The Clothing Manufacturers' Association of India (CMAI) has hailed the mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy announced by the government on the recently as a progressive package to address several issues relating to policy and procedures. In a statement Rahul Mehta, President, CMAI said garment exports from the country have been declining steeply for several months and there are no sign of an early revival of overseas demand. In such a situation, the measures included in the review for facilitating exports and improving ease of doing business will be of great help.
Referring to the extension of the period for using scrips from 18 months to 24 months, he stated coupled with zero rating of GST on the sale of scrips, exporters will now be able to effectively and completely use the scrips. He also welcomed the trade facilitating measures of doing away with testing of samples for drawback purpose and extending the 24x7 clearance to a large number of seaports and airports. Introduction of e-sealing of consignments for exports is another measure that will facilitate exports, he added.
Mehta pointed out that garment exporters often faced problems arising from lack of coordination between commerce and finance departments, especially between DGFT and customs. The National Trade Facilitation Committee headed by the cabinet secretary envisaged the review will go a long way in improving coordination among various government departments and addressing grievances of exporters more effectively and promptly.
The focus of the committee on improving transparency, simplifying procedures and augmenting infrastructure will be of great help to exporters. Mehta welcomed the focus on MSMEs and labour intensive sectors and pointed out the garment sector was highly labour intensive and substantially in the SME sector. While thanking the commerce and industry minister, Suresh Prabhu for the positive measures in the mid-term review, Mehta requested the government to ensure timely refund of GST and drawback to exporters, since delays in these areas have been locking up working capital of exporters.
