SME Times News Bureau | 25 Aug, 2018
In
order to facilitate the export of specialised chemicals falling under
the 'Dual Use' category, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
is actively considering a policy of issuing general and bulk licenses,
drawing upon the templates used by several countries that are members of
multilateral export control regimes.
This was stated by Mr. Sanjay Tiwari,
Deputy Director, Directorate General of Foreign Trade while addressing
the workshop on 'Trading in Strategic and Dangerous Chemicals: What the
Industry needs to know' organised by FICCI in association with the Indian Chemical Council (ICC) and Henry L. Stimson Centre (Washington, DC).
DGFT
is committed to a sustained dialogue to further enhance corporate
compliance so that India maintains its strong non-proliferation record
while also maximizing the opportunity for robust growth in the chemical
sector, he added.
Dr. Anupam Srivastava,
CEO, SafeZone India and Non Resident Fellow, Stimson Centre,
highlighted the need for updated policies, control list and guidelines
upon joining the Australia Group (on Jan 19, 2018), eliciting industry
feedback on whether any process-level simplifications might facilitate
them for meeting their compliance obligations, and the international
best practices in manufacturing and meeting chemical safety and security
standards.
Specialised
Chemicals falling under 'Dual Use' category, i.e. items that have both
civilian and military use, are regulated under Indian export control
list - SCOMET (Strategic Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and
Technologies". All items under this list require licence from DGFT, DAE
or DDP/Ministry of Defence, prior to export of the regulated
commodities.
Ms. Anandi Venkateswaran, Under-Secretary (D&ISA), Ministry of External Affairs said
that robust compliance standards by the industry were crutial in
building trust with foreign partners and forging technology-based
partnerships.
The
workshop witnessed participation from a range of companies from the
Indian Chemicals sector, experts from Government of India, US Department
of Energy, Stimson Centre and the Indian industry who engaged in a
technical and policy discussion relating to trade in dual-use items,
technologies and services.