The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification wef today, in which the number of mandatory documents required for export & import of goods is reduced to 3 documents each.
In this context, the Department of Commerce in Jul’14 had established an Inter Ministerial Committee under the Chairmanship of DGFT. Furthermore, the committee scheduled detailed discussions with all stakeholders and the concerned Departments /Ministries/ Agencies to study the ground situation.
In Dec’14, the committee submitted its ‘Trading Across Borders’ report to the Prime Minister’s Office. Based on the report, RBI agreed to abolish the ‘Foreign Exchange Control Form’ by constituting the declaration in ‘Shipping Bill’ (for exports) It also agreed to dispense with the ‘Foreign Exchange Control Form (Form A-1)’ (for imports).
In addition, customs agreed to merge the Commercial Invoice with Packing List and issued a circular for accepting ‘Commercial Invoice cum Packing List’ that constitutes the essential details of both the documents. However, exporters & importers have the option of filing both separately.
Shipping Ministry has also agreed to abolish the requirement of terminal handling receipt and make the process online.
Mandatory Documents for Export & Import
| S. N | Export | Import |
| 1 | Bill of Lading/ Airway Bill | Bill of Lading/ Airway Bill |
| 2 | Commercial Invoice cum Packing List | Commercial Invoice cum Packing List |
| 3 | Shipping Bill/ Bill of Export | Bill of Entry |
Benefit for Exporters & Importers
This step to reduce the number of mandatory documents would result in corresponding reduction in transaction cost & time. It is also anticipated that this would not only facilitate the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ with respect to f ‘Trading Across Borders’, but also improve India’s ranking on this parameter.
To view notification click here
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