India’s Customs administration is set to extend the Faceless Assessment system to export consignments, marking another major step towards digitisation, transparency, and uniformity in customs clearance. Senior officials have indicated that the system will become operational in the near future, with National Assessment Centers (NACs) designated chapter-wise under the Customs Tariff.

As part of the preparatory framework, Zonal Chief Commissioners of Customs have been nominated as Conveners of the respective NACs. While the detailed modules, workflows, and operational modalities are expected to be notified shortly, the broad jurisdictional structure has already been finalised.

NAC-Wise Allocation of Export Goods

Under the proposed structure, export goods will be assessed by specialised NACs based on the tariff chapters and nature of products, rather than the physical location of export. The allocation is as follows:

• NAC-1 (Chapters 1–26) – Primary Products, convened by the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Kolkata Zone.
• NAC-2 (Chapter 27) – Mineral Products, under the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Bengaluru Zone.
• NAC-3 (Chapters 28–49) – Chemicals, convened by the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai-II Zone.
• NAC-4 (Chapters 50–71) – Textiles, under the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Delhi Zone.
• NAC-5 (Chapters 72–83) – Metals, convened by the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad Zone.
• NAC-6 (Chapter 84) – Mechanical Machinery, under the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai-III Zone.
• NAC-7 (Chapter 85) – Electrical Machinery, convened by the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Chennai Zone.
• NAC-8 (Chapters 86–89) – Automobiles and Machinery, under the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai-I Zone.

What Faceless Assessment Means for Exporters

The faceless system eliminates physical interface between exporters and assessing officers, enabling pan-India, risk-based, and uniform assessments through automated allocation. This is expected to:

• Reduce transaction costs and delays,
• Minimise discretion and subjectivity, and
• Improve ease of doing business for exporters.

The faceless assessment mechanism has already been implemented for imports and has seen gradual stabilisation. Extending it to exports is seen as a logical next step, particularly for classification, valuation, and compliance consistency.

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