Exporter status certificates to be issued based on available data: Govt

Exporter status certificate will now be issued based on the available electronic data, and traders will not have to apply to get the recognition, the commerce ministry said on Monday.

These certificates provide certain privileges, including simplified procedures under foreign trade policy (FTP) and priority custom clearances on a self-declaration basis, exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks, and exemption from filing bank guarantees for FTP schemes.

Upon achieving prescribed export performance, status recognition as one, two, three, four and five-star export houses is accorded to the eligible applicants as per their export performance.

The new system-based automatic 'Status Holder' certificates under the FTP 2023 were unveiled in a meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal with the Export Promotion Councils here.

"Now, the exporter will not be required to apply to the office of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for a Status Certificate and the export recognition will be provided by the IT system based on available Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) merchandise export electronic data and other risk parameters," it said.

The move, it said will help in reducing compliance burden and promote ease of doing business.

At present, the exporter is required to file an online application along with an export certificate from a chartered accountant for a grant of status.

The DGFT Regional Offices are supposed to issue the certificate in three days.

The ministry said that the new arrangement will lead to a simplified regime where no applications are invited from exporters and the certification is granted every year in August based on annual export figures available with the partner government agency - DGCIS.

Exporters who are eligible for a higher status based on additional export data relating to services export, deemed exports or double weightage to some entities like MSME, which is not getting captured in disaggregated form presently, can apply online for a status modification also at a later date.

With the launch of this new system, the ministry will be recognising about 20,000 exporters under FTP as Status Holders, which will be a quantum jump from the earlier number of 12,518 exporters.

The biggest increase in status certification is seen in the 1 Star category, which is the lowest category and requires an export performance of at least USD 3 million in the last three preceding financial years plus the three months of the current financial year.

"This will enable the government to handhold a larger number of small exporting entities and create a vibrant export ecosystem and help reach our export target of USD 2 trillion by 2030," it said.

Commenting on this, the Federation of Indian Export Organisation said that now the certificate will be issued without any application and documents based on the details of shipment and e-BRC (bank realisation certificate) from banks online.

"This is a major step toward reducing transaction cost and time and a further step in automation. Over 15,000 exporters will be benefitted from this facility which will get 1 Star to 5 Star recognition on a real-time basis," the organisation said.