Ahead of the new foreign trade policy 2014-19, the shipping sector wants the Directorate General of Foreign Trade to extend the benefits of the Served from India Scheme (SFIS) more liberally. The shipping industry has managed to get less than a fifth of the total entitled benefits under the scheme between 2006-07 and 2012-13 because of "problems in the scheme".

Traders with special passes can import readymade garments and shoes from China through three border points, without paying duty. With this, the total number of items imported via land route has gone up to 20. The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has already made changes in the list of items that can be imported and exported duty-free through the land route. As of now, such imports are allowed through three land custom stations, Nathu La (Sikkim), Gunji (Uttarakhand) and Namgiya Shipkila (Himachal Pradesh). However, three public notices issued in relation to such imports through the three border points do not mention any quantitative safeguards. This has raised apprehensions among traders that cheaper Chinese imports might be dumped into the Indian market, especially in West Bengal, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which are close to these points. The public notice issued on March 5, 2010 said, “In terms of the provision contained in the Foreign Trade Policy, Import/Export of the following commodities by residents of border districts who are issued trade passes, as per the prevailing customary practice will be allowed freely.”

Kingfisher Airlines has secured permission from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to import aviation turbine fuel (ATF) directly. The UB group airline, which is struggling to raise funds and has curtailed its operations to 100-120 flights each day, was the first to demand direct import of ATF last November.Yesterday, SpiceJet secured clearance for ATF import. Air India, too, has sought DGFT permission for the same.Kingfisher Airlines has received authorisation from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade for the import of aviation turbine fuel on April 11, 2012 and we are taking active steps to initiate the process of ATF import,” the airline said in a statement. Kingfisher is in talks with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to use infrastructure for storage and transport of fuel. RIL is likely to import jet fuel for SpiceJet. RIL is the only private oil marketing company that has infrastructure in 20 airports across the country

A panel of ministers, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to meet on April 3 to decide on permitting fresh registration of cotton export contracts, sources said on Thursday.“The informal GoM (group of ministers) will meet to discuss all aspects of cotton exports and fresh registration,” one of the sources told FE.The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on March 12 notified the government’s decision to lift a controversial ban on the cotton exports a week after imposing it, following a meeting of the GoM. But it suspended the registration of fresh shipment contracts and also asked traders to revalidate all the registration certificates issued before the ban was imposed on March 5.

The Delhi High Court has struck down certain amendments brought in by the Government to an export promotion scheme restricting duty benefits to exporters. The case related to the Target Plus Scheme (TPS), where exporters of the status holder category were getting duty credit scrip on incremental exports. The scheme was effective from April 1, 2004, to March 31, 2006.In order to get duty benefits, the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) required an exporter to show that the goods imported should have a “broad nexus? With reference to any product group of the exported goods within the overall value of the entitlement certificate, the word nexus referred to a larger group of similar goods and not the very exported goods itself.”

Exports of leather, handicraft, carpets and some engineering goods are likely to get fresh incentives in the annual review of the foreign trade policy to enable them them tide over the poor demand in the Western markets. The commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma is also expected to announce procedural changes in the policy to reduce transaction time and costs for exporters.