Action taken on issues/suggestions put forth by the

Action taken on issues/suggestions put forth by the members of BoT meeting held on

02.12.2020

S.No. State/UT - Ministers/

Government

Issues/Suggestions Comments

1 Arunachal Pradesh i. The border trade from Pangsau Pass through

Land Custom Station Nampong to be included

as Border trade point for trade between India

and Myanmar. (Action – DoC)

ii. Border Haats between the border of India and Myanmar may be finalized, at the earliest.

(Action – DoC)

iii. Integrated Check Post at Pangsau Pass may

be setup on the model of ICP at Moreh.

Government of India is also requested to take

up a road project from Pangsau pass to Tenai to

be fully funded by GoI as it is between Tamu to

Kalemyo between Manipur and Myanmar.

(Action – DoC/LPAI-MHA)

Pangsau Pass has not yet been listed

in the approved locations of LCSs for

development into Integrated Check

Post. LPAI will take action as and

when this location is approved for

development into ICP

iv. An Export oriented Industrial Park may also

be set up in Arunachal Pradesh to support local

industries. (Action – DoC)

v. Financial assistance may also be provided to

set up international integrated domestic trade centre and integrated common facility center

with various facilities for the local industries in

a feasible location. (Action – DoC)

2 Assam i. Land Customs Stations in Assam (Sutarkandi,

Golokganj, Mankachar, Darranga), may be

developed to help farmers of Assam for exports

of fruits

and vegetables etc. (Action – DoR)

Land acquisition process for

development of LCS at Sutarkandi in

the State of Assam is under process

with the State Government.

However, partial operations of

Border Trade Centre (BTC) has

already commenced from 7"

September, 2019. The Land Customs

Stations at other locations

(Golokganj, Mankachar, Darranga) will be developed by D/o Revenue,

CBIC.

ii. Many items are restricted for export/import

from land ports. More items may be included to

benefit Assam and the North Eastern region

(Action – DGFT)

The proposal is being shared with

MHA and DoR for taking necessary

action

iii. Need to revisit import/export duty of some

items such as Limestone which Bangladesh

imports from India, manufactures cement and

exports it to India. Likewise, for plastic also the

raw material is imported by Bangladesh from

India and finished goods are sent back to India.

While raw materials are imported at lower duty for finished goods, the import duty is high in

Bangladesh. (Action – DoR)

iv. Tamo-Moreh area Trilateral Highway must

be completed at the earliest. Request Ministry

of Commerce and Industry to take the issue

with MEA to complete the 3 pending bridges to

finish this project. This will benefit the whole

North Eastern Region. (Action – MEA/DoC )

iv. Tamo-Moreh area Trilateral Highway must


Government


be completed at the earliest. Request Ministry

of Commerce and Industry to take the issue

with MEA to complete the 3 pending bridges to

finish this project. This will benefit the whole

North Eastern Region. (Action – MEA/DoC )

3 Bihar i. To assist the Commerce and Industries Department of the State to formulate the State

Export Strategy since the report prepared by

FIEO is incomplete. (Action – DoC/DGFT)

The matter was forwarded to FIEO for examine and FIEO informed that

Department of Commerce, GoI

entrusted FIEO to undertake Study to

prepare Export Strategies of five

states (including Bihar) during 2018-

19. With respect to Bihar,

stakeholders’ consultations and field

visits were undertaken (including

Patna, Gaya, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur,

and Motihari). Further consultations

were also held with Bihar Industries

Association as well with officials from State Govt. Also the views of

Director Technical, Government of

Bihar were also incorporated during

the course of this study. Accordingly,

the final report was submitted on

26th September, 2019. Upon follow-

up with State for views / acceptance

of the report, FIEO received a copy

of the enclosed letter dated 23th

December, 2019 informing that

report is being forwarded to Exim Bank to include finding of the report

in the comprehensive export

document being prepared by them.

FIEO, in view of the above, pleaded

that the document prepared by them

was found in order by the State.

ii. ICD with dry and cold chain storage facilities

and container depot facilities may be developed

in major Districts of the State. Greenfield dry

port facilities may also be developed in the State since it is a landlocked State with

contribution from both the State and Central

Government. (Action – DoR)

iii. For agricultural products, air Cargo facilities

may be started in Darbhanga, Muzzafarpur,

Patna, Gaya etc. (Action – MoCA)

iv. FIEO office in Patna may be started even

though the land was provided but still nothing

has moved on it. (Action – DoC)

v. For setting up Textile park in Bihar, 25-50

acre land is not available therefore, this

requirement may be reduced. (Action – M/o.

Textiles)

vi. Varanasi to Kolkata Highway from Bihar

may be started at the earliest. Frequency of

Domestic flights from Bihar may also be increased. (Action –


Government


MoRTH))

vii. Land may be provided to the Bihar

Government near the big ports in Maharashtra

or Orissa to build godowns for storage of goods

for exports. This will promote exports of

products like Litchi, Makhana, Mango etc. from Bihar. (Action –States Cell, DoC/M/o.

Shipping)

Bihar Government can approach

ports in Orissa and Maharashtra to

identify potential land parcels and the

modalities of engagement. JNPT has

more than 6000 acres of land parcel, with 685 acres available under SEZ

development by 2021. 700 acres of

land had been proposed by Paradip

Port Trust to be developed under

Smart Industrial Port City Project.

Else, Bihar Government can also

approach respective state

governments to offer land parcels

near the Major ports to build the

godowns. Many state governments

have large land parcels dedicated for industrial clusters near big ports.

4 Gujarat i. Ceramic sector is growing fast even during

these testing times. The Certificate of Origin is

issued by only few chambers, it is requested to

include more associations, such as Morbi

Chamber of Commerce from Gujarat to issue

COO to reduce time and charges. (Action –

DGFT )

Morbi Chamber of Commerce has

been requested to apply in Annexure

I of the Appendix -2E of Appendices

available at the following link:

https://content.dgft.gov.in/Website/d

gftprod/04ccf0e6-bb19-43eb-8b38-

a7378b4715e9/APPENDIX%202E-

C%20(CERTIFICATES%20OF%20

ORIGIN-

%20NON%20PREFERENTIAL)%202015-25.09.2020.pdf

ii. Customs may be directed to reduce time

taken for checking goods before exporting. The

inspection of goods by Customs takes a lot of

time and there is a need to look to reduce time

and resources required for exports.(Action –

DoR)

iii. National Highway from Morbi to Mudra is

not in good shape and urgent repair may be

required. (Action – MoRTH )

iv. Surat requires a full fledged Foreign Post

office which includes all Customs processes at

one place. (Action – DoR)

v. Courier agencies are not allowed in Custom offices in SEZs and they are routed only

through CHAs. The issue of allowing couriers

may be considered. (Action – DoR)

vi. There are reports of Tax Evasion/ Under

invoicing for Mosquito Racquets imported from

China. Lot of tax evasion is going on in this

sector. The domestic manufactures are getting

affected. Mis-declaration is also another issue at

the ports which leads to tax evasion. Customs

may be asked to look into it. (Action – DoR)

vii. TMA is given to Agricultural products. It

can be introduced for other labour intensive

sectors. (Action – DGFT/DoC)

https://content.dgft.gov.in/Website/dgftprod/04ccf0e6-bb19-43eb-8b38-a7378b4715e9/APPENDIX%202E-C%20(CERTIFICATES%20OF%20ORIGIN-%20NON%20PREFERENTIAL)%202015-25.09.2020.pdf








Government


viii. Import of items which are restricted, may

be allowed in cases where out of the total

export, import of such items is only 3-4 percent.

(Action – DGFT)

Import of “Restricted “ items is

allowed on the basis of the

application made by the applicant

and inputs/NoC granted by the

concerned administrative Ministry.

5 Karnataka i. Establishment of US Consulate at Bengaluru: The state accounts for 41% share in the

country’s services exports including IT and

ITeS. Currently professionals have to travelto

Chennai to obtain US Visa. Recognised as the

‘Silicon valley’ of the Country, housing the US

Consulate in Bengaluru will provide fillip to the

Service Sector. (Action : MEA)

ii. Allocation of separate HS Code for

Bengaluru Rose Onions : This issue has been

raised earlier Board of Trade meeting too.

(Action : DGFT)

Issue has already been taken up with

DoR vide OM dated 14.12.2020

(copy attached as Annexure-I).

iii. Development of Gherkin Seeds within the

country: Gherkin being 100% exportable plant produce and is extensively grown in Karnataka.

The seeds are currently being imported.

Gherkin has not been considered as a mandate

crop for Research and Development and local

seeds to be developed by

IIHR. (Action – Ministry of Agriculture)

iv. Establishment of Indian Institute of

Packaging in Karnataka: A team from Ministry

of Commerce visited Bengaluru, Belagavi and

Hubballi to explore the infrastructure facility to

set up IIP on a temporary basis. (Action – DoC)

v. The Inland Container Depot that was

established at Desur, Belagavi has stopped

functioning since October 2019 and it was informed that the new ICD would be

established at Sambra, Belagavi. Request to

consider establishment of ICD at Sambra.

(Action – DoR)

vii Upgradation of Hubballi Air Cargo as

International Air Cargo hub: (Action – MoCA)

viii) Establishment of Air Cargo facility at

Kalaburagi Airport: Kalaburagi is strategically

located in the North Karnataka region and is

neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

with a huge potential of exports of goods from

the region. (Action – MoCA)

ix) Establishment of Spice Parks at Haveri and

Shivamogga (Action – DoC)

Copy of DoC’s O.M. No. 8/3/2020-

Plant-D dated 11.1.2021 (copy attached attached as Annexure-II).

x) Establishment of Marine Export facility at

Kulai, Dakshina Kannada under TIES scheme

of Government of India: (Action – DoC)

xi) Engineering Industries - Offshore

Warehouse facility - Shipping liners be

requested for resolution of this issue. (Action –

DoR)

xii) Plastic Industries: Supply of polypropylene

- Basic raw material requirement for plastic


Government


components from MRPL is a big

challenge/bottleneck, with inadequate support

from MRPL. (Action – DoC)

6 Madhya Pradesh (i)Madya Pradesh being located in central India

requests for a dedicated multi modal park which

could connect all places in India (Action – DoC)

(ii)To set up Cold Chain and warehousing

facilities for agri products in State.(Action –

MoFPI)

(iii)Establishing a certification facility for

organic products besides an APEDA office

which would benefit agricultural activities.

(Action – DoC)

A state owned Certification Body

(CB) accredited under NPOP,

Madhya Pradesh State Organic

Certification Agency (MPSOCA) is

already accredited by the National

Accreditation Body (NAB) under

National Program for Organic

Production (NPOP) for certification

of organic products. The Certification Body is based in

Bhopal. In addition, one Private

Certification Body, Fair Cert

Certification Services Pvt. Ltd.,

Khargone is also accredited under

NPOP.

The correspondence address of both

the Certification Bodies are given as

under:

Madhya Pradesh State Organic Certification Agency

Mr. K.S. Tekam

Managing Director

Address: Vasundhara, B-II Office

Complex

Gautam Nagar

Bhopal 462 023

Madhya Pradesh

Tel : 0755 2600609

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.mpsoca.org

Fair Cert Certification Services Pvt.

Ltd.,

Dr. Pushkar Kulshrestha

CEO

1st Floor, Jaiprakash Club

Rahat Medical College,

in front of Krishna Vatika,

Mangrual Road,

Khargone

Madhya Pradesh 451001

Tel : +91-7282-231271/203017 Fax : +91-7282-231271

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.faircert.com

callto:0755%202600609

http://www.mpsoca.org/

callto:+91-7282-231271

callto:+91-7282-231271

http://www.faircert.com/


Government


However, all the CBs accredited

under NPOP can operate anywhere in

the Country, including Madhya

Pradesh.

(iv)Establishment of Inland Container Depot.

(Action – DoR)

(v)To improve Air cargo facility at Bhopal for exports (Action – MoCA)

7 Meghalaya (i)Setting up a new border haat and for

according approval to the proposal for one more

land custom station in the State. (Action –

DoC/LPAI-MHA)

Border Haat: Presently out of four

operational

Border Haats, two are in Meghalaya

[Kalaichar and Balat. Further, India

and Bangladesh had agreed to

establish 2 more Border Haats in

Tripura and 4more Border Haats in

Meghalaya on India Bangladesh

Border. The construction in respect

of Border Haats at Bholaganj,

Nalikata and Ryngku (all in Meghalaya) are completed. In respect

of Border Haat at Shibbari, the

Bangladesh side has proposed to

relocate the site.

In addition to above, in the 2™

meeting of Joint Committee on

Border Haats held on 23-24 April

2019 at Sylhet, Bangladesh, both

sides discussed}and identified the

locations for the six new Border

Haats, two (Kilapara and Huroi) of which are in Meghalaya.

LCS: A request from CM,

Meghalaya was received in regard to

new LCS at Maheshkhola, South

West] Khasi Hills District. The

request was made to CBIC to furnish

their views/comments on the issue. In

response, CBIC has intimated that

opening another LCS in such close

proximity may not be encourage!unless the LCS at Barsora

is unable to handle its volume of

trade, which is not the case as of

now, The proposal of a new LCS at

Maheskhola can be revisited at later

time.

(ii)Road infrastructure in the state is very bad

and infrastructure needs to be improved.

(Action – MoRTH)

(iii)To set up a Trade Centre to help boost

exports. (Action – DoC)

8 Mizoram (i)Capacity building on Export-Import

procedures and modalities and handholding of

the officials from Department of Commerce.

(Action – DoC)

(ii) Consultancy and transaction advisory


Government


support for handholding the state in the

preparation and implementation of the State

Export Plan and District Export Promotion

Plan. (Action – DoC)

9 Odisha (i) To develop riverine sea port and support new

one coming up inAstaranga. The private sea ports in Gopalpur and Dhamra need to be

upgraded as they have lot of opportunities.

(Action – DoR)

(ii) Need for Air cargo hubs and port as these

two can only help realize the dream of trillion

dollar export by 2025. (Action – MoCA)

(iii) In Paradip, the major seaport in Odisha,

there is 85 kilometres of trucks waiting outside

Port trust area which needs to be reduced,

which will help in improving export movement.

(Action – DoR)

(iv) To set up Niryat University for achieving 1

trillion export target providing

education through IT and electronics. (Action – DoC)

10 Punjab (i) Implementation of Eastern dedicated

corridor as well as Western dedicated corridor

is delayed and the sooner it gets completed the

better it is for trade. (Action – DPIIT)

This point is not related to DPIIT.

Implementation of Eastern Freight

Dedicated Corridor (EDFC) and

Western Freight Dedicated Corridor

(WDFC) project are being

implemented by Ministry of

Railways. Therefore, it is proposed

that the same may be forwarded to

M/o Railways for

comments/necessary action.

