Customs Updates Tariff Values for Select Imports with Effect from 21 March 2026

Notification No. 28/2026-Customs (N.T.), dated 20 March 2026, issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) under Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, brings in substituted tariff value tables for specific imported goods. While the notification formally replaces TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), the underlying tariff values themselves remain unchanged for the covered commodities.

This move is essentially a procedural refresh, ensuring that the latest tariff value structure is clearly reflected in the principal notification, with continuity in the benchmark values used for assessment of customs duty on specified imports such as crude palm oil, refined palmolein, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, gold, silver and areca nuts. The revised tables are operative from 21 March 2026.

Statutory Basis under Customs Law

The CBIC has exercised its power under:

  • Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, which authorizes the Government to fix tariff values for any class of imported or export goods for the purposes of assessment.
  • The principal framework created through Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated 3 August 2001, which periodically gets updated through subsequent notifications.

By issuing Notification No. 28/2026-Customs (N.T.), the CBIC has substituted the existing tables in the principal notification with new tables that reproduce the current tariff values for the covered products, reaffirming that there is no revision in the actual value figures as compared to the immediately preceding Notification No. 27/2026-Customs (N.T.), dated 19 March 2026.

Objective of the Notification

The primary purposes of this notification are:

  1. To restate and consolidate the operative tariff values for certain sensitive commodities in a single, updated set of tables.
  2. To ensure legal clarity and continuity with respect to values used for customs assessment on:
    • Edible oils (palm oil and palmolein, crude and refined)
    • Crude soybean oil
    • Brass scrap
    • Gold and silver in various specified forms
    • Areca nuts
  3. To align the updated tables with the ongoing mechanism of periodic review of tariff values under Section 14(2) without altering the prevailing numeric values.

The notification is explicitly prospective and comes into force from 21 March 2026.

Revised Table 1 – Edible Oils and Brass Scrap (No Change in Values)

Scope of Table 1

TABLE-1 of Notification No. 28/2026-Customs (N.T.) deals with tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for specified items falling under various headings and sub-headings of the Customs Tariff, specifically:

  • Crude Palm Oil
  • RBD Palm Oil
  • Other Palm Oil
  • Crude Palmolein
  • RBD Palmolein
  • Other Palmolein
  • Crude Soya bean Oil
  • Brass Scrap (all grades)

Each description of goods is linked to a particular Chapter/heading/sub-heading/tariff item and a corresponding tariff value expressed in US $ per metric tonne.

Items and Tariff Values Under Table 1

The substituted TABLE-1 retains the same tariff values as were previously notified, with no revision in the US dollar figures. The key products and their tariff value characteristics are: