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| Maran also announced a series of procedural simplifications relating to the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), customs and banks. These include the adoption of a new 8-digit commodity classification for imports.
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| The classification shall be adopted by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S).
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| To eliminate classification disputes and reduce transaction costs and time, the common classification is to be used by both the DGFT and the customs department.
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| Maran said the new policy contained initiatives to immunise the export sector from inherent problems that plagued the Indian industry in the areas of infrastructure, power tariffs, interest rates, industrial relations and taxation structure among other.
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| He said the policy would assist the states in terms of taking care of their complementary infrastructure.
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| It was announced that the export industry could go for captive power generation. In accordance with the scheme announced today in this regard duty free fuel would be provided for such power ranging from 3 to 7 per cent of the fob value of exports. The packing credit has already been linked to PLR so that the benefits of any further softening of interest rates shall pass on automatically to the exporters.
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| Maran announced that the simplification of the Exim policy schemes announced today will more effectively rebate all indirect taxes on imports thus substantially immunising the export sector from the problems affecting domestic economy. The minister also said that the Reserve Bank of India is examining the question of requesting banks to treat at least the status holders as prime borrowers even for term loans.
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| The policy has allowed 100 per cent retention in the export earners' foreign currency (EEFC) accounts and extension of repatriation period for realisation of export proceeds from 180 days to 360 days.
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| The facility is already available to units in SEZ and exporters exporting to Latin American countries. These facilities are also being made available to the status holders.
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| Maran also announced a reduction in the percentage of physical examination of export cargo to less than 10 per cent, except in the case of a few sensitive destinations.
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| He added that the application for fixation of brand rate of drawback would be finalised within 15 days. To help exporters save bank charges, direct negotiation of export documents with the client has been permitted.
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| It has also been decided to reduce the maximum fee limit for electronic application under various schemes from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1 lakh. Same day licensing would be introduced in all regional offices.
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| Besides this, a further simplification of all schemes ia also on the cards along with the adoption ahd harmonisation of the 8-digit Indian Trade Classification (Harmonised Sytem) code.
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| It was also announced that the Ministry of Environment and Forests is in the process of finalisation of guidelines to regulate the import of hazardous waste.
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| Maran said that the DGFT with the help of information technology had improved its speed of transactions and simplified its porcesses, so much so that the organisation had applied for an ISO:9000 certification. The minister claimed that all the 32 offices of the DGFT had been fully computerised and exporters could transact all business withe DGFT online. He claimed that 75 per cent of the licence applications were already being flied and processed online. |
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