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However the elimination is not automatic. The importers
will have to first pay all the applicable duties and
then claim a refund. All documents will have to be submitted
proving the total duties and VAT have been duly paid
on the consignment.
DelWine has learnt from reliable sources that India
informed the US about this notification literally three
minutes before the conclusion of the two- day panel
meeting on September 17 in Geneva. The panel meeting
went on the expected lines with India stressing that
the purpose of these duties was to offset internal taxes
whereas the domestic producers are not subjected to
this treatment and the US not being convinced.
EU and USA had filed the case against India with WTO
for the unfair additional duties and the proceedings
are going on.. The dutybound 150% should be the only
figure that India should be talking about, stresses
the US. EU had withdrawn the case after the ACD was
eliminated. But Maharashtra imposed an additional excise
duty of 150% on all imported alcoholic beverages, ostensibly
to protect the domestic industry. A state of impasse
continues there, with importers not paying the duty
and not supplying any wine at the newly adopted draconian
measures. DelWine understands the government finally
seems to have seen the reason and is reviewing the situation
and considering rolling back the excise duty to Rs.200
per liter or perhaps increase it marginally to Rs.300
per bottle. This will remove a major hurdle in the misgiving
WTO members like US, Chile and Australia have.
India would, naturally, not like to lose the case.
Barring Maharashtra all other states have stuck to their
pre-July 3 excise regulations.
The Notification No. 102 may have partially pacified
the US, but the importers are not too pleased. ‘With
the way the government machinery moves, it will be practically
impossible to get the refund,’ says a leading
importer on conditions of anonymity. ‘Why could
they not simply eliminate it,’ he fumed. The government
departments are notorious for making slow refunds and
creating innumerable hurdles before such claims are
validated. However, the government may have found leakage
in the VAT @20% in most states (except Chandigarh and
Karnataka) and thus tried to plug the loophole.
Notification : Click
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