Panel to draw road map for facilitating trade

The Union government on Friday set up a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) under the cabinet secretary to draw up a WTO-compliant pan-India road map for implementing it.

"The NCTF has been constituted in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) pact in April on Trade Facilitation Agreement (FTA), which India also ratified," said an official statement here.

The panel's secretariat will be located in the office of the Central Board of Excise and Customs in the Directorate General of Export Promotion in the capital.

"The panel will facilitate domestic coordination and implementation of the TFA provisions. It will also synergise the various trade facilitation perspectives across the country and focus on an outreach programme for sensitization of stakeholders about it," the statement pointed out.

"The NCTF composition is inclusive at the national level, comprising secretaries of all key departments involved in trade issues such as revenue, commerce, home, agriculture, shipping and health," the statement noted.

Chairmen of CBEC and Railway Board and Director General Foreign Trade will be members of the committee along with apex trade bodies like CII, FICCI and FIEO.

Customs joint secretary will be the panel's member-secretary.

"The committee will hold its first meeting soon," the statement added.

--IANS

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