Question : INTER MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE ON EXPORT IMPORT



(a) whether the Government has set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to study and recommend ways to reduce the number of mandatory documents required for export and import;

(b) if so, the details and the terms of reference thereof;

(c) whether the Committee has since submitted its report;

(d) if so, the recommendations made by the Committee and the follow-up action taken by the Government thereon; and

(e) the other measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to cut transaction cost for exporters, boost outward shipments and to improve India`s ranking in ease of doing business in the world?

Answer given by the minister


THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) & (b) Yes, Madam. The Committee was constituted on July 15, 2014. Terms of Reference of the committee included study and analysis of export and import documents mentioned in the “Trading Across Borders” section of the “Doing Business Report 2014” published by World Bank and to identify such documents which can be removed/merged/ rationalized.

(c ) & (d) The Committee submitted its report on 10-12-2014 and made recommendations for reducing number of documents as well as other measures for reducing cost and time required for exports and imports from India. As a follow up action, Government has reduced the number of mandatory documents required for exports and imports from India to three each.

(e) Following major Trade Facilitation measures have been adopted by the Government:

i. About 89% of export and 93% import transactions (2013-14 data) were processed at Customs through the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system.

ii. Customs clearance of specified export goods takes place on 24x7 basis from 18 sea ports and 17 air cargo complexes.

iii. Electronic Bank Realization Certification (eBRC) system introduced by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) ensures secured online flow of export related Foreign Exchange realization information from Banks to DGFT.

iv. Exporters can file online applications to avail benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy Schemes.