SME Times News Bureau | 06 Nov, 2019
In a long awaited move to make
export of Khadi, exclusively categorized from the general league of textile
products, the ministry of commerce and industries has allocated separate HS
code for Khadi products.
Khadi and Village Industries
Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that this decision of
government will open a new chapter in the field of Khadi export.
Earlier, Khadi did not have
its exclusive HS code. As a result, all the data regarding export of this
signature fabric used to come as a normal fabric under the textile head, he
said.
Now, we will be able to keep a
constant eye not only on our export figures, but it will also help us in
planning our export strategies, he added.
HS Stands for Harmonized
System and it is a six digit identification code. It was developed by the WCO
(World Customs Organization) and custom officers use HS Code to clear every
commodity that enters or crosses any international border.
Khadi and Village Industries products
are eco-friendly and natural, and are in great demand in the International
Markets.
Recognizing its potential to
generate exports and its eco-friendly importance, the Ministry of Commerce had
accorded deemed Export Promotional Council Status (EPCS) to KVIC in 2006, to
boost the export of Khadi products.
However in the absence of
separate HS code, the export of Khadi products was difficult to categorize and
calculate.
The KVIC Chairman added that
getting exclusive HS code would have remained a mirage for KVIC, had Union MSME
Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitaraman not taken personal interest in it.