(ii) CONCOR and other inland freight container

corporations have made cartels and charge

excessively, this issue needs to be redressed. (Action – Railways)

(iii) Revival of Indo Pak border trade through

Attari border at Amritsar and the need for a dry

port at Attari. (Action – DoC)

The State Government’s request is

being examined in consultation with

the concerned stakeholders.

(iv)Bilateral negotiation with Iran or even

trilateral negotiations with US administrationto

increase basmati rice exports from Punjab.

(Action – DoC)

The next round of PTA negotiation

with Iran is due. The issue regarding

increase of basmati rice may be taken

up during the discussion.

(v) There is a small link of 40 KMs between

Atari and Wagah through Makhu and Zira

which needs to be connected by Railways and

Government of Punjab is in the process of

acquiring the land for Railways so as to have

access to the Western Freight corridor.

(vi) Improvement of Air cargo infrastructure at Amritsar for perisbale cargo. (Action – MoCA)

vii. GOI should leverage import quotas for

horticulture products to South East Asian

countries specially Punjab oranges and keenu,

which could be a game changer for Punjab , as

it tries to change its dependence on agriculture,

from cereals to grain, berry, fruits and

vegetables . (Action – DoC)

viii. Implementation of SAFTA customs duty Regarding requesting Bangladesh


Government


rates uniformly, for all member countries

(especially Bangladesh & Pakistan) for Bicycle

& Bicycle parts, (which fall under SAFTA non

sensitive list). (Action – DoC)

and Palistan to reduce duties, the

request for reduction needs to be

taken up through SAFTA

mechanism, in which meetings are

currently not being held. In case of Bangladesh, both countries are

exploring the possibility of entering

into a CEPA, during the course of

such negotiations such request may

be examined.

ix. RoSTCL - The last date for claiming

benefits is one year from the date of export,

therefore MOC&I is requested to intervene and

expedite the online system on priority. (Action

– DGFT)

The online system is working since

February 2020 for RoSCTL Scheme.

x. Increase the budget for MAI Scheme so as to

allow the exporting entities to participate in four

exhibitions in a financial year from the two presently.(Action – DoC)

xi. IGST paid on exports is to be refunded on

submission of proof of exports. The refund

against refund applications, whether filed online

or in physical form, are often delayed as a result

of which liquidity of the exporters is badly

affected. Section 56 of the CGST Act provides

for payment of interest on refunds delayed

beyond 60 days from date of filing. The GST

refund process should be made more effective

so that the exporters do not wait longer for their

GST refunds. (Action – DoR)

Refund process has been made

completely online w.e.f. 26.09.2019.

It is pertinent to mention that since

the digitization of the refund process

on 26th September 2013, a total of

2,25,280 refund applications

involving an amount of Rs. 74,472

crore were

filed with CGST authorities. Of these

2,15,822 cases (96%)} involving an

amount of Rs. 70,095 crore (94%)

had already been disposed of as on 14.01.2021. Only 0.5% (1026 cases)

were pending for more than 60 days.

As such, the refund sanction process

has been quite effective.

xii. The Technology Up-gradation Fund

Scheme (TUF) specifies the names of the

machines which are eligible to be imported

under it so as to avail the incentives under TUF

as well as Credit Linked Capital Subsidy

Scheme (CLCS). However a number of latest

machines and technologies are not covered

under the TUF list. The TUF scheme should be implemented for all

machines and technologies which are not

available in India. Action – M/o. Textiles)

xiii. TIE - There are four projects presently

running under TIE Scheme in the PSIEC and

the State government intends to utilize the

scheme for more industrial clusters. However

due to financial constraints of the State it is

requested that the GOI share of grant should be

raised to 75% from the present 50%. (Action –

DoC)

xiv. Exporters while applying visa

simultaneously for many countries, face

inordinate delays when their passports get stuck in one embassy. Some countries like Poland


Government


have a system of issuing two passports at a time

to Exporters. MEA is requested to consider this.

(Action – MES)

xv. Sharing/Leakage of commercial data

(including personal data) hampers sale

strategies in overseas markets. Competitors / customers/dealers are able to view all this data

and such data leakage causes difficulties while

negotiating with potential foreign customers. As

such, there should be proper guidelines /

regulations imposed on customs/freight

forwarders preventing them from sharing

confidential business data and should attract

stringent punishment for data privacy

violations. (Action – DoR)

xvi. Expedite the Air Cargo infrastructure

development at Chandigarh International

Airport. (Action – MoCA)

11 Tamil Nadu i. Govt. of Tamil Nadu is ready to acquire `Salt land’ which can then be used to set up export

oriented units.(Action – DoC)

ii. Tamil Nadu seeks support to set up a leather

export park – (Action – DPIIT)

There is no proposal for setting up of

leather export park received under

Indian Footwear Leather and

Accessories Development

Programme (IFLADP) scheme.

However, a preliminary proposal

regarding setting up of Mega Leather

Footwear and Accessories Cluster

(MLFAC) at Tamil Nadu was

received from State Industries

Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (SIPCOT). Since the

proposal did not cover major features

as per MLFAC sub-scheme

guidelines, therefore, SIPCOT was

asked to submit fresh proposal

meeting project requirements as per

scheme guidelines.

iii. SEZ – duty exemption be extended to

contractors (Action – DoC)

iv. Filing of applications for SEIS and MEIS

has stopped which needs to be looked into to

help exporters. (Action – DGFT)

The applications for MEIS for FY

2019-20 and FY 2020-21 and for

SEIS for FY 2019-20 are not being

accepted at present due to limited funds in this Financial year 2020-21.

