Assistance to Exporters - Services to Exporters of Tobacco & Tobacco Products 

Registration-cum-Membership-Certificate (RCMC)

The Tobacco Board, apart from issue of annual registration to the exporters of tobacco and tobacco products under the Act, also grants Registration-cum-Membership Certificates as outlined, in Chapter 2 of the Foreign Trade Policy and Hand Book of Procedures.

The applicants who wish to apply for RCMC should be registered with Tobacco Board as Exporters under the relevant category.

All the exporters applying for issue of Fresh RCMC or renewal/amendment of their existing RCMC are advised to use the e-RCMC platform of DGFT as RCMC issuance would be done only through the e-RCMC platform of DGFT w.e.f. 01.03.2022. The exporters need to make their application for issue of RCMC at the e-RCMC Platform of DGFT at https://www.dgft.gov.in/CP/. The detailed registration process and application process is provided at the e-RCMC platform of DGFT.

The exporters should select the Tobacco Board as the issuing agency/authority while submitting t.he application on the portal. 

The following documents are required for filing the application:

  • Self-certified copies of evidence indicating that you are a manufacturer exporter in case you wish to apply as “Manufacturer Exporter”.
  • Self-certified RCMC certificate issued earlier (in case of Renewal/Amendment).

Registration is granted as Merchant Exporter or Manufacturer Exporter. In case the exporter desires to get registration as Manufacturer Exporter, he shall furnish evidence of manufacturing activity owned by their firm. (for example License issued by Industries Department/IDR Act, 1951 or UDYAM registration, as the case may be)  along with application.

Registration is granted for a period of 5 years, which is valid from 1st April of the licensing year in which license was issued.

In case of change in ownership, constitution, name or address of an exporter, it shall be obligatory on the part of RCMC holder to intimate such change to the Registering Authority within a period of one month from the date of such change.

Tobacco Board issues an RCMC in about five working days from the day of application, if the application received is in order in all respects. 

Certificate of Origin (CoO) 

GSP (Generalized System of Preferences) Certification: 

Tobacco Board is the authorized agency to issue GSP certificate (Certificate of Origin in Form-A) for eligible tariff lines under Chapter-24 exported to the GSP donor countries.

Countries that extend Preferential tariff treatment under GSP include Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Canada, the European union, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

The European Union (EU) has introduced a self-certification scheme [Registered Exporter System (REX)] for certifying the rules of origin under GSP from 1.1.2017 onwards. Under the Registered Exporter System (REX), exporters with a REX number will be able to self-certify the Statement on Origin of their goods being exported to EU under the GSP Scheme.  With the implementation of the REX system, the system of issuance of Certificates of Origin (Form-A) by the Competent Authorities listed in Appendix-2C of FTP to European Union has been phased out. The details on the REX system are provided in the following sections.

For other GSP donor countries, the exporters exporting the eligible products for availing preferential tariffs under GSP scheme of the respective donor country need to make their application for issue of GSP certificate at the Common Digital Platform of DGFT at https://coo.dgft.gov.in/. The detailed registration process and application process is provided at the common digital platform.

After registering on the https://coo.dgft.gov.in/, the exporters may select Tobacco Board as the issuing agency for obtaining Certificate of Origin in Form-‘A’ Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) while exporting the eligible products under Chapter – 24 for each respective GSP donor country.

The following scanned and certified documents are to be submitted along with the online application for scrutiny and online issue of GSP certificates.  

  • Invoice
  • Shipping Instructions
  • Bill of Lading (duly authenticated) in case of post shipment certification
  • Customs certified invoice in case of post shipment certification
  • Online payment of Rs.736/- towards CoO certification  fee and CoO printing fee(Including GST)

On receipt of the completely filled-in application together with Certificate and copies of the documents, CoO in Form-A under GSP will be issued immediately, if the application is in order.

