The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has streamlined exports through post offices as part of measures to improve the ease of doing business. The bill can now be entered electronically.
The postal authorities will set up, operate, and maintain the PBE (Postal Bill of Export) Automated System for filing electronic declarations for the export of goods via post, according to a CBIC notification. An exporter who wishes to export goods via post or through his/her authorised agent must register with the PBE Automated System. It will validate and identify the registered person, allowing him or her to file an electronic declaration and upload supporting documents. PBE III and PBR IV forms have been prescribed, the first of which can be used for e-commerce export and the second for other purposes.
Following consultation with CBIC, the postal authorities will authorise certain post offices to accept and book export goods. These post offices will be linked to others around the world. Following the filing of an electronic export declaration, the exporter must present the export goods to postal authorities at a booking post office at a foreign post office.
No one will open any package of export goods arriving in the foreign post office for customs clearance unless authorised by a proper Customs officer. In relation to the export goods, the Customs officer may request clarification of documents from the exporter or his/her authorised agent via the PBE Automated System. The goods will be cleared once the conditions are met and the duty is paid.
The exporter or his/her authorised agent will keep, for a period of five years from the date of filing an electronic declaration on the PBE Automated System.
