Comments
The paperwork involved in exporting and importing goods is set to come down significantly from the next fiscal year. The move will cut down transaction costs and time for industry and also improve the country’s global ranking in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ index.
“The Revenue Department has recently agreed to bring down the number of mandatory documents required for exports to three in the new fiscal year from the seven cited in the World Bank’s report,” an official at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) told BusinessLine .
The reduction in export documents to three will put India at par with countries such as the US, Canada, Singapore and Japan.
Talks are on with the RBI and the CBEC to bring down import related documentation as well. “These initiatives will hopefully improve India’s ranking and bring it among the top 100 countries, to begin with, in the World Bank report,” the official added. India is currently ranked 142 among 189 countries in the ‘ease of doing business’ index.
The deadline to bring down compulsory documents to three is March 31, the official added. According to the DGFT, the number of mandatory documents required for exports at the moment is five and not seven as mentioned by the World Bank.
No shipping bill needed The Centre has decided to dispense with the need to file shipping bill-customs export declaration and merge the commercial invoice with the packing list.
“Since the RBI can take all information on transactions made in foreign exchange directly from banks, there is no need for a separate filing of shipping bill,” he said. The DGFT is also holding talks with the Shipping Ministry to improve digitisation at ports, which will also cut down transaction time.
The RBI is on board for speedy reduction of mandatory import documentation, the official added. According to estimates made by exporters’ body FIEO, transaction costs could go down by 3 per cent of the total $750 billion of trade, or $22.5 billion, once the Government’s plans are fully implemented. This would give a boost to the country’s exports, which rose by a modest 5 per cent in April-November 2014-15. This is because demand from Western markets is still uneven.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.