The Department of Commerce is in

active consultation with the

Department of Revenue to get

suitable funds.

12 Telangana i. Improve export data traceability for

agricultural produce/other products

manufactured in state of Telangana. It is almost

impossible to know the specifics as to which

state and/or farm they are originating. It would

also enable us accomplish Govt of India’s

ODOP/districts as export hub objectives.

(Action - DGCIS/DoC/DoR)

State-wise export figures are

compiled by DGCI&S on the basis of

the state-of origin code reported by

the exporters in the shipping bills.

However, no validation is done at

DGCI&S as there 1s no scope to

judge the correctness of the reported

state of origin code.


Government


As far as Export from undivided

Andhra Pradesh is concerned, a

yearly average of 14.44 Billion USD

worth commodities exported from

the state during 2010-11 and 2013-14. However, from 2014-15 onward,

after inception of new State

Telangana, the yearly average value

of Exports of Andhra Pradesh comes

out to be 13.65 Billion USD (till

2019-20) as per the data available

with DGCI&S.

Telangana, on the other hand, has

shown an increasing trend in Exports

since 2014-15 and averages 5.78

Billion USD per year (till 2019-20).

DGCI&S has provided free access to its data dissemination portal to the

Commerce and Export Promotion

Department, Govt. of Telangana by

assigning User ID-Password which

has been used by the said department

on a regular basis.

This is also to inform that District-

wise trade data is currently not

available with

DGCI&sS.

ii. Incentivise exports to clear customs in

respective state /CFS (Action – DoC)

iii. Availability of containers, reduces costs to exporters (Action – DoR)

iv. Attract higher investments into the logistics

sector (Action – DoC)

v. Reduce gap between exports and Imports

(Action – DGFT)

vi. Reduces load on JNPT and other ports

(Action – Ministry of Shipping)

Development of Vadhavan-

JNPT cluster (in phases) on West

Coast is underway. Union Cabinet in

its meeting held on 5th Feb, 2020 has

granted in principle approval to

develop Vadhavan Port in Landlord

model by an SPV incorporated under

Companies Act, 2013 with JNPT as

lead partner. The project proposal for investment is under preparation and

detail study on Engineering and EC

Clearance would be completed by

July 2021. Port Limit has been

notified on 19th February 2020.

Given the container traffic

potential in North Maharashtra and

Gujarat cluster, the Vadhavan-JNPT

cluster can act as a Mega Port to

upcoming West Coast traffic. The

Vadhavan-JNPT port cluster

connects with DFC and Mahasamrudhi Marg. Therefore, it

can cater to cargo from North &


Government


Central India efficiently. It is

strategically situated to cater to

primary hinterlands of Maharashtra

(Mumbai, Pune, Nashik,

Aurangabad, etc.) and secondary hinterlands of Southern Gujarat and

Madhya Pradesh. Vadhavan can also

act as a gateway port for EXIM cargo

of the Tarapur industrial area e.g.,

steel rods, steel coils, scrap, etc.

Moreover, port-land can be utilized

to setup suitable industries such as

Agri industries, food industries,

reefer facilities, etc.

vii. Increases demand for local warehousing be

addressed (Action – D/o.

Food/DoC – Logistics Division)

viii. Offers last mile connectivity benefits in the State. (Action – MoRTH)

13 Rajasthan i. To encourage small exporters by providing

working capital – GST to be reduced to 0.25%

on semiprecious gem stone. Import duty on

precious and semi-precious stone be reduced

from 7.50% to 2.50%.(Action – DoR)

ii. GST on guar gum to be abolished like done

on soyabean.(Action – DoR)

iii. Notification regarding export of mustard oil

in packing of 5 litres needs to be done away.

(Action – D/o. Food )

iv. GST refund to international tourists scheme

needs to be implemented immediately(Action –

DoR)

GST refund to International Tourists

Scheme is under consideration and

will be implemented after approval

of GST council in due course.

v. Import duty on gold and silver to be reduced

to 4% from 12.5%.(Action – DoR)

vi. Rajasthan Export Promotion Council to be notified multisectoral council and may be

allowed to issue RCMC and CoO.(Action –

DGFT)

The request was examined in consultation with DoC but could not

be acceded. Authorising REPC to

issue RCMCs will be inconsistent

with the provisions of the Foreign

Trade Policy, however it has been

informed that they can apply to be

recognized as an agency authorized

to issue CoO (NP) under Appendix

2E of the HBP 2015-2020.

vii. Setting up of National Institute of Design at

Jaipur. (Action – DPIIT)

Government of India had recently

established four new NIDs at Bhopal

(Madhya Pradesh), Jorhat (Assam), Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) and

Kurukshetra (Haryana) covering

country's Western, Eastern, Southern

and Northern parts respectively. At

present, Government of India has no

plan to set up any new NIDs. In case

need to establish more NIDs is felt,

the case of establishment of NID at

Jaipur will be duly considered.

viii. To develop artificial jewellery


Government


manufacturing hub at Jaipur and NCR. (Action

– DoC)

ix. To allocate 150 crores fund for gem bourse.

