CHAPTER I      PRELIMINARY

SECTION 1.  Short title, extent and commencement. – (1) This Act may be called the Customs Act, 1962.

(2)It extends to the whole of India.

(3)It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

SECTION 2.  Definitions. – In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires

(1)“adjudicating authority” means any authority competent to pass any order or decision under this Act, but does not include the Board, Commissioner (Appeals) or Appellate Tribunal;

(1A)“aircraft” has the same meaning as in the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934);

(1B)“Appellate Tribunal” means the Customs, Excise and Service tax Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 129;

(2)“assessment” includes provisional assessment, reassessment and any order of assessment in which the duty assessed is nil;

(3)“baggage” includes unaccompanied baggage but does not include motor vehicles;

(4)“bill of entry” means a bill of entry referred to in section 46;

(5)“bill of export” means a bill of export referred to in section 50;

(6)“Board” means the Central Board of Excise and Customs constituted under the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963);

(7)“coastal goods” means goods, other than imported goods, transported in a vessel from one port in India to another;

(7A) “Commissioner (Appeals)” means a person appointed to be a Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) under sub-section (1) of section 4;

(8)“Commissioner of Customs”, except for the purposes of Chapter XV, includes an Additional Commissioner of Customs;

(9)“conveyance” includes a vessel, an aircraft and a vehicle;

(10)“customs airport” means any airport appointed under clause (a) of section 7 to be a customs airport;

(11)“customs area” means the area of a customs station and includes any area in which imported goods or export goods are ordinarily kept before clearance by Customs Authorities;

(12)“customs port” means any port appointed under clause (a) of section 7 to be a customs port [and includes a place appointed under clause (aa) of that section to be an inland container depot;

(13)“customs station” means any customs port, customs airport or land customs station;

(14)“dutiable goods” means any goods which are chargeable to duty and on which duty has not been paid;

(15)“duty” means a duty of customs leviable under this Act;

(16)“entry” in relation to goods means an entry made in a bill of entry, shipping bill or bill of export and includes in the case of goods imported or to be exported by post, the entry referred to in section 82 or the entry made under the regulations made under section 84;

(17)“examination”, in relation to any goods, includes measurement and weighment thereof;

(18)“export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking out of India to a place outside India;

(19)“export goods” means any goods which are to be taken out of India to a place outside India;

(20)“exporter”, in relation to any goods at any time between their entry for export and the time when they are exported, includes any owner or any person holding himself out to be the exporter;

(21)“foreign-going vessel or aircraft” means any vessel or aircraft for the time being engaged in the carriage of goods or passengers between any port or airport in India and any port or airport outside India, whether touching any intermediate port or airport in India or not, and includes -

(i)any naval vessel of a foreign Government taking part in any naval exercises;

(ii)any vessel engaged in fishing or any other operations outside the territorial waters of India;

(iii)any vessel or aircraft proceeding to a place outside India for any purpose whatsoever;

(21A)“Fund” means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under  section 12C of the Central Excises and Salt Act, 1944 (1 of 1944);

(22)“goods” includes - 

(a)vessels, aircrafts and vehicles;

(b)stores; 

(c)baggage;

(d) currency and negotiable instruments; and

(e)any other kind of movable property;

(23)“import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing into India from a place outside India;

(24)“import manifest” or “import report” means the manifest or report required to be delivered under section 30;

(25)“imported goods” means any goods brought into India from a place outside India but does not include goods which have been cleared for home consumption;

(26)“importer”, in relation to any goods at any time between their importation and the time when they are cleared for home consumption, includes any owner or any person holding himself out to be the importer;

(27)“India” includes the territorial waters of India;

(28)“Indian customs waters” means the waters extending into the sea up to the limit of contiguous zone of India under section 5 of the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976) and includes any bay, gulf, harbour, creek or tidal river;

(29)“land customs station” means any place appointed under clause (b) of section 7 to be a land customs station;

(30)“market price”, in relation to any goods, means the wholesale price of the goods in the ordinary course of trade in India;

(31)“person-in-charge” means, -

(a)in relation to a vessel, the master of the vessel; 

(b)in relation to an aircraft, the commander or pilot-in-charge of the aircraft;

( c)in relation to a railway train, the conductor, guard or other  person having the chief direction of the train;

(d)in relation to any other conveyance, the driver or other  person-in-charge of the conveyance;

(32)“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under this Act;

(33)“prohibited goods” means any goods the import or export of which is subject to any prohibition under this Act or any other law for the time being in force but does not include any such goods in respect of which the conditions subject to which the goods are permitted to be imported or exported have been complied with;

(34)“proper officer”, in relation to any functions to be performed under this Act, means the officer of customs who is assigned those functions by the Board or the [Commissioner of Customs];

(35)“regulations” means the regulations made by the Board under any provision of this Act;

(36)“rules” means the rules made by the Central Government under any provision of this Act;

(37)“shipping bill” means a shipping bill referred to in section 50;

(38)“stores” means 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;

(39)“smuggling”, in relation to any goods, means any act or omission which will render such goods liable to confiscation under section 111 or section 113;

(40)“tariff value”, in relation to any goods, means the tariff value fixed in respect thereof under sub-section (2) of section 14;

(41)“value”, in relation to any goods, means the value thereof determined in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 14;

(42)“vehicle” means conveyance of any kind used on land and includes a railway vehicle;

(43)“warehouse” means a public warehouse appointed under section 57 or a private warehouse licensed under section 58;

(44)“warehoused goods” means goods deposited in a warehouse;

(45)“warehousing station” means a place declared as a warehousing station under section 9.