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The Federation of Pharmaceutical Merchant Exporters and Allied Products (FPME) has hailed several measures announced by the Union Finance Minister, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to help the trade and industry in the country which has been badly bit due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the world.
In view of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the time period for realization and repatriation of export proceeds for exports made up to or on July 31, 2020 has been extended to 15 months from the date of export. “This measure will enable the exporters to realise their receipts, especially from COVID-19 affected countries within the extended period and also provide greater flexibility to the exporters to negotiate future export contracts with buyers abroad,” says Ashish Shah, secretary, FPME .
FPME also stated that DGFT extending implementation of track and trace till September 30, 2020, was also a big relief for merchant exporters. Earlier, FPME has also urged the Union government to resolve track and trace issue being faced by the merchant exporters in the country.
“Giving relief in late returns and interest is a welcome move but government should consider waiving interest to everyone whatever the turnover. Currently, they have given full interest waiver to turnover below Rs. 5 crore and 9% interest is still applicable for turnover above Rs. 5 crore. The further extension to current foreign trade policy till March 2021 was a nice step by a year till March 31, 2021, which will again give relief to our members,” Shah added.
The Union government had recently issued a circular clarifying refund related issues. It is clarified that there is no bar in claiming refund by clubbing different month across successive financial years and accordingly restriction on clubbing of refund claims across financial years shall not apply. The merchant exporters are also facing some issues such as non-acceptance of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) drugs, FPME said.
Incorporated on March 30, 2019, FPME today has 130 members in a span of just six months and is planning to add 500 members this year. As per Pharmexcil data, there are approximately 2,000 merchant exporters in the country.
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