New Delhi, June 8 (KNN) The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has asked for a reduction in import duty on Cut and Polished Diamonds & Precious and Semi-Precious Gemstones from 7.5% to 2.5% and on Gold from 10% to 4%.

Chairman of GJEPC, Pramod Agrawal made a presentation to the Joint Meeting of the Board of Trade and the Council of Trade Development and Promotion, focusing on some of the critical issues and trade bottlenecks faced by the gem and jewellery export trade.

On behalf of the export industry, he also raised a few critical issues that needed to be addressed, adding that “resolving the same will bring back our sector on the growth track.”

The Council asked for inclusion of gems and jewellery sector under 3% Interest Subvention Scheme on Pre- and Post-Shipment rupee export credit.

It said “In an earlier meeting in January 2019 under the chairmanship of the then Commerce Minister, the industry was expressly assured that gems and jewellery sector will be included under the 416 tariff lines identified under 3% interest subvention scheme (wherein merchant exporters were recently included). However, this has still not happened.”

Besides this, it pointed out that carrying good on consignment for overseas jewellery exhibitions /export promotion tours is a common and popular mode, so sudden imposition of IGST on them has critically affected the trade.

The issue has already been flagged to the senior officials of both Department of Commerce and Department of Revenue, but has still not been resolved, it added.

The Chairman also highlighted a few other issues such as need for allocation of a special package for the gems and jewellery sector to increase its exports and employability in the country; extension of the benefit of 3% IGST exemption to Silver and Platinum and to all the nominated agencies as mentioned in the Para 4.41 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

Recommendations of the Committee under the Chairmanship of Bana Kalyani to study the SEZ policy in the country may be implemented at the earliest for boosting the export of gems and jewellery items from SEZs, it added.

GJEPC also raised the issue of replenishment scheme. It said “Due to certain amendments in the Para 4.34 of Foreign Trade Policy availing of replenishment scheme by exporters has been disallowed. The issue has already been raised numerous times with DGFT, DGEP and Additional DGEP. Small and medium jewellery exporters majorly rely on this scheme.”