India means Business - new Foreign Trade Policy
THE much awaited Foreign Trade Policy was released by the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 st April. For a quick visual update on the Policy please see our Tube - simply inTAXicating - Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 Highlights.
It seems this time around, there was perfect cooperation and coordination between the Commerce Department and the Revenue Department - the Revenue Secretary was present when the Policy was unveiled. On the same day, the DGFT issued relevant Public Notices to bring the Policy to effect.
Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) - Schedule of country groups, ITC (HS) code wise list of products with reward rates under Appendix 3B: The DGFT has notified the Appendix 3B which contains Table 1-List of Country Groups and Table 2-ITC (HS) code wise list of products with reward rates under MEIS. - DGFT Public Notice No. 02/2015-20, Dated: April 1, 2015
Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) - Schedule under Appendix 3D notified: DGFT has notified Appendix 3D - List of eligible services, rates and conditions for rewards under the Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). The services and rates of rewards notified shall be applicable for services export made between 1-4-2015 to 30-09-2015 only. The list of services/rate is subject to review with effect from 1-10-2015. The rate of reward for eligible services is subject to conditions as specified in FTP and HBP. For Educational Services, SEIS reward shall not be available on Capitation Fee. Under Maritime Transport Services marked with *[9A (a), (b) and (c)], the reward shall be limited to Operations from India by Indian Flag Carriers only. - DGFT Public Notice No. 03/2015-20, Dated: April 1, 2015
Track and Trace system for export of Pharmaceuticals and drug consignments. DGFT has notified the procedure for implementation of the Track and Trace system for export of pharmaceutical and drug consignments. The exports of the drugs having manufacturing date prior to 01.04.2015 will be exempted for requirement of barcode labelling and data uploading on central portal.With effect from 01.07.2015, all drugs with manufacturing date on or after 01.04.2015 can be exported only if both the tertiary and secondary packaging carry barcoding as applicable and the relevant data as prescribed by DGFT is uploaded on the central portal. - DGFT Public Notice No. 04/2015-20, Dated: April 1, 2015