 bill no 102 of 2005 the cess laws (repealing and amending) bill, 2005 a billto repeal certain enactments and to amend certain other enactments relating to levy of cess on certain itemsbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 this act may be called the cess laws (repealing and amending) act, 2005short title2  the enactments specified in the first schedule are hereby repealed to the extentmentioned in the fourth column thereofrepeal of certain enactments53  the enactment specified in the second schedule is hereby amended to the extentand in the manner mentioned in the fourth column thereofamendment of act 26 of 1975savings4  (1) the repeal or amendment by this act of any enactment shall not—(a) affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has beenapplied, incorporated or referred to;10(b) affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything alreadydone or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing;(c) affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed;5(d) revive or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force10 of 189710(2) the mention of particular matters in sub-section (1) shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section 6 of the general clauses act, 1897, with regard to the effect of repealscollection and payment of arrears of duties5  notwithstanding the repeal of the enactments specified in the first schedule or the amendments in the enactment as specified in the second schedule, the proceeds of duties levied under the said enactments immediately preceding date on which the cess laws (repealing and amending) bill, 2005 receives the assent of the president,—15(i) if collected by the collecting agencies but not paid into the reserve bank of india; and(ii) if not collected by the collecting agencies, shall be paid or as the case may be, collected and paid into the reserve bank of india for being credited to the consolidated fund of india20 the first schedule (see section 2) repeals|  year          | no     | short title                                         | extent of repeal   ||----------------|---------|-----------------------------------------------------|--------------------|| 1              | 2       | 3                                                   | 4                  || 5              |         |                                                     |                    || 1942           | 7       | the coffee act, 1942                                | sections 11        || and  13       |         |                                                     |                    || 1972           | 13      | the marine products export development authority    | sections 14        || act, 1972      | and 15 |                                                     |                    || 10             |         |                                                     |                    || 1986           | 3       | the agricultural and processed food products export |                    || the whole     |         |                                                     |                    || cess act, 1985 |         |                                                     |                    || 1986           | 11      | the spices cess act, 1986                           | the whole         | the second schedule (see section 3) amendments|  year                           |   no | short title                | amendments   ||---------------------------------|-------|----------------------------|--------------|| 1                               |     2 | 3                          | 4            || 5                               |       |                            |              || 1975                            |    26 | the tobacco cess act, 1975 | (            || i                               |       |                            |              || ) section 4 shall be omitted   |       |                            |              || 10                              |       |                            |              || (                               |       |                            |              || ii                              |       |                            |              || ) in section 5, for the words   |       |                            |              || and figures "duties of excise   |       |                            |              || and customs levied under        |       |                            |              || sections 3 and 4 respectively", |       |                            |              || the words and figure "duty of   |       |                            |              || excise levied under section 3"  |       |                            |              || shall be substituted           |       |                            |              | statement of objects and reasonsat present the export of several agricultural products are subject to levy of cess under different enactments such as,  the agricultural and processed food products export cess act, 1985, the tobacco cess act, 1975, the spices cess act, 1986, the marine products export development authority act, 1975, and the coffee act, 19422  in recent years, international trade in agricultural products  has become extremely challenging for india with the emergence of new competitors some of these competitors have a negligible domestic demand and can export almost their entire produce at very cheap rates, thus, displacing the conventional demand for indian products in the international market  further, many developed countries provide huge subsidies to support their domestic agriculture  these subsidies enable these developed countries to establish and corner large shares in global markets  a cess on indian exports is a handicap to our exporters and provide other countries exporters with a competitive edge3  from a policy perspective, the central government has taken the consistent view that taxes and duties ought not to be exported the cess levied under all  acts referred to above is unambiguously