The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has enabled automated issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates (FSC) on its portal, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at reducing processing time and easing compliance for exporters.

Under the new mechanism, eligible applications for FSCs will be processed automatically in line with the prevailing regulatory framework, without being routed for manual scrutiny by the Regional Authorities (RAs) of DGFT.

Free Sale and Commerce Certificates are issued to exporters under the Foreign Trade Policy for products that are not covered under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940. So far, such applications have been examined and verified manually by the concerned DGFT Regional Authorities before the certificates are issued.

The ministry said the automated system is expected to significantly reduce processing time for a substantial category of FSC applications and minimise the compliance burden associated with the earlier manual process.

However, applications that require verification or do not meet the parameters prescribed for automated processing will continue to be referred to the concerned Regional Authority for manual scrutiny.

The DGFT has also built in risk-based oversight into the system. Certain applications that are approved automatically may subsequently be flagged to the concerned Regional Authority for review based on the system's risk management parameters.

The ministry said the initiative is aimed at reducing avoidable manual intervention while improving the predictability and speed of certificate issuance for eligible exporters.

By introducing automated, rule-based processing along with risk-based review, the measure is expected to make the issuance of Free Sale and Commerce Certificates more efficient, transparent and predictable for both exporters and the authorities administering the process.

The move is part of the government's continuing efforts to promote ease of doing business for the exporting community and streamline trade-related regulatory processes through greater use of technology.