The Hindu Business Line : Sops for country-specific export promos likely

At a glance
The supplement may see some fiscal incentives provided to certain country-specific export promotion schemes.
The coverage of the Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana may also be expanded

New Delhi , April 6

The annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 is likely to address high transaction costs faced by the exporting community besides providing export promotion measures to propel merchandise exports beyond the $100-billion mark achieved in fiscal 2005-06.

Indications are that the supplement may see some fiscal incentives provided to certain country-specific export promotion schemes such as Focus-Africa to boost exports to that region.

Sources also said the coverage of the Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana may also be expanded to include cottage and village industries products under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission.

The exporting community is also expecting a rationalisation and flexibility in advance licence scheme, duty-free replenishment certificate and EPCG scheme.

They have been demanding that advance licences should be made transferable.

The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, is scheduled to announce the annual supplement on Friday. He had announced the foreign trade policy on August 31, 2004 with a five-year framework, providing for annual supplements to reflect the changing environment. The country's merchandise exports during 2004-05 stood at $80 billion.

Extensive consultations have been held with trade and industry, including export promotion councils, chambers of commerce, trade associations and all other stakeholders. The inputs given by the Board of Trade would also be taken into account in finetuning the supplement.

At its recent meeting held here in mid-march, the Board of Trade had suggested an "actionable agenda" to maximise exports through industry-specific and product-specific measures that could be incorporated in the supplement.

Level-playing field

Stating that a level-playing field was necessary for the Indian industry to be globally competitive, the Board of Trade had made a case for a mechanism to provide prompt refund of taxes and levies collected from exporters. A suggestion was also made that there should be zero duty under the EPCG scheme for all sectors.

In the run-up to the annual supplement, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has been having close interaction with revenue and commerce department officials.

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