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Exports and Imports – India

India’s Foreign Trade i.e. Exports and Imports are regulated by Foreign Trade Policy notified by Central government in exercise of powers conferred by section 5 of foreign trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992. Presently Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 is effective from 1st April, 2015. As per FTD & R act, export is defined as an act of taking out of India any goods by land, sea or air and with proper transaction of money.

STARTING EXPORTS

Export in itself is a very wide concept and lot of preparations is required by an exporter before starting an export business. To start export business, the following steps may be followed:

Processing an Export Order

1. Confirmation of order

On receiving an export order, it should be examined carefully in respect of items, specification, payment conditions, packaging, delivery schedule, etc. and then the order should be confirmed. Accordingly, the exporter may enter into a formal contract with the overseas buyer.

2. Procurement of Goods

After confirmation of the export order, immediate steps may be taken for procurement/manufacture of the goods meant for export. It should be remembered that the order has been obtained with much efforts and competition so the procurement should also be strictly as per buyer’s requirement.

3.Finance

Exporters are eligible to obtain pre-shipment and post-shipment finance from Commercial Banks at concessional interest rates to complete the export transaction. Packing Credit advance in pre-shipment stage is granted to new exporters against lodgment of L/C or confirmed order for 180 days to meet working capital requirements for purchase of raw material/finished goods, labour expenses, packing, transporting, etc. Normally Banks give 75% to 90% advances of the value of the order keeping the balance as margin. Banks adjust the packing credit advance from the proceeds of export bills negotiated, purchased or discounted.
Post Shipment finance is given to exporters normally upto 90% of the Invoice value for normal transit period and in cases of usance export bills upto notional due date. The maximum period for post-shipment advances is 180 days from the date of shipment. Advances granted by Banks are adjusted by realization of the sale proceeds of the export bills. In case export bill becomes overdue Banks will charge commercial lending rate of interest.

4. Labeling, Packaging, Packing and Marking

The export goods should be labeled, packaged and packed strictly as per the buyer’s specific instructions. Good packaging delivers and presents the goods in top condition and in attractive way.

Similarly, good packing helps easy handling, maximum loading, reducing shipping costs and to ensuring safety and standard of the cargo. Marking such as address, package number, port and place of destination, weight, handling instructions, etc. provides identification and information of cargo packed.

5. Insurance

Marine insurance policy covers risks of loss or damage to the goods during the while the goods are in transit. Generally in CIF contract the exporters arrange the insurance whereas for C&F and FOB contract the buyers obtain insurance policy.

6. Delivery

It is important feature of export and the exporter must adhere the delivery schedule. Planning should be there to let nothing stand in the way of fast and efficient delivery.

7. Customs Procedures

It is necessary to obtain PAN based Business Identification Number (BIN) from the Customs prior to filing of shipping bill for clearance of export good and open a current account in the designated bank for crediting of any drawback amount and the same has to be registered on the system.

Under EDI System, declarations in prescribed format are to be filed through the Service Centers of Customs. A checklist is generated for verification of data by the exporter/CHA. After verification, the data is submitted to the System by the Service Center operator and the System generates a Shipping Bill Number, which is endorsed on the printed checklist and returned to the exporter/CHA. In most of the cases, a Shipping Bill is processed by the system on the basis of declarations made by the exporters without any human intervention. Where the Appraiser Dock (export) orders for samples to be drawn and tested, the Customs Officer may proceed to draw two samples from the consignment and enter the particulars thereof along with details of the testing agency in the ICES/E system.

8. Customs House Agents

Exporters may avail services of Customs House Agents licensed by the Commissioner of Customs. They are professionals and facilitate work connected with clearance of cargo from Customs.

9. Documentation

FTP 2015-2020 describes the following mandatory documents for import and export.

Preshipment documents :
Invoice, Packing List , DBK declaration, DEEC Declaration

Payment under IGST or LUT/Bond
• Bill of Lading/ Airway bill ( Issued by Shipping Line company – This is a post shipment document )
• Commercial invoice cum packing list
• shipping bill/ bill of export/

(Other documents like certificate of origin, inspection certificate etc may be required as per the case.)

10. Submission of documents to Bank

After shipment, it is obligatory to present the documents to the Bank within 21 days for onward dispatch to the foreign Bank for arranging payment. Documents should be drawn under Collection/Purchase/Negotiation under L/C as the case may be, along with the following documents

– Bill of Exchange
Letter to Bank
– Letter of Credit (if shipment is under L/C) or DA/DP /Advance payment
– Invoice
– Packing List,
– Airway Bill/Bill of Lading
– Certificate of Origin/GSP( Preferential /Non Preferential )
– Inspection Certificate, wherever necessary
– Any other document as required in the L/C or by the buyer or statutorily.

11. Realization of Export Proceeds

As per FTP 2015-2020, all export contracts and invoices shall be denominated either in freely convertible currency of Indian rupees, but export proceeds should be realized in freely convertible currency except for export to Iran.
Export proceeds should be realized in 15 months.( As on 03.08.2020)

FAQ

Goods and Services Tax related to Exports

All exports are deemed as inter-State supplies. Exports of goods and services are treated as zero rated supplies. The exporter has the option either to export under bond/Letter of Undertaking without payment of tax and claim refund of ITC or pay IGST by utilizing ITC or in cash at the time of export and claim refund of IGST paid.
The option of payment of IGST and taking refund is not available in case the exporter has procured the goods under 0.1% scheme. He should avail the LUT facility while exporting such goods so that there is no tax liability at the time of export.
Provisions relating to refund are contained in section 54 of the CGST Act, 2017. It provides for refund of tax paid on zero-rated supplies of goods or services or on inputs or input services used in making such zero-rated supplies, or refund of tax on the supply of goods regarded as deemed exports, or refund of unutilized input tax credit. Identical provisions exist under the IGST Act, 2017 and relevant SGST/UTGST Acts.
These scrips can be utilised only for payment of Basic Customs duty and Safeguard Duty, Transitional Product Specific Safeguard Duty, and Antidumping Duty. In case of non-GST supplies like petroleum products etc, the scrips can also be used for payment of duties like central excise, CVD/ SAD. The scrips cannot be used for payment of any type of GST- IGST/CGST/SGST/UTGST or compensation cess.

Export of goods to Nepal or Bhutan fulfils the condition of GST Law regarding taking goods out of India. Hence, export of goods to Nepal and Bhutan will be treated as zero rated and consequently will also qualify for all the benefits available to zero rated supplies under the GST regime. However, the definition of ‘export of services’ in the GST Law requires that the payment for such services should have been received by the supplier of services in convertible foreign exchange.
No application for refund is to be made for IGST as the Shipping Bill itself is a claim for refund. In the case of refund of IGST paid on exports: Upon receipt of information regarding furnishing of valid return in Form GSTR-3B by the exporter from the common portal, the Customs shall process the claim for refund and an amount equal to the IGST paid in respect of each shipping bill shall be credited to the bank account of the exporter.
It is twelve months from the LEO date or three months from the date of uploading of the EDI Shipping Bill onto DGFT server by the Customs.
The validity of the duty Credit Script is 24 months from the date of issue.
Installation Certificate confirms installation of capital goods at factory/premises of authorization holder or his supporting manufacturer. It may be obtained from Jurisdictional Customs Authority or Chartered Engineering. It is required to be submitted to RA within 6 months from the date of completion of imports.