E-commerce Exports

Logistics aggregator Shiprocket and air cargo handling company Cargo Service Centre (CSC) have been selected by the government on a pilot basis to set up e-commerce export hubs in the country, a senior official said on Thursday. The e-commerce export hubs (EECH) will come in and around Delhi airport and begin operations in February next year, Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi told reporters here. While Shiprocket is headquartered in Gurugram, the CSC is Mumbai-based. "We have approved two agencies to set up pilot e-commerce export hubs in Delhi," he said. The hub will have facilities for expedited customs and security clearance in-house. Provision for quality and certifying agencies will also happen within the hub. It will also have an easy re-import policy, he added. This policy will enable the return of e-commerce consignments and rejects without payment of import duty. He added that based on the feedback received from these firms on the running of these .

India is not in favour of further continuation of moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce trade at the WTO's meeting in Abu Dhabi later this month as it is impacting the developing countries, an official said on Tuesday. The official said that there is a work programme on e-commerce trade and the members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) should continue to discuss the issue under that. "We are not in favour of extension. We are in favour of continuation of the work programme. There is a need to look at the subject from a development dimension and not from the eyes of big tech companies," the official said. There is a need to discuss the scope of moratorium as there are revenue implications because of it. As per estimates, the potential tariff revenue losses to the developing countries are about USD 10 billion every year. For India, it could be over USD 500 million every year. "There is a need for a clear definition of e-commerce trade. We need policy space for the sector,"

The Director General also mentioned that the DGFT, along with other regulatory agencies, has undertaken numerous steps and initiatives to facilitate e-commerce exports

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Friday that the BJP's manifesto for the upcoming state Assembly polls has no substance and the public has been greatly disappointed by it. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda released his party's "Sankalp Patra" for the November 25 polls here on Thursday with promises, such as LPG cylinders for Rs 450 each to the Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries, 2.5 lakh government jobs in five years and increasing the financial assistance to farmers under the PM-Kisan scheme, among others. Asked about the saffron party's manifesto, Gehlot told reporters at the airport here, "There is nothing new. According to me, they did not even do homework." He said the plans that the Congress government has already implemented or the guarantees that have been promised by the ruling party in the desert state have been written in a twisted manner in the BJP's manifesto. "The public has been very disappointed and there is no substance in the manifesto. That

In that meeting, a broad level of consensus emerged among the concerned stakeholders on the proposed policy

The commerce ministry on Friday said it has decided to organise monthly workshops to raise awareness about ways to promote exports through e-commerce mediums. The Foreign Trade Policy 2023 has mandated to handhold and conduct outreach programmes to promote e-commerce exports. In addition to increasing awareness about e-commerce-related rules and processes, actions for capacity building and skill development for the promotion of exports through online medium is also mandated. "In this regard, monthly workshops on e-commerce exports are proposed by this directorate," according to a trade notice of DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade). The workshops will cover aspects related to cross-border logistics, postal and customs compliances and cross-border payment mechanisms. "The proposed workshops shall be held during the 1st week of each month through Video Conference. In-person workshops shall also be organised where feasible," it said. The DGFT has also invited experienced ...

Regulator's move comes as Alibaba's Tmall marketplace has in recent weeks been accused by number of competitors and merchants of adopting such practice, which is also known as choosing one from two

The customs department is planning simplified procedures for exports by India Post, including permitting e-commerce shipments through all foreign post offices, the finance ministry said today. Since 2016, e-commerce exports had been allowed through Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) under MEIS (Merchandise Export from India Scheme) incentives from the post offices at Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi. "Now, customs may be leading the reform race by permitting e-commerce exports through all FPOs, though without MEIS benefits for now," an official statement said. With imports and exports by Post being the sixth highest cited citizen grievances under CPGRAMs, the customs department and Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have been working together for last one year to liberalise, reform and align laws relating to imports by it. "In order to cater to the SMEs and what may come as a major boost to the Make in India programme, customs are proposing new simplified procedures for exports through ..