(Action – DoC)

x. ECGC coverage to all exporters and

manufacturers. (Action – DoC)

14 UT of Andman &

Nicobar Islands

i. Declaration of all ports in Andman & Nicobar

Islands as Customs Ports (Action – DoR)

ii Declaration of all the Ports in Andaman & Nicobar Islands as Plant Quaratine Ports

(Action – Ministry of Agriculture)

iii. International Air Connectivity – Start of

International flights from Veer Savarkar

Airport, Port Blair to increase tourism and trade

activities(Action – MoCA)

iv. Notification of ports of Ranong and Phuket

of Thailand, ports of Lankavi, Lumut and Klang

of Malaysia, North ports of Indonesia to

improve trade between these Islands and

neighbouring South East Asian Counrties

(Action – Ministry of Shipping)

The STCW Convention,

1978 as amended in 1995 introduced

the provision of NCV certification.

Accordingly, India entered into

agreement with neighbouring states

i.e. Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives

and Sri Lanka to have uniform

syllabus and certification process

with regard to Certification of

seafarers sailing on ship operation on

Near Coastal Voyages (NCV). The

STCW Convention was further

amended in 2010 after the adoption

of the Manila amendments. After the

2010 amendments, DG (Shipping)

revised the training and certification

process to bring it in conformity with

the 2010 amendments. The BIMMs

1997 agreement was, however, not

taken up for amendments due to

changes in the provisions of STCW

Convention. Instead, Merchant

Shipping Notice 14 of 2012 was

issued on the basis of which it

became possible for Indian seafarers

having NCV certificates to work on

ship of all countries including the

neighbouring countries within the

designated NCV limits, subject to

acceptance of concerned member

State of IMO. It may also be

mentioned that the 2010 amendment

to the STCW Convention has

introduced a mandatory provision at

regulation A-I/3 as follows:

Quote:


Government


It is not intended that ships

engaged on near-coastal voyages

extend their voyages worldwide,

under the excuse that they are

navigating constantly within the

limits of designated near coastal

voyages of neighbouring Parties’

Unquote

It may further be mentioned

that all Indian ships and ships of

neighbouring countries can trade

anywhere in the world including

ports in Thailand, Indonesia and

ASEAN countries, subject to the

condition that ships and seafarers on

board ships comply with all

applicable international instruments.

The ships would need to comply with

all aspects, including those related to

safety, security, pollution and

liabilities etc. (i.e. SOLAS,

MARPOL, Tonnage, Load line etc.).

In addition, seafarers employed on

the ship would need to comply with

requirements of STCW Convention

and applicable provisions of the

MLC Convention 2006.

In view of the foregoing, to include

other countries, the BIMMS

agreement would need to be

amended. However, this amendment would address only issues pertaining

to seafarers and not those pertaining

to ships as all ships will be required

to comply with the provisions of the

applicable Conventions such as

SOLAS, MARPOL’ Load line MLC

2006’ etc.

15 Manipur i. EXIM financial services at the designated

banks especially on the Myanmar side are not

fully operational. (Action – DFS)

ii. A FOREX Cell at RBI Imphal is required to

facilitate border trade.(Action – RBI)

The issue has been comprehensively

examined. However, after

considering all the aspects including nature and volume of transactions, it

is observed that needs of Manipur

customers are taken care of by

Guwahati Regional Office and hence

opening a Forex Cell at RBI Imphal

is not needed.

iii. ICP at Moreh still does not have e-visa

facility. The matter was also raised in the last


Government


Board of Trade Meeting. (Action – DoR)

iv. Govt. of Myanmar should be encouraged to

improve trade facilities as well as banking

infrastructure especially in the areas bordering

Manipur. (Action – DoC)

v. Land Customs Station at Moreh lacks EDI

(Electronic Data Interchange). (Action – DoR/LPAI-MHA)

Technical specification details for the

EDI has been asked from Customs Department vide letters dated

20.09.2019 and 17.12.2019. The

same is being followed up regularly

telephonically but the details are still

awaited from Customs Department.

vi. Lack of Transit Permit for goods imported

from third countries via Myanmar. (Action –

DoR)

vii. Introduction of travel card for persons

residing within 16 Km of the international

boundary. (Action – MEA)

viii. Transport subsidy by road for raw material

and finished products should be revived under

NEIDS. (Action – DoC)

Chambers/EPCs

16 Shri S.K. Saraf, FIEO District Export Hub will be successful only by active involvement of district collector.

(Action – DGFT)

Shri Ajay Sahai, FIEO vide mail dated 05.01.2021 has been informed

that District Collectors are already

actively involved in the District as

Export Hub Initiative, as a

Chairperson of the District Export

Promotion Committee (DEPC)

constituted vide the guidelines issued

under OM Dated December 26,

2019.

