IANS
The
Standing Committee for Promotion of Exports (Shipping) held its 51st
Session on June 3, 2022 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. It was chaired by
the Special Secretary of the Logistics Division, DPIIT and witnessed a
proactive participation from industry associations and organisations
such as INSA, FFFAI, CFSAI AMTOI, IPA, FICCI, CBIC, and FIEO.
The forum
also saw representation of senior officials from CBIC, DGFT, MoPSW and
representatives from all major ports of India who were present together
on a single platform to address concerns of industry associations.
Since
the launch of PM GatiShakti on 13 October 2021, the focus on resolving
user issues by overcoming departmental silos has been an essential
commitment of the government. To achieve such improvement in regulatory
interfaces and reduce gaps in regulatory architecture, the existing
institutional mechanism of SCOPE is being utilised to overcome any
procedural, policy, or performance bottlenecks that may hinder the
export potential of the country.
Today, the forum not only marked its
first session after the COVID-19 pandemic but also its first meeting
after India had successfully surpassed the US$ 400 billion dollar target
for exports in FY 2021-22.
Acknowledging
the importance of the shipping community towards realising India’s EXIM
targets and the promotion of Make In India, the Chairperson highlighted
the need for a ‘whole of government’ approach to address the new-age
concerns of trade in the country.
Furthermore, the role of technology in
order to mediate, facilitate, and overcome procedural delays in
shipping was also highlighted by the government. In accordance with the
commitments made under PM GatiShakti, the Chairperson expressed a
further need for government institutions to break their operational
silos and work together with the private sector to create national
infrastructure that can further improve shipping in India, and at the
same time, reduce the cost of logistics for Indian goods.
In
the session, all issues received from the industry associations were
categorised into three major cohorts - i) Procedural issues; ii) Issues
impacting logistics costs; and, iii) Technology related issues to
enhance EXIM efficiency. Under procedural issues, the industry
associations suggested
Several
positive alterations in some key processes, such as allowing the
efficient use of existing Container Freight Stations (CFSs) by
converting them into MMLP and increasing the date of filing departure
manifests to expand the scope of transshipment through India. Receiving
the suggestions on a positive note, the senior representatives from
Department of Revenue and MoPSW assured industry associations to
re-examine any procedural issues that may hinder India’s EXIM efficiency
and to further reach out to concerned industry associations and
government stakeholders with workshops and video conferences to clarify
any procedural ambiguities within the next quarter.
Since
logistics costs comprise a critical component of India’s trade
competitiveness, issues such as port charges and charging of security
deposits by private shipping companies to traders were mutually
deliberated in the forum.
Reiterating the commitment of PM GatiShakti,
the Chairperson advised the shipping associations to implement uniform
best practices across the country to make Indian exports more
competitive in the global markets. Government agencies present in the
forum also agreed to examine issues of trade associations on a
case-to-case basis to further reduce logistics costs wherever feasible
to make Indian exports more competitive globally.
The
forum was in broad agreement that wider adoption of technology
solutions, such as the Port Community Systems, can reduce the turnaround
time of Indian ports. It is also expected to further reduce logistics
costs for Indian traders, and at the same time, improve India’s
competitiveness globally. Capacity building workshops by concerned
government stakeholders to promote the use of technology platforms in
shipping were recommended by the forum.
For efficient registration and
monitoring of authorised stakeholder issues, along with seamless
coordination among concerned Ministries/Departments, a user interaction
dashboard is also under-development by the Logistics Division of DPIIT.
Such a digital platform is expected to enable the industry to highlight
points of discussion to the government through a single window system
throughout the year in a transparent manner.