New foreign trade policy will come when time is right: DGFT

Says new policy will focus on ease of doing business, simplification of procedures and reduction of paperwork

The government will unveil a new foreign trade policy only when the time is right, Director General of Foreign Trade Pravir Kumar has said. He added it was unlikely the government would release it in the winter session of Parliament.

“The draft (foreign trade) policy is still under consideration. The government will announce it only when the time is right. It cannot be announced when Parliament is in session. No policy can be announced outside Parliament,” Kumar said at a conference on foreign trade policy, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and CUTS International on Saturday.

He added until the new policy came into effect, the current policy, announced in August 2009, would be adhered to. The current policy was to expire in August this year.

“For preparing the new policy, we have had very extensive consultations…We are pondering on issues that are making it difficult for exporters to export to other countries. Therefore, the focus will be on ease of doing business. We will be looking at simplification of procedures and rationalisation of paperwork and bring in reforms,” he said.

Kumar added one of the thrust areas of the new foreign trade policy would be ensuring taxes weren’t exported and infrastructural deficiencies were addressed. Incentives would be provided for exporting to difficult areas, especially landlocked countries, with optimal usage of natural resources, he said.

This is after many years that the government has delayed rolling out a new foreign trade policy. Typically announced after the presentation of the annual Budget, it is for a period of five years, after which supplements to the policy are released.

“The details of the new foreign trade policy are under consultation and finalisation,” commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told the Lok Sabha Friday.

In October, India’s merchandise exports fell 5.04 per cent to $26.09 billion from $27.48 billion in the corresponding period last year. This was the first fall in exports this financial year.

For the April-October period, exports increased 4.72 per cent $189.79 billion from $181.23 billion in the year-ago period.

Industry believes the government should roll out the new foreign trade policy soon to help grab opportunities in international markets.