Central Government invites suggestions for New Foreign Trade Policy (2021-26)

Road to Drafting New Foreign Policy for the Nation

On July 16, 2021, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (“DGFT”) has issued a circular inviting suggestions regarding New Foreign Trade Policy 2021-26. The incumbent Foreign Trade Policy (2015-2020) was extended till 30^th September 2021. In order to prepare a new five-year Foreign Trade Policy (“FTP”), suggestions/inputs are invited from concerned stakeholders.

Stakeholders including Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), Trade/Industry Bodies/Associations, Commodity Boards, RAs and members of the trade, industry are requested to send their suggestions/inputs only through the prescribed format i.e., Google Form, rather than email or paper-based submissions on or before July 31, 2021. Click here to visit the link for the prescribed Google Form and for submitting your suggestions. 

In the backdrop of WTO’s 2019 ruling against India invalidating its domestic export subsidies programmes such as Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS), the new FTP is likely to be in confirmation with WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies & Countervailing Measures (SCM) and other internationally accepted trade practices. According to the media reports and prevalent industry sentiments, some of the expectations from the forthcoming policy are detailed below:

• WTO approved tax incentives and structural support
• Procedural ease such as self-certification for carrying out imports
• Incentives for Research & Development initiatives
• Facilitating hassle-free adoption of Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme
• Robust dispute resolution mechanisms for the swifter resolution of trade disputes

Stakeholders are looking forward to major policy reforms and on that account, we urge the industries to identify lacunae in the existing FTP framework and procedural bottlenecks with respect to sector/business operations and submit insightful suggestions for suitable revisions in the forthcoming policy. An adequate representation before the Government in this regard will help bring beneficial policy reforms for the import-export sector and advance India’s position in international trade.

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