Assorted articles and Information

India’s exports will touch $200 billion in 2009, according to a majority of CEOs polled by CII. The polled CEOs feel India would become a major player in the global market provided the government ensures stability without any mid-term changes in policy. The government is likely to announce the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy on 4th April,2008.
India had set an export target of $160 billion for this fiscal, which is likely to fall short due to rupee appreciation. According to sources, the government may raise export target by 30 per cent for 2008-09 to $200-$225 billion.
The polled corporate bosses said that if the number of different export promotion schemes were to be brought down this year, then schemes like Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB), Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG), Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) should continue. The DEPB scheme and interest subvention to specified sectors would be over by March 31, 2008.
The government should continue simplifying export and import procedures for small and medium enterprises, which contribute a large portion of total exports from the country, said the CEOs surveyed by CII. The government should enhance the powers of regional and zonal offices of the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to ensure quick local approvals to exporters. Presently, the cases are sent to the head office of DGFT in New Delhi for approval. According to the poll, there is a need for a mechanism to control sudden increase in sea freight. There has been a 61 percent increase in sea freight last year, which made exports uncompetitive.

The Government has initiated consultations with industry stakeholders in order to formulate a policy on import of Re-manufactured Goods as well as seek clarity on the definition of such goods and the impact of their imports on the domestic industry.
[Remanufacturing is a process where a particular product is taken apart, cleaned, repaired, and then reassembled to be used again.]
while the issue of safety, dumping and unfair price competition were matters of concern in liberalising trade in re-manufactured goods, industry would have to ask itself whether India, which is unfledged does not have big brands as yet, would have an export interest in such goods.
The developed countries, have big brands and they would be only too keen to have market access in large consuming countries like India for selling re-manufactured goods that were as good as new at half the cost.
Consultations
There is need for a definition and clarity on the scope of re-manufactured goods as also the impact these would have on the domestic industry.
There was need to look at re-manufacturing as a holistic and futuristic concept, address the definitional aspect and examine India’s potential in the area before the country’s position can be concretised for negotiations. Such industry consultations, would greatly help the government in arriving at an informed decision for taking it up.
Consultations with industry bodies of the automotive components, hardware and engineering to seek views on domestic sensitivity to re-manufactured goods, export potential to markets with low purchasing power and enforceability of standards and regulations on the goods is essential.
Under the current Foreign Trade Policy, import of re-manufactured goods is allowed only against licences. However, the goods have not been defined in the policy.
There would be issues such as customs valuation, IPR (intellectual property rights) and misclassification and identification of industry spread.
The issue of liberalising trade in Remanufactured Goods under Market Access for Non-Agricultural Products has come to the fore following the circulation of a U.S. paper to the Negotiating Group on Market Access.