ii. Under land laws – industrial plot buyer

needs to be absolved for any future land rate

enhancement and litigation and the seller should be made responsible.(Action – DoC)

iii. Class II Tier cities have large private forest

land which is owned by the Government, it

should be made available to industry. Trees

may be planted at the designated land and the

available land be utilized for industrial

development.(Action – MOEF)

17 Dr. Dinesh Dua,

Pharmexil

i. Port congestion needs to be eased.(Action –

Ministry of Shipping)

Ministry of Shipping with

its quest to reduce logistics cost has

introduced Sagarmala Programme in

March 2015. Various projects for

faster evacuation from port have

been articulated in the programme. The study identifies 3 broad levers-

customs efficiency, last-mile

connectivity and process

improvement at ports and road

infrastructures, to implement 21

projects spread across the levers that

will enable reduction of inland transit

time for containers by four to seven

days. Not only transit time reduction


Government


but also savings will be generated to

the tune of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 Cr.

by 2025 through inventory cost

savings.

Over the years, Major Ports have taken several measures for

reducing dwell time and transaction

costs. These include elimination of

manual forms, accommodation for

laboratories to Participating

Government Agencies (PGAs),

facilitation of Direct Port Delivery&

Entry, Installation of Container

Scanners, E-delivery orders, invoice,

payments, RFID based Gate-

automation System, implementation

of port community system (PCS) etc. Further, many more initiatives on

modernization, digitization and

automation are envisaged for Major

Ports under Maritime India Vision

(MIV) 2030 strategic roadmap.

ii. Faceless customs clearance needs

improvement (Acton – DoR)

iii. Freight issue needs to be sorted out as the

prices have gone up by 50%.(Action – DoR)

iv. RoDTEP should cover Pharma sector. All

data has been submitted to RoDTEP

Committee – abolition of MEIS will be

harmful to the industry. Embedded taxation is

also a cause of concern. (Action – DGFT/DoR)

MEIS stands discontinued with effect

from 01.01.2021 and the transition to

RoDTEP has been initiated. The

coverage of an item under the

RoDTEP Scheme would depend on multiple factors, including the funds

available to implement the scheme.

18 Shri Govind Lele,

Laghu Udyog Bharti

i. Third party invoicing in imports facing

severe problem under faceless assessment by

Customs.(Action – DoR)

ii. Great potential for North East states to

export to Nepal and Bangladesh. But high

import duties in those countries is affecting

exports. Also imports are coming from those

countries with lower duties affecting our

economy. (Action – DoC)

The issues regarding high import

duties in Bangladesh and Nepal are

taken up in the bilateral negotiations

with these countries held time to

time.

iii. Plastic pricing going up heavily around

200-300%. Pricing in PVC & other materials

is causing trouble to MSMEs. This needs to be addressed.(Action – DoC)

19 Ms. Sangeeta Reddy,

FICCI

i. Drawn attention on detailed Report on Ease

of Doing Business FICCI is doing. (Action –

DPIIT)

The matter has been discussed with

the representatives of FICCI and

found that there is no such report on

Ease of Doing Business prepared by

FICCI. Hence, information/inputs

may be treated as Nil.

ii. RoDTEP scheme should be modified, at the

earliest. (Action – DoR).

iii. As part of State Export Strategy – 600

districts products ODOP virtual platform is

being launched. (Action – DGFT/DoC)

The matter is under progress.

20 Shri Abhay Sinha, i. SEIS is facing a lot of issues. Alternative Report from SEPC is awaited.


Government


SEPC scheme to SEIS is being drafted and will be

shared soon. (Action – DGFT)

ii. Request for new SEIS notification for

disbursement of SEIC for the year 2019-2020.

(Action – DGFT)

The Department of Commerce is in

active consultation with the

Department of Revenue to get

suitable funds before notification of rates and categories for SEIS for FY

2019-20 can be done.

iii. Follow up with State Governments on

setting up of Services State Centre in every

state is being done. (Action – TPD, DoC)

21 Shri Elian Sait, Seafood

Exporters Association

i. Request for release of MEIS benefits, at the

earliest. (Action – DGFT)

Concerns of the Association have

been noted.

ii. Cap of Rs.2 crores is a major concern as

most of exporters are MSMEs.(Action –

DGFT)

Concerns of the Association have

been noted.

iii. RoDTEP scheme to be launched

immediately. (Action – DoR)

iv. Early concluding of FTA negotiation with

EU (Action – DoC)

v. EIA is already issuing certifications,

therefore, no need for allowing FSSAI for

certification. (Action – DoC)

vi. Lack of availability of container from Shipping companies for

exports(Action – Ministry of Shipping)

Container shortage

experienced presently is a worldwide

phenomenon and not exclusive to

India. The Covid-19 pandemic has

led to disruption in movement of

goods as there is rise in demand for

certain kinds of commodities and

drop in others leading to erratic

distribution of containers and

inadequate availability for exports at

many points. It is expected that the

ramp up of new-build production will

help alleviate some of the ongoing

container equipment shortages.

