Customs Brokers Regulations | Broker Cannot Be Penalised Solely For Exporter's Misdeclaration: CESTAT Principal Bench

The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), Principal Bench, New Delhi, has set aside the revocation of a Customs Broker licence, holding that mis-declaration of goods by the exporter, by itself, does not establish violation of obligations under the Customs Broker Licensing Regulations (CBLR), 2018. A Bench comprising Justice Dilip Gupta (President) and P.V. Subba Rao (Member – Technical) allowed the appeal filed by the assesse, M/s Silver Line Global Freight Pvt. Ltd. and quashed the order of the Commissioner of Customs revoking the broker's licence, forfeiting the security deposit and imposing penalty. The case in hand arose from export consignments filed by the broker on behalf of M/s Felicity International, where Customs alleged mis-declaration of goods description and gross over-valuation. Based on this, the Department alleged violations of Regulations 10(a), 10(d), 10(e) and 10(n) of the CBLR, 2018. On Regulation 10(a), the CESTAT held that just because the authorisation was not found during investigation does not mean it never existed, particularly when the broker later produced an authorisation issued before the shipping bills were filed. On Regulation 10(d), the Tribunal stated that a Customs Broker only files documents and does not assess value or examine goods. Therefore, wrongdoing by the exporter cannot by itself show that the broker failed to advise legal compliance. The Tribunal also held that Regulation 10(e) applies only where incorrect information is imparted by the broker to the client, which was not established in the present case. With respect to Regulation 10(n), the Bench clarified that physical verification of an exporter's premises is not required. Verification through authentic government-issued documents such as Importer Exporter Code(IEC) and GST registration is sufficient compliance. In view of the above, the Bench set aside the revocation order and directed restoration of the Customs Broker licence. Case Title: M/s Silver Line Global Freight Pvt. Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs (Airport & General), New Delhi Case No.: Customs Appeal No. 51371 of 2025 Appearance for Appellant/Assessee: Shri Prashant V. Kubal Appearance for Respondent: Shri Girijesh Kumar Click Here To Read/Download Order

Customs Brokers Regulations | Broker Cannot Be Penalised Solely For Exporter's Misdeclaration: CESTAT Principal Bench

Rajnandini Dutta

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