The Commerce and Industry Ministry seeks to have stern scrutiny of the goods imported from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and the ASEAN bloc due to the fear of Chinese imports being routed through these countries. Fast-Tracking Amendments to the Customs Law have been implemented to tighten the rules to claim concessional benefits under India’s free-trade pacts.
The ministry has requested the finance ministry to introduce stringent provisions related to rules of origin, to empower customs officers for checking the abuse of FTAs.
“We will scrutinize imports coming from third countries and not clear suspicious consignments. There is complete sync in the government at top levels that unnecessary imports need to be blocked,” said a senior official.
The move comes on the heels of India imposing 100% physical checks of shipments from China.
“The process of notifying the new rules has begun,” said another person in the know.
As per the rules, the submission of a certificate of origin “shall not absolve the importer of the responsibility to exercise reasonable care”. In certain cases, the certificate of origin shall be marked inapplicable.
The government is already putting together details of the installed capacities of local industry for goods that India trades under free trade and bilateral agreements under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement, South Asian Free Trade Area, the Asean group, and bilateral pacts with Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Sri Lanka.
