Ahead of Diwali warning issued on illegal import of firecrackers

Subject :Economy

Section: National Income

Key Points:

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) has warned against the import of foreign-made fireworks illegally using false declarations.
Fireworks have been declared as a restricted item under Indian Trade Classification (Harmonised System) — ITC (HS) with respect to imports.
To date, no licence for the import of fireworks has been granted for possession and/or sale under the Explosives Rules, 2008, by PESO.
Possession and sale of fireworks of foreign origin in India is illegal and punishable under law.

Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO)

Earlier known as Department of Explosives, has been serving the nation as a nodal agency for regulating safety of hazardous substances such as explosives, compressed gases and petroleum.
PESO works under the Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to administer Explosives Act 1884, Explosive Substance Act, Petroleum (Production) Act 1934, Inflammable substance Act 1952 and Environment Protection Act 1986.
Further it is responsible towards control of import, export, transport, storage and usage of explosive materials, flammable materials, pressure vessels, cryogenic vessels etc.

Indian Trade Classification (Harmonised System) — ITC (HS)

HS codes come from the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN), which is a globally agreed system for categorising and coding product types.
HS codes show the type of product and what it’s made from – which can be used by governments around the world to levy the correct import taxes.
In India, ITC-HS codes are used. ITC stands for Indian Trade Classification. While many countries use a 6 digit HS code, the ITC-HS codes contain the 6 digit HS code, plus 2 additional digits. This results in an 8 digit code which gives more detailed information about the product.
Any changes or formulation or addition of new codes in ITC-HS Codes are carried out by DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade). Commodity description, weeding out of defunct codes, addition of new codes, change of product description etc., are taken up periodically as a part of the ongoing process towards perfection.

Harmonized System (HS)

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, also known as the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products.
It came into effect in 1988 and has since been developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO) (formerly the Customs Co-operation Council), an independent intergovernmental organization based in Brussels, Belgium, with over 200 member countries.