The Hindu Business Line : DGFT gearing up for digital signatures

EVEN as the exporting community keeps its fingers crossed as to whether there would be any mini-export-import (Exim) policy on the lines of the Mini Budget unveiled by the Government on January 8, the Commerce Ministry is going ahead with its own measures to bring down the transaction cost to trade and industry.

Highly-placed sources in the Government told Business Line here on Friday that the Ministry of Commerce is not engaged in any Exim policy modification exercises as are being bandied about in some circles, though some sort of modifications to the amended Exim Policy for 2003-04 are being carried out and would continue to be carried out till the end of the current fiscal year.

For instance, the sources said, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is tying up the loose ends to launch the digital signature and electronic transfer of funds, a crucial component in the run-up to the full-fledged electronic data interchange (EDI) which is likely to bring down the transaction cost to exporters, besides minimising their interface with officials.

Online issue of importer-exporter code (IEC) number by linking the DGFT EDI network with Income-Tax PAN database is also under rapid progress, the sources added.

The DGFT Mr Mansingh told Business Line that the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, would formally launch the digital signature and electronic funds transfer at a function here on January 28, as part of its EDI schedule.

In the 2003 amended Exim policy, Mr Jaitley promised that high priority is being bestowed on the EDI implementation programme encompassing all major community partners such as the DGFT, customs and banks in order to lessen transaction cost, time and discretion of the officialdom.

Mr Mansingh said that as far as the DGFT is concerned, the forthcoming launch of digital signature and electronic funds transfer is part of the programme of all stakeholders in export to ensure that the digital technology is made ample use of in order to benefit the exporting community.

Once this programme is in place in Delhi, this would be gradually replicated in other regional offices of the DGFT so that the benefits of technology would cover a wider section of exporters.

The sources said that apart from this major initiative as outlined in this year's Exim policy getting fulfilled, the Commerce Ministry would also undertake a series of other measures including some sop to exporters particularly those battered by the creeping appreciation of the rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar in the form of making available some dollar credit at reasonably lower rate for export financing.

Some procedural simplifications to enable the existing export promotion schemes more user-friendly are also on the anvil, though no major initiative to exporters could be foreseen in the short-term as the country is in the election mode with poll dates being advanced, the sources added.

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