Under the new Foreign Trade Policy 2015 – 20, Group C countries will also get 2 per cent of the FOB value of exports, as reward under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), something which only Group A (Traditional markets) and Group B (Emerging and Focus markets) countries have got till date.
In a press release on Thursday, TEA President Dr A Sakthivel said that in future, exports to any country (all of 239 countries listed under the MEIS) in the world will be eligible for 2 per cent reward.
In the list of countries under Group C, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong have also been included under this benefit. The Group C countries were not eligible to get 2 per cent reward so far, and hence units exporting to these countries were deprived of availing its benefits. But that is no longer the case, bringing all 239 countries under the purview of its benefit. A container ship will no longer need to submit landing certificate any more.
Thanking Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman for this move, Dr Sakthivel said this “positive measure” will enhance the competitiveness of the product being exported to Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.
In this context, FIEO has also lauded the government for its move to dispense landing certificate.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S C Ralhan commended the recent measure by the Commerce Ministry to include additional markets for 2787 tariff lines under the MEIS, calling it a welcome step in the current export slowdown.
Ralhan said that FIEO had been in talks with the government on the issue of landing certificate, which is required for all claims under the MEIS, for which the exporters were paying around Rs 2,000 per shipping bill to shipping companies. According to its estimates, exporters were spending over Rs 700 crore a year on landing certificates. The Government’s new move has extended the MEIS benefit for these items to all groups of countries — Group A, B and C, which will dispense the need of submitting proof of landing certificate by exporters for claiming MEIS benefit for 2787 items.
This is the fourth revision in the MEIS since the Policy was announced, the last revision being held in October, in which 100 tariff lines were added and rates for 2228 tariff lines were amended.
