Bombay High Court accepted the petition (writ petition (L) no. 2961 of 2014 and 2962 of 2014) filed by Magnum Steel and Jagannath Steel against mandatory BIS norm for import of Rebar, due to which some imported cargo from China is not being cleared by customs.
Also, Bombay High Court has made Steel Re-rollers Association of Madras and Steel Re-rollers Association of Mumbai as party in this case because any judgment will directly impact members associated to it.
On 07 Nov’14, Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) under Ministry of Finance has ordered and restricted all customs officials to check in all entry points of ports whether the imported Rebar material are in according to BIS norms or not.
On the plea of various importer in Mumbai, High Court has accepted the petition and hearing is likely to schedule soon.
Rising cheaper import of Rebar especially from China in the last six months without the BIS norms has worried steel mill owners in India. As per the Steel Ministry data, India has imported about 5,18,570 MT Bar & Rod (alloy and non-alloy) from Apr’14 to Sep’14. Many experts believe that Chinese steel manufacturers are exporting the material by taking advantage of subsidy on alloy steel (8-14%) by misdeclaration of Non-alloy steel to alloy steel.
As per sources close to the matter, about 7,000 MT of Rebar is laying at Chennai port, awaiting for custom clearance for the last 2 months. Similarly in Mumbai, about 5,000 MT material is not yet cleared since last 1-month.
Reference document attached for your perusal: Click here
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