Key Highlights of Mid Term Review of Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20

Export incentives under Merchandise Exports from India (MEIS) have been increased by 2% across the board for labour intensive MSME sectors leading to additional annual incentive of Rs 4,567 cr. This is in addition to already announced increasein MEIS incentives from 2% to 4% for Ready-made Garments and Made Ups in the labour intensive Textiles Sector with an additional annual incentive of Rs 2,743 cr. Further, incentives under Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) have also been increases by 2% leading to additional annual incentive of Rs 1,140 cr .

 

Further, the validity period of Duty Credit Scrips has been increased from 18 to 24 months and GST rates on transfer/sale of scrips has been reduced to zero. Issue of Gold availability for exporters has been resolved by allowing Specified Nominated Agencies to import Gold without payment of IGST. Support to Export Credit Guarantee Corporation is also being enhanced to increase insurance cover to exporters particularly MSME’s exploring new or difficult markets.

 

A new scheme of Self-Assessment based duty free procurement of inputs required for exports has been introduced. There will be no need of Standard Input Output Norms in such cases and will eliminate delays. It is based on trust. Exporters will self-certify the requirement of duty free raw materials/ inputs. The scheme would initially be available to the Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs) and will get expanded as more exporters join the AEO program. The scheme will improve ease of doing business.  

 

A State-of-the-Art Trade Analytics division has been set up in DGFT for data based policy actions. The initiative envisages processing trade information from DGCIS and other national and international databases related to India’s key export markets and identify specific policy interventions. A new Logistics Division has been created in the Department of Commerce to develop and coordinate integrated development of the logistics sector, by way of policy changes, improvement in existing procedures, identification of bottlenecks and gaps, and introduction of technology based interventions in this sector. These steps would improve India’s ranking in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and promote exports and enhanced growth. Focus will be given to Ease of Trading across borders. A professional team to handhold, assist and support exporters in their export related problems, accessing export markets, meeting regulatory requirements. To read full information’s, dowload the PDF below…