The goods are directly shipped from the country in which they were produced and each bar has a weight of 5Kg, or above. The goods are imported in accordance with the packing list issued by the mining company/Licensed Exporter by whom they were produced.
The importer produces before the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, an assay certificate issued by the mining company/Licensed Exporter or the laboratory attached to it, giving detailed precious metal content in the Dore Gold Bar.
The Dore Gold Bars are imported by the actual use for the purpose of refining and manufacture of standard gold bars of purity 99.5% and above.
SIMPLIFYING DORE GOLD IMPORT CONDITIONS:
To enable sourcing from artisans & small-scale mining companies, OECD guidelines for responsible gold, including guidelines sourcing gold from licensed aggregators / Gold Exporters in the country of origin and the audit procedure contained therein, should be followed. The fortnightly tariff value notified by Department of Revenue must apply uniformly to Gold and Gold content in Dore Bars. Department of Revenue issues tariff value to Gold (bullion/articles thereof) every fortnight, which includes Dore Gold Bars. BCD (Customs Duty) is applied on Gold and on Dore Gold, @10% for Gold and @9.35% on Dore Gold (Duty 8.75% & levy 0.6%).
Dore Gold Bars imports should be exempt from 3% IGST the same way banks / nominated agencies are exempt from 3% IGST at the time of gold import. Small-scale refineries are allowed to exercise an option to endorse their import license in favor of a state-owned nominated agency, thereby enabling clubbing of quantity and assuring financial credibility in dealing with mines / Gold exporters. This may improve the ability to enter into long term contracts with the mining companies / Gold exporters for small-scale refineries.
PROBLEM AREAS IN DORE GOLD IMPORTS:
Sampling and purity verification of gold content; There is no referral lab specified by the regulatory authorities. The 10 labs of the gold refineries approved by the Government of India shall be notified for the purpose. The importer and the exporter shall agree in advance, before the shipment, samples shall be sent to any 2 of the above labs to determine its precious metal content.
The Importing refinery is paying 9.35% BCD for the declared gold content based on the Exporters Assay Certificate. The final payment with the Exporter is based on the verified Gold content subsequently. There is no mechanism for adjusting the import duty paid on the Gold content, in case the assay is found to be lower, which the Exporter must be aware of.
Customs sampling for purity determination is not to be used as final payable Gold content to the Exporter, as the customs sampling is random and not after smelting. The final payable Gold Content shall be based on the sampling and assay done at a mutually agreed lab. Hand carriage of Dore Gold Bars is not allowed. Hence, smaller trial shipments for verification purpose is not possible.
All remittances are to be done through banking channels, however, advance payment for Dore Gold Bars is not permitted, which often create sourcing problems.
LIST OF BIS RECOGNIZED GOLD REFINERIES IN INDIA:
| Sl. No. | Name of the Refinery | Location | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | GGC Gujarat Gold Center Pvt. Ltd. | Ahmadabad | Western |
| 2. | India Government Mint | Mumbai | Western |
| 3. | Shirpur Gold Refinery Ltd. | Mumbai | Western |
| 4. | Edelweiss Metals Ltd. | Ahmadabad | Western |
| 5. | MMTC PAMP India Pvt. Ltd. | New Delhi | Central |
| 6. | Jalan and Company | New Delhi | Central |
| 7. | Kundan Care Products Ltd. | Hardwar | Northern |
| 8. | Chemmanur Gold Refinery Pvt. Ltd. | Cochin | Southern |
| 9. | CGR Metalloys Pvt. Ltd. | Cochin | Southern |
| 10. | Bangalore Refinery Pvt. Ltd. | Bangalore | Southern |