Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked exporters to provide details of any non-tariff barriers in foreign markets to the government, so that the issue can be taken up with those countries.

“Please convey if you are victims of non-tariff barriers. We will take it up with those countries and try to sort it out. If our concerns are not addressed, we can take retaliatory action,” Goyal said when speaking at the awards function of Capexil (Chemicals and Allied Products Export Promotion Council) on Wednesday.

‘Government willing to listen’

The Commerce and Industry Minister said that in the chemicals and allied sectors, there is a lot of potential to be tapped, and said that it was time for the entire sector to make a combined effort to take up new challenges, set higher goals and aspire for extraordinary results.

“The story of each of these sectors is that of huge potential…This is a listening government that acts on what you demand from it. Please be willing to demand what the government can do to support your efforts to do better,” he said.

Referring to a suggestion made by an industry member, the Minister said that there was a proposal to put in place a process that would make it very difficult for any government department or inspector to stop an an export unit in the manufacturing sector without an order from the very top.

“The idea is that production for exports should not be allowed to be stopped at any flimsy excuse. Will take it up in the next meeting of the Board of Trade,” Goyal said.

The Minister added that the future of the country lies in the success of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, and urged industries to demand support of the Government in development of clusters near ports, availability of land in bulk, common effluent treatment plants and common testing facilities.

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