DGFT team meets Ludhiana exporters
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| Dr. R. K. Dhawan addressing the meet. On the dais from left are Mr. Sunil Agnihotri, Director, FIEO; Mr. S. C. Ralhan, Chairman(NR), EEPC; Mr. A. K. Malik, Commissioner (CE); Mr. Amitabh Jain, Zonal Jt.DGFT; Mr. R. S. Gujral, DGFT & Mr. Satish Dhanda, FIEO MC Member |
The Director General of Foreign Trade Mr. R.S Gujral, during his address at the Open House on Foreign Trade Policy organized by FIEO in association with Engineering Export Promotion Council at Ludhiana on 22nd December, 2007 said that the Department of Commerce was seriously concerned over exports being affected by rupee appreciation against the dollar. The Open House organized by FIEO was a part of DGFT’s exercise to take inputs from exporters before finalizing the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy for 2008-09 which is generally announced towards the end of the financial year.
While the Government is taking steps to compensate exporters, said Mr. Gujral, exporters on their part should also take measures like hedging their currency risk, diversifying into other markets, developing more new products, reducing cost of production, etc. The DGFT was of the view that time had come when we started looking towards strengthening our base and living with the issue of fluctuating exchange rate, rather than asking the Government to take steps such as fixing the exchange rate saying that such an action would negate he concept of globalization. Meanwhile, he agreed to consider suggestions of the exporters for further procedural simplification to reduce the transaction cost.
Earlier, while welcoming the DGFT and his team, Northern Region Chairman of FIEO Dr. R.K. Dhawan appealed to the Government to reduce the Export Obligation undertaken by the exporters in case of Advance Licenses and EPCG Licences saying that most of the exports were invoiced in dollar and hence exporters were facing difficulties in fulfilling their Export Obligation.
Export Obligation under the EPCG Scheme is linked with the customs duty saved but past average is linked with fob value of export which is quite unfair, added Dr. Dhawan. He suggested that the exporters who have fulfilled their EO against the import of capital goods under the EPCG Scheme should be given one time amnesty with respect to average export by giving them some rebate.
Further, Dr. Dhawan demanded that Customs duty of 5% under EPCG Scheme should be converted into zero duty. He stressed the need for making the EPCG scheme more attractive to accelerate export growth. According to him, providing rebate in export obligation in cases where invoicing is done in currencies other than dollar would provide some relief to the exporters.
FIEO has decided to concentrate on markets where currencies are still stronger and therefore, "all our exhibitions and buyer-seller meets shall be focused on such countries, Dr. Dhawan maintained. At the same time, said he, the Government should consider setting up a kind of hedging corporation so that the exporters remained insulated from exchange rate fluctuations. Moreover, the Government may ensure that all invoicing is done in Indian rupees and converted in the currency of exporters’ choice, he added. He warned that nearly two million workers had lost their job on account of rupee appreciation.
Dr. Dhawan also expressed concern that certain concessions announced by the Government had not trickled down to the exporters. He said it is high time the Government considered announcing a fixed rate of exchange for the exporters and adopted dual currency rate as prevailed in early 1990s.
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Calling service tax exemption on foreign sales commission, foreign traveling expenses, bank charges, participation in trade fairs, courier charges, etc. as another burning issue, Dr. Dhawan demanded that such services should also be brought under exemption net for exporters. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. S.C. Ralhan, Chairman (Northern Region), EEPC urged the DGFT team to provide freight neutralization for exporters of all products from Punjab so as to give them some relief and make their products competitive. |
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A view of the audience. |
Mr. Satish Dhanda, expressed concern over hardening rupee and said that the survival of exporters, particularly small and medium ones, was at stake.
Some of the important issues raised and discussed at the Open House Meet are as under:
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Introduction of import of Capital Goods at "Zero" Duty
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waiver of the condition of maintaining average level of exports under EPCG scheme
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Inclusion of all Latin American and African countries like Ghana, Tanzania, and Kenya. Nigeria in the Focus Market Scheme and also inclusion of labour intensive industries like Cycle components/Fasteners, Hand tools and Hosiery in Focus Product Scheme.
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Advance License, which have shortfall of EO, should be allowed to be clubbed with a license which is valid for import and export in the same licensing year or export obligation has been completed within 30 months.
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One time amnesty to old pending Advance Licenses cases for regularization on nominal composition feen
World Spice Congress - 2008
The three-day World Spice Congress - 2008 is scheduled to be held in Goa from January 28 to 30. Spices Board of India (www.indianspices.com) and All India Spices Exporters’ Forum (www.aisef.com) are teaming up to organize the event.
Around 200 international participants and over 300 Indian participants are expected to take part in the Congress which is held biennially to discuss and deliberate the issues concerning global spice trade.
On the first day, a series of papers will be presented on recent developments in the areas of contaminants and significant changes taking place in the legal and regulatory environment in most countries.
Barbara Gallani from The British Retail Consortium, representing a wide range of British/European retailers, will touch upon issues facing spices in whole, ground, mixed forms or incorporated into food forms.
Larry Keener, co-founder and co-chair of the Global Harmonization Initiative, an organization founded in 2004 to promote harmonization of food safety legislation and regulations worldwide, will deliberate on the need to build initiatives to harmonize food laws around the world.
Martin Mitchell of Certified Labs in the US will cover the differences in analytical results and tests around the world and the means to develop a harmonized system.
Mr. D S Chaddha from the Confederation of Indian Industry will enlighten on the new Common Food law being enacted in India and the new patterns of standards that are evolving in India.
On the second day, issues of trade and commerce, crops and markets and trends in consumption and prices will be focused.
Ian Hart from Public Ledger, a global commodity and agricultural crops/production and price tracking company, will present a paper on production of specific crops in various parts of the world, their price trends and the outlook in coming seasons.
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Daniel Castillo From Givaudan SA, the largest flavour company, will explain how his company perceives developments of trends around the world for spices.
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Steve Rice from RTS Consultants in the UK will reflect on market overview of the world, growth trends, product trends, category trends, consumption trends etc.
The business sessions are held for half days and the rest of the time is available for networking and building relationships. The showcasing of Indian spice industry by a cross-section of the industry will add new dimension to the event.
The World Spice Congress [www.worldspicecongress.com] provides opportunities to meet, interact and understand customers, brokers, regulators and suppliers from around the world.
