Commerce ministry may import monitoring system for leather products

The commerce ministry is considering introducing an import monitoring system for the leather sector, under which a trader will have to provide advance information about the imports and obtain a registration number, an official said.

"Talks are at an early stage on the issue at present," the official said.

Normally under the system, importers are required to submit advance information in an online system for imports of items and obtain an automatic registration number by paying a certain amount of registration fee.

Earlier, the government introduced similar system for sectors like coal and steel.

Imports of leather and leather products dipped by 26.32 per cent to USD 61.62 million. During 2022-23, these imports have recorded a growth of 25.62 per cent to USD 1.02 billion as against USD 819 million in 2021-22.

The ministry is also considering extending some initiatives such as the production-linked incentive scheme to the leather and footwear sector to further promote the growth of this labour-intensive segment.