Enlistment of Inspection Agency updates authorised inspection and certification list under Foreign Trade Policy compliance.
Administrative amendment to the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) enlists M/s Ravi Energie in Appendix Five (List of Inspection and Certification Agencies) under powers conferred by paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09, updating the official roster of authorised inspection and certification agencies by public notice.

Alternate input permission: acrylic fibre allowed where acrylic tow import is permitted, in the same quantity as tow.
An amendment permits acrylic fibre to be treated as an alternate input wherever import of acrylic tow has been authorised under the General Notes for Textiles, allowing acrylic fibre to be imported in the same quantity as specified for acrylic tow when tow is an approved input.

Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms updates Food Products export description and prescribes specified input allowances.
An amendment to SION in the Handbook of Procedures revises a Food Products SION entry: the export description covers specified rice, grain and prepared rice items with unit 1 Kg, and the prescribed import input allowances are canvas/jute packing material at 1.05 Kg per Kg of relevant packing; LDPE/HDPE/PP granules at 1.10 Kg per Kg of relevant packing; printing ink at 2 grams per sack of minimum 25 Kg capacity; and art paper at 1.05 Kg per Kg content in export packing; other import items remain unchanged.

Amendment to SION updates input specifications for certain oilseed exports, adding raw jute and polymer granules as inputs.
Amendment to the Standard Input Output Norms updates the SION entry for Natural Sesame Seeds, Sun Hemp Seeds, Safflower Seeds, Sesbenia Seeds and Castor Seeds by specifying Raw Jute and Relevant LDPE/HDPE/PP Granules as input items for the export product packaging, with import items otherwise unchanged, for incorporation into the Handbook of Procedures (Vol.2).

Duty credit scrip eligibility extended to barley under VKGUY, enabling exporters to claim benefits from the specified export date.
Amendment to the Handbook of Procedures, Vol. I RE2008 adds Table 14 to Appendix 37A listing new VKGUY products eligible for duty credit scrips. The Director General of Foreign Trade, under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09, inserts an operative entry identifying barley as a VKGUY product entitled to duty credit scrip on exports made from the effective export date specified in the table.

Deemed export consolidated applications permitted for project or recipient claims, filed within a year and not treated as supplementary claims.
Claims for deemed export benefits under para 8.3.1 must be filed as a single consolidated application for all claims arising in a chosen calendar month or quarter; for a particular project or recipient unit, consolidated applications for that period may be filed within twelve months from the period end, and such multiple applications will not be treated as supplementary claims under para 9.4 of HBP Vol. I.

Certificate validity for shipment extended, changing maximum permissible age of nominated-agency certificates and updating Handbook of Procedures.
Handbook of Procedures (Vol I) para 6.5.2 is amended to require that certificates issued by a nominated agency shall not be older than seven working days from the date of shipment, substituting the earlier three working days threshold and thereby changing the temporal validity requirement for nominated-agency certificates presented for export shipments.

Focus Product Scheme addition: small diesel piston engines now eligible for export benefits under amended Appendix.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amended Appendix 37D, Table 11 (K. New Additional Focus Products) to add Compression Ignition internal combustion piston engines (diesel) up to 20 H.P. capacity as a notified Focus Product, and declared that this product is entitled to Focus Product Scheme benefits for exports made with effect from 1.4.2008.

Import licensing for agglomerated stone sets eligibility, floor pricing and annual ceiling; licences subject to actual user and reporting.
Import of rough and unprocessed blocks and slabs of agglomerated and artificial stones is restricted to licensed manufacturers/processors who meet turnover-based eligibility and certification requirements. Licences will bear prescribed cif floor prices for blocks and slabs by origin, individual entitlements are allocated from a fixed annual ceiling on the basis of eligible turnover (with a turnover cap for large units), and all licences are subject to actual user condition and monthly import reporting to the Regional Licensing Authority.

Import licensing for agglomerated stone blocks and slabs: eligibility, floor pricing and pro rata allocation entitlement.
Licensing for import of Rough/unprocessed blocks and slabs of agglomerated/artificial stones is restricted; eligible units (excluding certain EOUs, SEZs and previously licensed units) must have a marble gang saw, be operational before 31.03.2001 and show specified indigenous sales turnover for three financial years. Licences will carry an endorsed floor price, be subject to a national import ceiling, and be allocated pro rata on average turnover with per-unit maximums tied to the number of gang saw machines. Licences are subject to actual user conditions, monthly reporting, prescribed application procedures and prior circular conditions.

