Goods brought into India are subject to customs duty. This includes shipping containers as well. However, in the case of such containers, they are considered more as packing material rather than ‘goods’. As such, a provision has been made to allow duty-free import of containers as per Customs Notification No. 104/94-Cus dated 16.03.1994 (as amended). The said Notification envisages the conditions and procedures for duty-free import/export and movement of such containers subject to procedures on the execution of a bond. The Shipping Line is required to file this bond with the container cell, binding themselves to re-export the containers within six months of their import into India.
