The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is considering setting up a panel to investigate complaints from the stone and jewelry industry on customs clearance. The industry rose with the board several issues related to lack of appraisers, manual transportation of stones and jewelry, evasion of taxes or duties on exported products (RoDTEP).
"Especially for repaired jewelry, the valuation will be affected, and there will be delays and disputes," said a customs official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The industry is also trying to ease the regulatory process for the courier export of jewelry and introduce new risk management systems.
The CBIC on June 15 issued regulations on the export of jewelry by mail. However, it is difficult to transport goods to send documents.
“We have concerns about certain procedures. We have flagged them to customs authorities,” Anil Sankhwal, a senior Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council member, told ET.
The industry has also sought customs duty exemption for sawn diamond imports with the ban on the import of rough diamonds from Russia by G7 countries coming into effect from January 1, 2024.
The gem and jewelry export during April–October stood at $18.60 billion, or 46% of the annual target, as per the Niryat portal. The Industry had set a target of $40 billion for the current fiscal year. Sankhwal said the proposed ban could present fresh challenges for the industry, which was already affected by the fall in demand from key markets such as the US and China.
