Meldingen uit de sector importeren/exporteren

The practice of charging demurrage and ground rent on importers by the container freight station at the Vallarpadam ICTT violates a Union government advisory during the lockdown. It has almost doubled the financial burden of operators from north Kerala. Several importers have received bills to the tune of ₹5,000 to ₹2 lakh.

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To ensure smooth cargo operations at India's ports amid the coronavirus pandemic, the shipping ministry has requested the commerce ministry to issue advisory for recognition of electronic trading documents instead of manual ones. The request has been made by citing bottlenecks caused in handling EXIM cargo. They’ve also requested the Indian Banks Association to accept electronically-generated trade documentation.

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The Cochin Port Trust will extend all possible support to Exim trade and community. It has been hit severely by the lockdown on account of the COVID-19 outbreak. The port is considering concessions, including ground cargo rent/container rent, CFS charges, godown rental waiver, etc. The decision on the concessions will be taken in consultation with the Shipping Ministry.

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According to the WTO, world trade is likely to decline by 13-32 per cent in 2020. To increase economic activity from April 20, 2020, the Finance Ministry has asked PSBs to place in the indicative time frame from processing to disbursement. The Ministry emphasised that timely credit to businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is critical for revival of economic activity.

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While exporters agree that the RBI’s decision to relax bad loan classification and provide refinance facility would help; a comprehensive economic package with enhanced sops is required to help them survive the challenges posed in the wake of the COVID-19 situation.

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The Indian government announced stringent restrictions on foreign direct investments (FDIs) from countries sharing land borders with India. Similar restrictions were already in place for Bangladesh and Pakistan. So the fresh action is clearly aimed at monitoring and regulating Chinese FDIs into India, and buyouts of Indian companies by Chinese entities.

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Latin American countries, including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, have scrapped import duties on some respiratory equipment from India as a temporary trade-relief measure to fight COVID-19. A group, including Colombia, Paraguay and Ecuador, has scrapped import duties on gas masks and oxygen therapy devices.

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With containers stuck in transit for days together, the Indian government has decided to allow some relaxation on the import of drugs. India is not a large pharmaceutical formulation importer and depends on China for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to make drugs. Under the existing rule, imported drugs that have less than 60 per cent shelf life remaining are not allowed into the country. This rule has been relaxed for the current situation.

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The government is fast-tracking a plan to implement an electronic Bill of Lading. To facilitate the trade documentation process and the continuity of business in a post-coronavirus world, this measure is being considered. The bottleneck situation at the port is attributed to the current manual process. E-BL would smoothen the workflow at the ports.

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