The Government notified that Agreement or Arrangement on Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance (CMAA) in Customs matters shall be subjected to Provisions of Reciprocal arrangement for exchange of information facilitating trade under Section 151B of the Customs Act, 1962.
The Central Government directed that provisions of section 151B shall apply to as many as 32 the agreement or arrangement entered with the contracting State specified, subject to the conditions, exceptions or qualifications specified in the said agreement or arrangement.
India has entered into CMAA with 32 States namely Arab Republic of Egypt, Australia, Democratic Socialist Republic of SriLanka, European Community, Federative Republic of Brazil, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Hong Kong, Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Malaysia, Member States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Member States of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Mongolia, Oriental Republic of Uruguay, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Argentina, Republic of Korea, Republic of Maldives, Republic of Peru, Republic of Singapore, Republic of South Africa, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Uzbekistan, Russian Federation, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, State of Israel, State of Qatar, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Mexican States, and United States of America.
Section 151B of the Customs Act, 1962 is about the reciprocal arrangement for exchange of information facilitating trade which says that the Central Government may enter into an agreement or any other arrangement with the Government of any country outside India or with such competent authorities of that country, as it deems fit, for facilitation of trade, enforcing the provisions of this Act and exchange of information for trade facilitation, effective risk analysis, verification of compliance and prevention, combating and investigation of offences under the provisions of this Act or under the corresponding laws in force in that country. The Central Government may, by notification, direct that the provisions of this section shall apply to the contracting State with which reciprocal agreement or arrangements have been made, subject to such conditions, exceptions, or qualifications as may be specified in that notification.
Further, it reads as where the Central Government has entered into a multilateral agreement for the exchange of information or documents for the purpose of verification of compliance in identified cases, the Board shall specify the procedure for such exchange, the conditions subject to which such exchange shall be made and designation of the person through whom such information shall be exchanged.
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