an export tax  imposition of such an export duty tax is clearly anomalous and runs counter to policy  it reduces competitiveness of agricultural exports and is plainly unjustifiable  the only action consistent with government's avowed policy is to do away with the cess collected under abovesaid statutes4  since the cess is levied as a duty of customs, the exporter is required to go through the rigours of all customs procedures before the commodity can be physically shipped out of the country  this entails transaction costs, delays, and compliance with procedural formalities  most exporters have complained bitterly about these transaction costs and have strongly pleaded for altogether removing all such cess levies5  the enactments levying the cess do not contain any provision for grant of exemption   it is, therefore, proposed to repeal the agricultural and processed food products export cess act, 1985, the spices cess act, 1986, sections 14 and 15 of the marine products export development authority  act, 1972, sections 11 and 13 of the coffee act, 1942; and to amend the tobacco cess act, 1975,  to abolish cess on the export of agricultural products levied under the respective acts6  this bill seeks to achieve the above objectsnew delhi;the 21st july, 2005kamal nath financial memorandumthe proposed bill provides repealing of the agricultural and processed food products export cess act, 1985, the spices cess act, 1986, sections 14 and 15 of the marine products export development authority act, 1972, sections 11 and 13 of the coffee act, 1942; and to amend the tobacco cess act, 1975, to abolish cess on the export of agricultural produces levied under the respective actsno recurring or non-recurring expenditure is involved in the administration of the proposed legislation annexure extracts from the coffee act, 1942 (7 of 1942)     duties of customs and of exciseduty of customs11  a duty of customs shall be levied on all coffee produced in india and exported from india at such rate not exceeding fifty rupees per quintal as may be fixed by the central government by notification in the official gazette    payment of proceeds of duty to the board13 (1) the proceeds of the duty of customs levied under this act (all of which shall form part of the consolidated fund of india), reduced by the cost  of collection as determined by the central government, shall, if parliament by appropriation made by law in this behalf so provides, be paid to the board for being utilised for the purposes of this act52 of 1962(2) the provisions of the customs act, 1962, and the rules and regulations madethereunder, shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to—(a) the refund of the duty of customs where coffee is exported and subsequently imported into india; and(b) the export, without payment of the duty of customs, of coffee which is subsequently to be imported into india ————— extracts from the marine products export development authority act, 1972 (13 of 1972)     chapter iv finance, accounts and audit14 (1) there shall be levied on all marine products which are exported, a cess for the purposes of this act at such rate not exceeding three per cent ad valorem as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, fiximposition of a cess on marine products exported(2) the cess levied under sub-section (1) shall be in addition to any cess or duty leviable on marine products under any other law for the time being in force52 of 1962(3) the provisions of the customs act, 1962, and the rules and regulations madethereunder, including those relating to refunds and exemptions from duty, shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to the levy and collection of the cess leviable under sub-section (1) as they apply in relation to the levy and collection of a duty of customs under that act or those rules and regulationspayment of proceeds of cess to the authority15 the proceeds of the cess levied under section 14 shall first be credited to the consolidated fund of india and the central government may, if parliament by appropriation made by law in this behalf so provides, pay to the authority, from time to time, from out of such proceeds, after deducting the expenses of collection, such sums of money as it may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act     extracts from the tobacco cess act, 1975 (26 of 1975)    4 of 1975duties of customs on tobacco4 (1) there shall be levied and collected, by way of a cess for the purposes of the tobacco board act, 1975, a duty of customs at such rate not exceeding one per cent ad valorem  as the central government may specify, by notification in the official gazette, on all tobacco, which is exportedexplanation—"exported" means taken out of india by land, sea or air (2) the duties of customs levied under sub-section (1) shall be in addition to any cess or duty leviable on tobacco under any other law for the time being in force52 of 1962(3) the provisions of the customs act, 1962 and the rules and regulations made thereunder, including those relating to refunds and exemptions from duty, shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to the levy and collection of the duty of customs leviable under sub-section (1) as they apply in relation to the levy and collection of duties of customs under that act or those rules and regulationscrediting proceeds of duties to consolidated fund of india4 of 19755  the proceeds of the duties of  excise and customs levied under sections 3 and4 respectively shall first be credited to the consolidated fund of india and the central government may, if parliament, by appropriation made by law in this behalf, so provides, pay to the board, from time to time, from out of such proceeds, after deducting the expenses on collection, such sums of money as it may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of the tobacco board act, 1975     lok  sabha————— a billto repeal certain enactments and to amend certain other enactments relating to levy of cess on certain items—————mgipmrnd—2170ls(s3)—05-08-2005