Import monitoring system being built for several sectors: Commerce Ministry

The commerce ministry on Wednesday said an import monitoring system is being developed for several sectors, including aluminium, copper, footwear, furniture, sports goods, and gym equipment.

The system would help gather advanced information on imports of these products and make it available to the stakeholders, including government and domestic industries. The system is already in place for steel and coal.

"Import monitoring system (IMS) is being developed for aluminium, copper, footwear, furniture, paper, sports goods, gym equipment etc," the ministry said while enlisting significant highlights of the Department of Commerce during 2020.

It also said that India had supplied around 45 tons and 400 million tablets of Hydroxychloroquine to about 114 countries.

Besides, the country has provided around 96 million tablets of Paracetamol to 24 countries.

For trade facilitation, about a 1.3 lakh Certificate of Origin has been issued through an electronic platform, it said.

During April 1 and December 30, the directorate general of trade remedies (DGTR) has initiated 43 anti-dumping, four countervailing duty, and one safeguard investigations to support domestic manufacturers.

"Average time taken to initiate an anti-dumping investigation has been brought down from 43 days in 2018-19 to 33 days in 2019-20 and the average time for completing an investigation has been brought down to 234 days in 2019-20, from 281 days during 2018-19 and more than 400 days in previous years," it added.

Technical regulations were formulated for 176 products (worth USD 49.9 billion), and similar norms for 371 goods are in progress.

Further, the ministry said that till date, a total of 40 projects have been approved under the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), out of which eight projects have been completed.

Till date, a total of 40 projects have been approved under the Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), out of which eight projects have been completed.

The scheme helps involve states in promoting export activities in the country.