However, the greatest impact will

come from a normalization of cargo

demand development and carrier

sailing schedules, as Covid-19

related disruption unwinds through

the first half of 2021.

vii. Move to shift MPEDA to Fisheries

Ministries needs to be stopped. (Action – DoC)

22 Shri Vikramjit Sahney,

SAARC Chamber of

Commerce & Industry

i. Production Link Incentive Scheme with 10

products should also have some sort of

concessional funding for investment for which

sovereign wealth fund may also be tapped.

(Action – DEA/NITI Aayog)

matters related to investments by

sovereign wealth funds fall within

the purview of DEA and DPIIT.

ii. RoDTEP scheme should cover broader

range of products. (Action – DoR)

iii. Expedite FTA/PTA with US/EU/S Africa.

(Action – DoC)


Government


iv. Trade with Iran through Asian Clearing

Unit to promoter bilateral trade. (Action –

DoC)

A reference is received from All

India Rice Export Association

(AIREA) in regard to Third Party

payment mechanism in free trade in

freely traded currency for export of basmati rice to Iran. The reference is

under examination in consultation

with concerned division of the

Department of Commerce.

v. Import of Fertiliser from Iran and CIS

countries be promoted. (Action – DoC)

The issue in regard to promote

import of fertilizer from Iran is being

examination by this division with the

concerned department, in the light of

payment issues with Iran and extant

policy.

23 Indian Association of

Tour Operators

i) To continue SEIS for the tour operators:-

Under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, a

provision is made for the tour operators to get SEIS benefits every year on their foreign

exchange during 2015-20. It is recommended

that SEIS should be continued 2021-26.

(Action – DGFT)

The applications for MEIS for FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 are not being accepted at present due to limited funds in this Financial year 2020-21. The Department of Commerce is in active consultation with the Department of Revenue to get suitable funds.

ii) Pending SEIS for Financial Year 2019-20

be announced:- (Action – DGFT) The Department of Commerce is in active consultation with the Department of Revenue to get suitable funds before notification of rates and categories for SEIS for FY 2019-20 can be done.

iii) Increase of SEIS percentage in Foreign

Trade Policy – 2021-26 to 15% during off

season and 10% during season (Action –

DGFT)

SEIS in its current framework may not be extended in the next Foreign Trade Policy

iv) Under EPCG Scheme requirement of

incremental Foreign Exchange Earnings needs

to be removed for import of Vehicles (Action – DGFT)

Vehicles are not allowed under

EPCG Scheme. Therefore, no such

requirement as such exist in the policy.

v) Value based tourist inflow incentives for

MICE Tourists. (Action – Ministry of

Tourism)

vi) Tax Refund for Tourists (TRT) Scheme on

shopping. (Action – DoR)

Annexure-I

Annexure-II

No. 8/3/2020-Plant-D Department of Commerce

(Plantation Division)

New Delhi, Udyog Bhawan

Dated the 11" January, 2021

Office Memorandum

Subject: Follow up action on the RoDs of Board of Trade (BoT) meeting held on 2/12/2020 under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of Commerce and Industry.

The undersigned is directed to refer to DGFT’s Email dated 24/12/2020, forwarding a copy of

the Record of Discussion of the above meeting and to say that point No.5{ix) is related to Plantation Division in the Department of Commerce, which is regarding establishment of Spices Parks at Haveri and Shivamogga in Karnataka.

In this regard, it may be mentioned here that Spices Board India was establishing Spice Parks

in major spice growing areas of the country with financial assistance from the Central Government under the scheme of Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and other Allied Activities (ASIDE),

However, following the downsizing of Assistance to States for Development of Export Infrastructure and Allied activities (ASIDE) and transfer of resources for this purpose to States from 2015-16 onward as part of 14" Finance Commission Award, the Central Government has discontinued making further direct investments in such projects through Spices Board.

However, a new scheme ‘Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)’ is being implemented

from Financial year 2017-18 onward for creation of export infrastructure. The Scheme provides financial assistance for infrastructure projects having overwhelming export linkages including ‘Spices Parks’. The State Government owned agencies implementing such projects are eligible for financial assistance as per the Scheme guidelines. As per the current practice, with the State Government providing land for the project, the Spices Board would provide necessary technical assistance for establishing the project.

Government of Kamataka vide letter dated 13/10/2020 forwarded a Concept Note on

establishment of Spice Park at Shivamogga for financial support under TIES, which was forwarded to States Cell in the Department of Commerce to consider for financial support under TIES vide this Division’s OM dated 26/10/2020.

No proposal has been received for establishment of Spices Park at Haveri. However, Spices

Board has established a Spice Development Agency (SDA) at Haveri under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Govt of Karnataka to co-ordinate the State and Central agencies for implementation of the programmes/projects related to research, development, marketing, quality control and export promotion of spices grown in the State of Karnataka

Sd/- (M.L. Banerjee)

Under Secretary to the Government of India

Tel, No.23061732 To 1, (Kind Attn.: Shri Manoj Kr. Singh, Jt. Director General of Foreign Trade), DGFT, Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi.

2. Director (RL), State Cell, DoC, Copy to: The Seeretary, Spices Board, Kochi.

Documents

Action taken on issues/suggestions put forth by the