:: Role & Functions of Directorate General of Safeguards ::

Section 8B of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 empowers the Central Government to impose Safeguard Duly on goods which enter in increased quantities and cause or threaten to cause serious injury to domestic industry producing like or directly competitive goods.

If the Central Government, after conducting such enquiry as it deems fit, is satisfied that any article is imported into India in such increased quantities and under such conditions so as to cause or threatening to cause serious injury to domestic industry, then, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, impose a safeguard duty on that article:

Provided that no such duty shall be imposed on article originating from a developing country so long as the share of imports of that article from that country does not exceed three percent or where the article is originating from more than one developing countries, then, so long as the aggregate of the imports from all such countries taken together does not exceed nine percent of the total imports of that article into India.

Provided further that the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt such quantity of any article as it may specify in the notification, when imported from any country or territory into India , from payment of the whole or part of the safeguard duty leviable thereon.
The Central Government may, pending the determination under sub-section (1), impose a provisional safeguard duty under this sub-section on the basis of a preliminary determination that increased imports have caused or threatened to cause serious injury to a domestic industry:

Provided that where, on final determination, the Central Government is of the opinion that increased imports have not caused or threatened to cause serious injury to a domestic industry, it shall refund the duty so collected:

Provided further that the provisional safeguard duty shall not remain in force for more than two hundred days from the date on which it was imposed.

(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) and sub-section (2), a notification issued under sub-section (1) or any safeguard duty imposed under sub-section (2), unless specifically made applicable in such notification or such imposition, as the case may be, shall not apply to articles imported by a hundred percent export oriented undertaking or a unit in a free trade zone or in a special economic zone.

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, the expressions “hundred per cent export oriented undertaking”, “free trade zone” and “special economic zone” shall have the meanings assigned to them in Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 3 of Central Excise Act, 1944.
The duty chargeable under this section shall be in addition to any other duty imposed under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force.
The duty imposed under this section shall, unless revoked earlier, cease to have effect on the expiry of four years from the date of such imposition:

Provided that if the Central Government is of the opinion that the domestic industry has taken measures to adjust to such injury or threat thereof and it is necessary that the safeguard duty should continue to be imposed, it may extend the period of such imposition:

Provided further that in no case the safeguard duty shall continue to be imposed beyond a period of ten years from the date on which such duty was first imposed.

4A. The provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and the rules and regulations made thereunder, including those relating to the date for determination of rate of duty, assessment, non-levy, short levy, refunds, interest, appeals, offences and penalties shall, as far as may be, apply to the duty chargeable under this section as they apply in relation to duties leviable under that Act.
The Central Government may, by notification in the 0fficial Gazette, make rules for the purposes of this section, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such rules may provide for the manner in which articles liable for safeguard duty may be identified and for the manner in which the causes of serious injury or causes of threat of serious injury in relation to such articles may be determined and for the assessment and collection of such safeguard duty.
For the purposes of this section,
1. “developing country” means a country notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette for the purposes of this section;
2. “domestic industry” means the producers
  1. as a whole of the like article or a directly competitive article in India ; or
  2. whose collective output of the like article or a directly competitive article in India constitutes a major share of the total production of the said article in India ;
3. “serious injury” means an injury causing significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry;
4. “threat of serious injury” means a clear and imminent danger of serious injury.
Every notification issued under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament.