Question

In detail, discuss the applicability of section 48, 49 and 50 of the Customs Act. Examine the provisions and restrictions of these sections, and provide two practical examples related to these sections.

Answer 1

As per the section 48 of the customs act, it is said that the goods that are unloaded at a custom station has to be disposed within 30 days of its arrival. If it is related to perishable goods, it can be sold off at any time and if it relates to arms and ammunitions, it can be sold off only with the prior permission of the central government. If the items cannot be sold off within the time frame, it has to be disposed off which is also clearly stated in the given section. Thus, this section would make sure how to deal with the excess cargo that would have to be dealt with at the customs section.

                                    As per the article 49 of the customs act, if the goods that could not be sold off within a given time frame, it could be preserved at a public or private warehouse when it has been identified and confirmed by the Assistant Commissioner of customs or the Deputy Commissioner of customs. Thus, this section make sure that the goods that could not be sold within the stipulated time framework are being dealt with so that the public would get access to the goods in case of delay of acquiring them.

                                    The section 50 states about the need for a shipping bill in case of exports by vessel or bill of export in case of movement by land and it also states that the exporter would have to make declaration about the truth of the contents while presenting such bills. This provision is intended to make sure that the exporter would be responsible for the goods that are being transported and thus makes sure that the authenticity of such actions would be under the responsibility of the exporter.

                                    Now consider a situation where the exporter is exporting a particular good which doesn’t fall in to the category of perishable good, say an electronic item. Then the good has to be cleared within 30 days or else it would have to be disposed. Now consider another situation where the receiver is not able to receive the item due to certain situations like the current covid scenario or some major illness. Thus, by section 49, the authorities could make considerations of the above case and hence proper warehousing of the good could be made and proper delivery could be made at a later stage. Now if the exporter, say intends to do some smuggling or illegal activity, then section 50 would make sure that the exporter has identified and given declaration of the contents and hence could be made responsible for such acts that are carried out and could be traced out in case of any such acts being identified at the customs office.