Under the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), which also envisions the formation of a “whole of government” ministerial panel to address the complaints of small exporters, exporters may soon be able to obtain insurance coverage for some losses incurred as a result of countries’ unexpected imposition of trade barriers.
Through the export assurance programme, the government would broaden the definition of “political risk” to include any new non-tariff barriers imposed by importing nations after a shipment has left Indian soil.
The new FTP specifies that “some of the anti-dumping measures or non-tariff obstacles established after a shipment has been made will come under the purview of the political risk.”
Moreover, the FTP eliminates a previous requirement for importers who keep their goods in bonded warehouses, This required them to export those goods once they were cleared for domestic use, which might take up to a year or “such extended term as the customs authorities may permit.”
