CUSTOMS TARIFF (IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF SAFEGUARD DUTY) RULES, 1997
(i) These rules may be called the Customs Tariff (Identification and Assessment of Safeguard Duty) Rules, 1997.
(ii) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official gazette.
In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) "Act" means the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975);
(b) "Critical circumstances" means circumstances in which there is clear evidence that imports have taken place in such increased quantities and under such circumstances as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry and delay in imposition of provisional safe- guard duty would cause irreparable damage to the domestic industry;
(c) "increased quantity" includes increase in imports whether in absolute terms or relative to domestic production;
(d) "Interested Party" includes -
(i) any exporter or foreign producer or the importer of an article subjected to investigatio
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette appoint an officer not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the Government of India or such other officer as it may think fit as the Director General (Safeguard) hereinafter referred to as the Director General for the purposes of these rules.
(2) The Central Government may provide to the Director General the services of such other persons and such other facilities at it deems fit
Subject to the provisions of these rules, it shall be the duty of the Director General -
(1) to investigate the existence of "serious injury" or "threat of serious injury" to domestic industry as a consequence of increased import of in article into India;
(2) to identify the article liable for safeguard duty;
(3) to submit his findings, provisional or otherwise to the Central Government as to the "serious injury" or "threat of serious injury" to domestic industry consequent upon increased import of an article from the specified country;
(4) to recommend, -
(i) the amount of duty which if levied would be adequate to remove the injury or threat of injury to the domestic industry;
(1) Except as provided in sub-rule (4) the Director General shall, on receipt of a written application by or on behalf of the domestic producer of like article or directly competitive article, initiate an investigation to determine the existence of "serious injury" or "threat of serious injury" to the domestic industry, caused by the import of an article in such increased quantities, absolute or relative to domestic production.
(2) An application under sub-rule (1) shall be in the form as may be specified by the Director General in this behalf and such application shall be supported by, -
(a) evidence of, -
(i) increased imports;
(ii) serious injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry;
(i
(1) The Director General shall, after he has decided to initiate investigation to determine the serious injury or threat of serious injury to domestic industry, consequent upon the increased import of an article into India, issue a public notice notifying his decision thereto. The public notice shall inter alia, contain adequate information on the following, namely :-
(i) the name of the exporting countries and the article involved; (ii) the date of initiation of the investigation;
(iii) a summary statement of the facts on which the allegation of serious injury or threat of serious injury is based;
(iv) reasons for initiation of investigation.
(v) the address to which representations by interested parties should be directed; and
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rules (1), (3) and (7) of rule 6, sub-rule (2) of rule 9 and sub-rule (5) of rule 11, any information which is by nature confidential or which is provided on a confidential basis shall, upon cause being shown, be treated as such by the Di rector General and shall not be disclosed without specific authorisation of the party providing such information.
(2) The Director General may require the parties providing information on confidential basis to furnish non-confidential summary thereof and if, in the opinion of the party providing such information, such information cannot be summarised, such party may submit to the Director General a statement of reasons why summarisation is not possible.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (2), if the Director General is satisfied that the req
The Director General shall determine serious injury or threat of serious injury to the domestic industry taking into account, inter alia, the principles laid down in Annex to these rules.
(1) The Director General shall proceed expedi-tiously with the conduct of the investigation and in critical circumstances, he may record a preliminary findings regarding serious injury or threat of serious injury.
(2) The Director General shall issue a public notice regarding his preliminary findings.
(3) The Director General shall send a copy of the public notice to the Central Government in the Ministry of Commerce and in the Ministry of Finance.
The Central Government may in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 8B of the Act, impose a provisional duty on the basis of the preliminary findings of the Director General:
Provided that such duty shall remain in force only for a period not exceeding two hundred days from the date on which it was imposed.
(1) The Director General shall, within 8 months from the date of initiation of the investigation or within such extended period as the Central Government may allow, determine whether, -
(a) the increased imports of the article under investigation has caused or threatened to cause serious injury to the domestic industry, and
(b) a causal link exists between the increased imports and serious injury or threat of serious injury.
(2) The Director General shall also give its recommendation regarding amount of duty which, if levied, would be adequate to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate positive adjustment.
(3) The Director General shall also make his recommendations regarding the duration of levy of duty :
(1) The Central Government may, impose by a notification in the Official Gazette, upon importation into India of the product covered under the final finding, a safeguard duty not exceeding the amount which has been found adequate to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate positive adjustment.
(2) If the final finding of the Director General is negative, that is contrary to the prima facie evidence on whose basis the investigation was initiated, the Central Government shall within thirty days of the publication of final findings by the Director General under rule 11, withdraw the provisional duty imposed, if any.
Any safeguard duty imposed under rule 10 or rule 12 shall be on a non-discriminatory basis and applicable to all imports of such article, irrespective of its source.
(1) The Safeguard duty levied under rule 10 or rule 12 shall take effect from the date of publication of the notification, in the Official Gazette imposing such duty.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), where a provisional duty has been levied and where the Director General has recorded a finding that increased imports have caused or threaten to cause serious injury to domestic industry, it shall be specified in the notification under sub-rule (1) that such safeguard duty shall lake effect from the date of levy of provisional duty.
If the safeguard duly imposed after the conclusions of the investigation is lower than the provisional duty already imposed and collected, the differential shall be refunded to the importer.
(1) The duty levied under rule 12 shall be only for such period of time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and to facilitate positive adjustment.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1) of this rule duty levied under rule 12 shall, unless revoked earlier, cease to have effect on the ex piry of four years from the date of its imposition :
Provided that if the Central Government is of the opinion that the domestic industry has taken measures to adjust to such injury or threat thereof and it is necessary that the safeguard duty should continue to be imposed, it may extend the period of such imposition :
Provided further that in no case the safeguard duty shall continue to be imposed beyond a period of ten years from the date on which such duty was first impose
If the duration of the duty levied under rule 12 exceeds one year, the duty shall be progressively liberalized at regular intervals during the period of its imposition.
(1) The Director General shall, from time to time, review the need for continued imposition of the safeguard duty and shall, if he is satisfied on the basis of information received to him that, -
(i) safeguard duty is necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and there is evidence that the industry is adjusting positively, it may recommend to the Central Government for the continued imposition of duty;
(ii) there is no justification for the continued imposition of such duty, recommend to the Central Government for its withdrawal:
Provided that where the period of imposition of safeguard duty exceeds three years the Director General shall review the situation not later than the midterm of such imposition, and, if appropriate, recommend for withdrawal of such safeguard duty or for the increa
(See Rule 8 )
(1) In the investigation to determine whether increased imports have caused or are threatening to cause serious injury to a domestic industry, the Director General shall evaluate all relevant factors of an objective and quantifiable nature having a bearing on the situation of that industry, in particular, the rate and amount of the increase in imports of the article concerned in absolute and relative terms, the share of the domestic market taken by increased imports, changes in the level of sales, production, productivity, capacity utilization, profits and losses, and employment.
(2) The determination referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be made unless the investigation demonstrates, on the basis of objective evidence, the existence of the causal link between increased imports of the article concerned and serious injury o
Elevate your legal practice with advanced AI-driven research and drafting solutions. Experience unmatched efficiency, precision, and security, tailored exclusively for legal professionals.
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
AI Assistant
