Import/Export Industry Notifications

The commerce ministry is considering replacing the multi-modal transportation of goods act with a national logistics law to promote the growth of the sector. National Logistics Efficiency and Advancement Predictability and Safety Act (NLEAPS) are under consideration. This law tends to define various participants of the logistics space and create a light regulatory ecosystem.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

South Korea is facing more investigations on import restrictions from major countries this year due to growing protectionism worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the KITA, South Korea saw the launch of 23 new investigations on suspicions of anti-dumping and safeguards in the first six months of the year, up to four from a year earlier. Currently, South Korea is subject to 219 import regulation measures. Of them, 164 are anti-dumping duties, while 46 others are safeguard measures and nine are countervailing duties.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

The Tamil Nadu government has established an exclusive cell to facilitate exports. In a virtual conference organised by the CII on ‘Explore Export 2020’it was told that GUIDANCE has now export promotion as a mandate with dedicated resources. The cell would answer questions from exporters, match trade partners, incentivise exporters and address export issues. The VOC Port could be a major attraction for investors to establish industries in southern districts. The port, which has well-trained personnel and state-of-the-art gadgets, could handle large volumes of cargo.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

Imports and exports of goods through trucks have resumed at West Bengal-Bangladesh land border after traders took the matter with the Centre and state authorities. The issue was flagged by FIEO in a meeting with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. We are getting reports that the movement of trucks have started at the land borders. Both the sides are permitting the movement of trucks.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

The impasse on the Indo-Bangladesh border trade through Petrapole-Benapole has finally been resolved with the first truck from Bangladesh entering India since March restoring two-way bilateral trade following the Central government's frantic efforts led by MEA. ET has learnt that this has been made possible following herculean efforts by MEA, MHA and Commerce as well as Indian High Commission in Dhaka. The West Bengal government had refused entry of trucks following fears of the spread of Covid-19.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

The Government of India has sought stricter scrutiny of goods coming from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea and the ASEAN bloc. This is happening amid fears of Chinese imports increasingly being routed through these countries. It has pushed for fast-tracking changes to the customs law to tighten the rules to claim concessional benefits under India’s free-trade pacts, in line with the changes proposed in the budget this year.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

Indian tea exports to China and Iran have taken off despite the economic uncertainty due to Covid-19 and the standoff between India and China on border issues. Chinese importers are giving good prices for Indian black tea and shipments to the country have already begun. Iran, too, has started importing new season orthodox teas from last week and is paying Rs 400 - Rs 450 per kg, a price higher than that of last year. Border tensions between the two countries have not affected exports of tea to China. The Chinese are buying both CTC and orthodox black teas.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

Seeking intervention of the commerce ministry, exporters raised serious concerns over halting of consignments at the West Bengal-Bangladesh land border. They said that if the stalemate continues, it would impact bilateral trade. The issue was raised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). All the export promotion councils participated in the deliberation through video-conferencing.

Click Here To See The Official Notification

The FIEO urged Indian exporters to on countries which are providing demand stimulus like US, UK and many other advanced and emerging markets for business. While addressing the concerns of exporters in the country, FIEO suggested exploring countries having high anti-China sentiments led by the US including the EU, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc. They even advised revisiting economies depending on crude & commodities exports as prices of such products are likely to be subdued (the Middle East, LAC and CIS).

Click Here To See The Official Notification