As you are aware, the pilot programme of Faceless Assessment was launched in Chennai on 14.08.2019 for primarily electrical machineries falling under Chapter 85 of the Customs Tariff Act,1975. This pilot programme was subsequently expanded to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mundra and Visakhapatnam for goods primarily falling under Chapters 39, 84, 86 to 92, 72 to 83 and 50 to 71 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975.

These pilot programmes helped test Faceless Assessment, first in the same Zone (e.g. imports at Chennai seaport and air-cargo were assessed by Customs officers in either location instead of only in the port/air-cargo of import) and then across Zones (e.g. imports at Chennai sea/air-cargo were assessed by Customs officers at Bengaluru air-cargo/ICD and vice versa).

These pilot programmes were followed by the launch of Phase I of Faceless Assessment on 05.06.2020, cutting across the Customs formations in Chennai and Bengaluru for articles primarily falling under the Chapters 84 and 85 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Phase II of Faceless Assessment, which was begun on 03.08.2020 at Customs formations in Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, for goods falling under the Chapters 50 to 71, 84, 85 and 86 to 92 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and at Customs formations in Mumbai, for goods falling under the Chapter 29 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. As aforestated, the results have been encouraging.

4. Board has decided to roll-out the Faceless Assessment at an All India level in all ports of import and for all imported goods by 31.10.2020. The detailed roll-out plan in phases is given in Annexure I. It covers different Customs Zones and Chapters of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, including the existing Phases I and II,

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