Customs dept to seek additional district-level data on goods from exporters

Exporters will need to mention additional information, including district of origin of goods, to customs department from February 15 to help the government fine tune its policies to boost outward shipments.

According to a circular by the Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC), exporters will also have to furnish details like 'the state of origin of goods', 'details of Preferential Agreements under which the goods are being exported, wherever applicable', and 'Standard Unit Quantity Code (SQC)'.

The data will be used for district-level plans for promoting exports as the commerce ministry has initiated a process to prepare a district export plan specific to every state and Union territory to boost exports.

With effect from February 15, 2020, apart from the data/ information required to be furnished in the present electronic form of electronic integrated declaration mentioned in Regulation 3 of Shipping Bill (Electronic Integrated Declaration and Paperless Processing) Regulations 2019, the circular said.

"...Board has decided to incorporate additional attributes in the Shipping Bill to enable the Customs System to capture the districts and states of Origin for goods being exported" as the endeavour of the government is boost domestic manufacturing and exports.

The initiative is also aimed at bringing uniformity with the data/ information captured in the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), it added.

The district level plan of the commerce ministry would include the support required by the local industry to boost their manufacturing and exports with impetus on supporting the industry from the production stage to the exporting stage.

The plan includes strategy to enhance logistics and infrastructure at the district level and better utilisation of the Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme of the ministry for inviting foreign buyers.

Budgetary support will be provided to make outreach at the district level and prepare this plan, the commerce ministry said.

The ministry also said state and UTs will be assisted in preparing an annual Export Ranking Index of different districts to rank each district on its export competitiveness.