EU-REX system:

All the exporters who are exporting or intend to export to EU under GSP scheme would need to register on the Registered Exporter (REX) System of the European Commission.  The details on the REX system are available at:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/calculation-customs-duties/rules-origin/general-aspects-preferential-origin/arrangements-list/generalised-system-preferences/the_register_exporter_system_en

The exporter would need to fill in the pre application form which is available at

https://customs.ec.europa.eu/rex-pa-ui/

One of the cells in this application relates to the TIN number. For India, this would be in the format of 12 digits namely “IN followed by the 10 digit IEC number”. A printout of this form (format as given in Annexure 2) would then need to be taken and the exporter would need to get this signed by his authorised signatory. If the details filled in by the exporter are different from that in the IEC, necessary documentary proof may be produced by the exporter to the local user for registration for justifying this departure from the IEC details.

A REX number would be allotted to the exporters once the registration is completed. For India, the format of the 20 digit REX number would be as under:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

I

N

R

E

X

IEC number

Alphabets assigned to local Admn

Number of the local user

IN denotes India

Denotes

REX number

10 digit IEC (Importer Exporter Code) number of exporter

For ex: EC for EIC; DG for DGFT

Ranges from 001 to 999

After receiving the REX number, the exporter would be in a position to issue the “Statement on Origin” on his own. He does not have to subsequently go to any of the agencies for issuance of a certificate of origin (Form A). However, he can avail of the services of the local administrators and local users in cases where he has specific queries. Moreover, after registration, the exporter has to export under the EU GSP by only using the “Statement on Origin” (and not Form A).

Under the EU GSP self-certification, the exporter can issue a “Statement on Origin” which would be printed on a commercial document such as the Invoice. The format of the statement on origin is as under:

The exporter “REX Number of exporter” of the products covered by this document declares that, except where otherwise clearly indicated, these products are of Indian preferential origin according to rules of origin of the Generalised System of Preferences of the European Union and that the origin criterion met is:

  • P (if wholly obtained)
  • W “4 digit HS code of export product” if sufficiently worked or processed
  • EU/ Norway/ Switzerland/ Turkey cumulation
  • Regional cumulation (in case of SAARC cumulation)

The exporters have the responsibility to ensure that the “Statement on Origin” complies with the requisite rules of origin i.e. WO, PSR, cumulation etc.  In case of any doubt, the exporters can avail of the services of the local administrators and users who may levy a fee commensurate with the cost of services rendered.  A copy of the statement on origin has to be sent to the Local User for Registration (REG) and the exporter would need to maintain the requisite records of these statements of origin and supporting documents for a period of 3 years from the date of export.

In the eventuality of any request for verification from the EU, the Department of Commerce would decide on the Local Administrator/ Local User for Registration (REG) which would conduct this verification. The agencies may charge a fee for this verification which is reasonable and commensurate with the cost of services rendered.

Tobacco Board is designated as Local Administrator for Registration (REG) as well as Local User for Registration (REG) and may be contacted at [email protected]

The office of the DGFT has issued a Public Notice No 51 dated 30.12.2016 which provides the legal framework for the implementation of the EU GSP self-certification in India. One of the key responsibilities of the exporter is to provide the details of the “Statement on Origin” to the local administrator as under:

         i. HS Code

         ii. Description

        iii. Document No/ date on which “Statement on Origin” is made out,

        iv. FOB value of exports (in US $),

        v. Destination port,

        vi. Destination of export

        vii.Origin Criteria i.e. “P” or “W with 4 digit HS Code

Certificate of Authenticity

Tobacco Board also issues Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) covering exports of select tariff lines of unmanufactured tobacco (FCV tobacco, Air Cured Burley tobacco and Dark Fire Cured tobacco).  The Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) is issued to European Union countries as per the EEC Regulation 4128/87. Blank Certificate of Authenticity forms are available on payment of Rs.30/- per set by Cash/DD.

The following documents are to be submitted for issue of Certificate of Authenticity:

  • Invoice (2 copies)
  • Shipping Instructions
  • Bill of Lading in case of post-shipment certification
  • Customs certified invoice in case of post shipment certification
  • Duly filled in Certificate of Authenticity forms set
  • D.D. for Rs.708/- per set drawn in favour of “Tobacco Board, Guntur” towards certification fee