AEPC seeks major changes in Special Advance Authorisation scheme

New Delhi, Dec 3 (KNN) Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) sought key changes in Special Advance Authorisation scheme, resolution of operational issues for Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and redressal of the issue of duty disadvantage in overseas markets by entering into early negotiations of Free Trade Agreements (FTA)/ Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

“The Special Advance Authorisation scheme is specifically meant for the apparel sector. AEPC has suggested issuance of Special Advance Authorisations to the apparel sector on self-declaration and self-ratification basis,” AEPC Chairman Dr A Sakthivel said at the virtual meeting called by Board of Trade to seek suggestions on new Foreign Trade Policy which was chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

“At present, the facility of self-certification and self-ratification, available under Advance Authorisation scheme to other sectors, is not available to the apparel sector. In cases where Standard Input-Output Norms (SION) are not there, exporters in the apparel sector have to wait for a longer period for getting SION fixed in the norms committee.

“So, for faster clearances of these cases, facilities of self-certification and self-ratification must be made available to the apparel sector as well,” Dr Sakthivel said.

As the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has also been extended to the apparel sector which requires huge capital investment, the Council has suggested changes in the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme to take care of the growing need of capital investment in the sector, the Chairman added.

Dr Sakthivel also recommended that the entire process of flagging an exporter as a “risky exporter” to removal of the flag and resumption of refunds should be completed within 30 days, and a protocol must be developed for transparent flow of information. In many cases, the entire process takes more than a year impacting the exporter.

In furtherance of the overall agenda of export promotion, he stressed on the need for addressing the issues of duty disadvantage in the overseas market through FTA.

“India has been facing duty disadvantages against competitors in major overseas destinations like the UK, EU and Canada. Indian apparels face a 9.6 per cent tariff disadvantage in the UK and EU, and 17.5 per cent in Canada against countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia due to the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP),” the Chairman said.

 AEPC has proposed FTAs with the UK, EU and the US, and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Canada and Australia for better market access.