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The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has introduced a set of reforms to improve the functioning of Norms Committees under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), aimed at faster disposal of Advance Authorisation applications and easing process for exporters.
In an official statement, the ministry stated that the move comes as part of the government's broader push to enhance ease of doing business and reduce delays in approvals under export-linked schemes. The Ministry noted that "DGFT administers the Advance Authorisation (AA) Scheme and the Duty-Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) Scheme under the Foreign Trade Policy. These schemes allow duty-free import of inputs that are physically incorporated in export products." At present, seven such committees operate across sectors, comprising technical experts and officials from various ministries. However, their functioning had been impacted by capacity constraints, leading to a rise in pending applications. To address this, the government has introduced process and capacity-related reforms. These include fixed scheduling of meetings on a fortnightly basis, prioritisation of long-pending cases, and time-bound finalisation of meeting minutes. Monitoring mechanisms for pendency and case ageing have also been strengthened. In addition, line ministries have been asked to nominate more technical experts to the committees. As part of this effort, the number of technical members has increased from 12 to 22, improving the committees' ability to handle a higher volume of cases. A special disposal drive has also been launched to clear pending applications in a time-bound manner, with cases being taken up in chronological order to ensure transparency. According to the ministry, these measures have already begun to show results. Between January 2026 and April 7, 2026, a total of 38 committee meetings were held, during which 3,925 cases were reviewed and 1,770 cases disposed of. The reforms are expected to reduce transaction costs, shorten approval timelines, and provide greater predictability for exporters, particularly small and medium enterprises. The ministry will continue to refine the norms mechanism to support export growth and improve overall trade facilitation. (ANI)
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