CBIC: Revises tariff values for oils, gold and silver

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has revised tariff values for specified palm oil, soybean oil, gold and silver imports with effect from 31 October 2026. Its notification dated 30 October sets crude palm oil at USD 1,174 per metric tonne, crude soybean oil at USD 1,291 per metric tonne, gold at USD 1,295 per 10 grams and silver at USD 1,711 per kilogram for the listed categories.

Notification No. 89/2026-Customs (N.T.), published by the Ministry of Finance as S.O. 5914(E), also sets values for palmolein and brass scrap. It retains the tariff value of areca nuts at USD 10,433 per metric tonne, expressly marking that entry as unchanged.

These are customs valuation figures, not retail prices or percentages of import duty. A tariff value is a prescribed value used for customs assessment of the goods covered by the notification. The measure replaces valuation tables; it does not announce a corresponding change in shop prices for edible oils or precious metals.

CBIC issued the notification under Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, the provision it invokes to prescribe tariff values. The amendment replaces three tables in Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated 3 August 2001.

Separate values for palm oil and palmolein

CBIC’s first replacement table distinguishes crude, refined and other categories rather than assigning one value to all palm-based oils.

Alongside the crude palm oil entry, the notification sets RBD palm oil at USD 1,200 per metric tonne and other palm oil at USD 1,187 per metric tonne. RBD means refined, bleached and deodorised, describing the processing of the oil.

For palmolein, the table prescribes USD 1,204 per metric tonne for crude palmolein, USD 1,207 for RBD palmolein and USD 1,206 for other palmolein. The soybean oil entry specifically covers crude soybean oil, rather than every form of soybean oil.

Each entry in CBIC’s table pairs a description with a customs tariff classification, the code identifying the goods. Crude soybean oil appears under tariff item 1507 10 00, while RBD palmolein appears under 1511 90 20. Those descriptions and classifications define the scope of the listed values.

The same table fixes brass scrap of all grades at USD 8,242 per metric tonne under tariff item 7404 00 22. Although listed alongside the oils, it remains a separate category with its own prescribed valuation.

Gold and silver entries have specific limits

CBIC’s second table applies the gold and silver values through distinct entries whose conditions matter as much as the headline figures.

One gold entry covers gold in any form where the benefit of entry 194 of Notification No. 45/2025-Customs, dated 24 October 2025, is availed. The corresponding silver entry refers to benefit under entry 195 of that notification. Both list customs chapters 71 or 98.

The Ministry of Finance’s 2025 notification provides exemptions from specified customs duties and taxes, subject to the relevant descriptions and conditions. The new tariff-value notification refers to that framework; it does not replace those conditions with an unrestricted benefit for every gold or silver import.

A separate gold entry in the new table covers bars other than tola bars bearing the manufacturer’s or refiner’s engraved serial number and weight in metric units. It also lists gold coins with gold content of at least 99.5 per cent and gold findings, excluding imports of those coins and findings through post, courier or baggage.

Gold findings are small components used to hold jewellery, or part of it, in place. The notification’s explanation identifies items such as hooks, clasps, clamps, pins, catches and screw backs.

The separate silver entry distinguishes other forms of silver from medallions and coins with silver content of at least 99.9 per cent, and semi-manufactured silver under sub-heading 7106 92. For the latter group, it excludes imports through post, courier or baggage.

CBIC also expressly excludes foreign currency coins, silver jewellery and articles made of silver from the meaning of silver in any form for that entry. The notified silver value therefore cannot be read as a blanket valuation for every silver product.

Comparison with the start of October

CBIC’s Notification No. 80/2026-Customs (N.T.), dated 30 September and effective from 1 October 2026, provides an earlier comparison point. It had prescribed crude palm oil at USD 1,229 per metric tonne and crude soybean oil at USD 1,280 per metric tonne.

Against that schedule, the newly notified crude palm oil value is lower and the crude soybean oil value is higher. The September notification also listed gold at USD 1,339 per 10 grams and silver at USD 1,965 per kilogram for the corresponding categories, both above the latest figures.

These are comparisons with the start-of-October schedule, not measurements of the change made solely by the latest notification. CBIC’s 30 October Gazette notification records an intervening amendment: Notification No. 86/2026-Customs (N.T.), dated 15 October 2026. It does not reproduce that amendment’s values, so the earlier September schedule cannot establish the size or direction of the immediately preceding revision.