New Delhi The government may opt for a foreign trade policy that lasts less than five years as originally targeted, allowing it to quickly intervene and make changes if necessary in a volatile global economic environment.
The Foreign Trade Policy for 2022-27, which was to be announced on September 30, was postponed last month due to last month change in plans.
The Center expects exports to grow to around $460 billion in this financial year, an increase of about 9% over the previous year. However, exports fell to a 19-month low of 4.8 per cent in September.
Commerce Department officials said the five-year trade policy may lose its relevance as the government is announcing changes and changes to boost exports in any case.
“We may see a foreign trade policy for a short period, perhaps till 2025, and not necessarily a five-year FTP. When tweaking is required, one cannot wait for five years. The way five-year plans do. has lost relevance to the economy, a five-year FTP may not be very beneficial,” said an official.
“Earlier exporters had to wait for five years of foreign trade policy to launch any new scheme, like duty exemption scheme, etc. We’ve already done that and haven’t waited for FTP to start. We are already introducing minor changes and relaxation of procedures, and IT enablement so that people do not have to visit government offices unnecessarily,” the official said.
Last year, the government launched World Trade Organization compliant schemes including Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RODTEP) and Remission of State and Central Levies and Taxes (ROSCTL) schemes.
The trade policy to be announced last month was expected to have new chapters on e-commerce, districts as export hubs and SCOMET – dual-use goods of civil, industrial and military use – with special emphasis on them.
The Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, which was to end on 31 March 2020, has been extended four times so far – first due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and most recently due to global economic uncertainties. It is now valid till 31 March 2023.
Questions emailed to the Department of Commerce last week remained unanswered as of press time.
Ajay Sahai, director general and chief executive of Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), said a five-year FTP was needed to help exporters plan better. “While we agree that international trade is highly dynamic and requires prompt intervention to address emerging challenges, a long-term foreign trade policy provides a stable regime that helps exporters and manufacturers plan accordingly. is,” he said. “We can have a policy in which macro parameters remain unchanged, although micro-interventions are made in time to meet global trade events,” Sahai said. The World Trade Organization has projected that global trade growth will slow to 1% in 2023 from 3.5% in 2022.
Sanjay Budhia, chairman of the CII National Committee on EXIM, said that though it is important to be proactive and responsive to facilitating plans or short-term policies and to address challenges, the five-year policy “has an important role to play in accelerating economic flows”. To support India and a globally oriented economy.” To reach the target of $1 trillion exports each for the merchandise and services sectors, key stakeholders including central and state governments and relevant policy makers from Indian missions and industry Effective cooperation between the two countries is important,” he said.
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