On 28th August, 2009, an event of both National & International importance took place in New Delhi that India’s Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr. Anand Sharma unveiled the Foreign Trade Policy. Although there remains a mixed trend on the implementation of this policy, the major portion of economists and statesmen are of the opinion that the anticipated impact of this reformation will be sufficient enough to safeguard and rejuvenate India’s down-turned economy to a significant extent.

This policy is mainly focused for ensuring a stable environment Government support, incentives and policy initiatives, which will encourage in enhancing confidence to make Indian exporters globally competitive. In addition to this, technology up-gradation and cutting of the transaction cost are the other two factors influencing this policy formulation.

The New Foreign Trade Policy - steps being applied by the Government are: a) to reduce the number of procedural red tapes, b) explorate new potential markets, c) encouraging financial incentives.

In order to make the endeavour really successful, India has embarked on an ambitious initiative of market expansion and diversification; accordingly we have added 26 markets in Latin America, Oceania and Caribbean under the Focus Market Scheme (FMS) and further added another 13 under the market-linked Focus Product Scheme (FPS). Moreover, incentive schemes are being rationalized to identify leading products which would catalyse the next phase of export growth. Apart from this, the Government will strive to get rebates in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on exporters for all indirect taxes and levies and practicing a nation-wide uniform GST from next year, which would subsume the complex web of indirect taxes being enforced by various State Governments.

In the context of the issue of non-tariff barriers, it is envisaged that as we have safer mechanisms and directorates for anti-dumping. The country can take corrective action by levying anti-dumping duties or any other special safeguarding duties over and above the other quantitative restrictions – if the situation presents itself. The Commerce Minister specially emphasized that by the word ‘safeguard’ it means it should there be a such situatione where the domestic industry is adversely affected by the gush which distorts prices or lowers the domestic price. Then the traffic bar can be raised to a reasonably convenient and comfort level so as to streamline trading, because the common tendency to put up protectionist barriers in difficult times can be harmful both ways.

Federation of Indian Export Organization expressed their further wish “The introduction of zero duty capital goods scheme will add to expansion and modernization of production base at a time when investment is drying up in export industries.”

Notwithstanding the mixed trend and opinion of the newly announced India’s Foreign Trade Policy, let us have positive thinking only and let this endeavour be a ‘panacea’ to safeguard and preserve our Export Industry from the agony of economic recession the soonest..!!

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