GSP certificate issuance expanded: Development Commissioners at specified SEZs authorised to issue certificates for eligible units.
Amendment expands agencies authorised to issue GSP Certificate of Origin, authorising designated Development Commissioners at specified SEZs/EPZs to issue certificates for products manufactured by units and for EOUs within their jurisdiction, and to issue certificates to trading units that meet applicable GSP eligibility conditions, thereby updating Appendix 4-A of the Handbook (Vol. I).

Delisting of inspection and certification agencies: certain firms removed from Appendix 5 under the Foreign Trade Policy, affecting eligibility.
Under paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09, a public notice amends the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) by delisting specified entities from Appendix 5 (List of Inspection and Certification Agencies), naming Alex Stewart International (Australia) Pvt. Ltd. and Interglobe Marine Consultants; the amendment is recorded as issued in public interest and constitutes an administrative change to the roster of recognized inspection and certification agencies.

Varietal identification controls allow export after sampling; discrepancies must be reported to authorities for remedial action.
Exports of specified Basmati and PUSA 1121 non Basmati rice are allowed subject to varietal identification based on grain length and grain length to breadth ratio. Customs may draw random samples and send them to AGMARK testing centres, but will not detain consignments pending test reports. Discrepant test results must be reported to the Zonal Joint DGFT and DGFT Headquarters for remedial action.

Focus Product Scheme eligibility expanded to specified auto and asbestos products for designated export markets.
Amendment adds a set of automotive and asbestos products to Appendix 37D under the Focus Product Scheme, supplying ITC(HS) commodity codes and designated linked export markets; consignments of these products to the specified markets are eligible for benefits under the export incentive provision of the Foreign Trade Policy from the policy's effective export date.

Market Linked Focus Products designation expands to specific motor vehicle categories, enabling export benefits under trade policy.
Amendment adds specific automotive products to the Market Linked Focus Products list in Appendix 37D, specifying motor cars, chassis and motorcycles by ITC(HS) codes and linked export markets, and states that these product market combinations are eligible for benefits under the Focus Product Scheme as provided in the Foreign Trade Policy.

Served from India Scheme frequency rules revised, allowing periodic ANF 3H filings and setting specific SFIS filing deadlines.
Amendments to HBP Vol.1 require a single ANF 3B application for FX of 2007-08 and, for FX in 2008-09, ANF 3H filings at an applicant chosen monthly/quarterly/half yearly/annual frequency (elected with the first application) with on time filing up to 12 months from the end of the relevant period or the fiscal cut off. SFIS deadlines are set (previous year cut off 31 December 2008; current year within six months of the application period end). ANF 3H prescribes detailed applicant data, itemised FX reporting under Para 9.53, entitlement calculation, declarations, and mandatory CA/ICWA/CS certification.

Standard Input Output Norms revised for specified glycol solvent exports, updating permitted input compositions and deleting duplicate entry.
DGFT Public Notice dated 23.9.2008 amends Handbook of Procedures (V2) 2004-2009 by adding new SION entries A-3633, A-3634 and A-3635, revising SION A-3303, and deleting duplicate SION A-3447. Annexure A specifies, for each listed export product, the unit export quantity and the permitted input items with their exact input quantities per unit of export product, thereby prescribing the input output norms to be applied by exporters.

Export town designation expanded to include a new centre for soya meal and soya products, updating the Handbook of Procedures.
The notification inserts a new entry in Appendix 7 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) adding a town as a Town of Export Excellence for the product category of soya meal and soya products, formalising the amendment as a public notice and recording administrative file references.

Additional duty credit scrip entitlement extended to specified cucumber and gherkin exports, effective from the stated export date.
Amendment to Appendix 37A (Table 13, Flower, Fruit & Vegetables) adds specified cucumber and gherkin products to VKGUY; exports made with effect from 1 April 2008 are made eligible for an additional duty credit scrip entitlement over and above normal VKGUY benefits, and a corrigendum clarifies the corrected serial numbers and VKGUY product codes for the new entries.

Standard Input Output Norms amendments revise leather product descriptions and clarify finished leather and processing chemical requirements per pair.
Amendments to the Standard Input Output Norms revise SION G-45 to designate the export item as "Gents Leather Half Boot Lasted Upper with insole" and add a footnote specifying finished leather per pair for processing chemical computations (seven square feet without optional import item 1(a), four square feet if 1(a) is taken). A correction to SION G-3 revises Note 2(iv) to state finished leather input as 1.4 square feet per pair when items 1(a) and 1(b) are both required.