Trade in Border Haats: permitted locally produced commodities and vendor eligibility under the India Bangladesh MOU.
Permitted trade at Baliamari-Kalaichar and Lauwaghar-Balat Border Haats under the MOU includes specified locally produced vegetables, food items, fruits, spices, minor forest produce (excluding timber), cottage industry products, small agricultural implements, garments and processed items; locally produced means produce of the concerned border district and commodity clarifications are to be made by the Haat Management Committee, while vendors must be residents within a five kilometre radius and immediate consumption items may be allowed by the Committee.

Export registration requirement for cotton waste: contracts must be registered and shipments completed within the prescribed period to avoid penalties.
Export of cotton waste (ITC(HS) Code 5202) is free but subject to registration of export contracts with DGFT Regional Authorities; applicants must submit the export contract with proof of payment (irrevocable LC, full advance remittance evidence, or minimum advance with CAD), a signed Declaration/Undertaking, and copy of IEC. Shipments must be completed within the prescribed period and proof of export furnished to the RA, failing which debarment and penal action under the Foreign Trade (D&R) Act may follow.

Import of Fuel entitlements clarified: rules differ when fuel is main raw material versus additional input.
Clarification states that when fuel is an additional input entitlement follows the General Note for Fuel; when fuel is the single or basic raw material entitlement must follow SION or, in non SION cases, adhoc procedure under paragraph 4.7 with final adjustment by adhoc norms or SION set by the Norms Committee.

Certificate of Origin authorisation expanded: EIC may issue Certificates under IMCECA following addition to Appendix heading.
Addition of IMCECA to the heading of Appendix 4D of the Handbook of Procedures Vol. I incorporates the India Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement into the Appendix's scope without changing its content. Consequently, the Export Inspection Council remains the authorised agency and is empowered to issue Certificates of Origin under IMCECA, effective from the operative date in the public notice.

Export controls on pharmaceuticals: exporters must provide Certificate of Analysis and permit sample retention for regulatory inspection.
Exporters must furnish a Certificate of Analysis at shipment issued by the manufacturer, an importing country approved laboratory, or a laboratory approved by the Drugs Controller under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act; port drug control officials may retain consignment samples for reference and tracking of the manufacturer or exporter.

Barcode traceability requirement deferred; staggered implementation set for tertiary, secondary and primary packaging with compliance timelines.
Deferment of the mandated trace and track system requires exporters to implement GS1-standard barcode serialization at primary, secondary and tertiary packaging levels with importer-specific exceptions; manufacturers must retain serialized export records for six months post-expiry, authentication features will follow, and a Central Portal will be established for tracing and tracking exports.

Debarment for failure to export cotton bars firms from future allocations; affected exporters may seek rectification with issuing authority.
Exporters issued Registration Certificates who failed to submit required shipment documents within prescribed time or who did not export the full allocated cotton quantity have been compiled by Regional Authorities and listed as defaulters; firms within a five percent tolerance were excluded. Listed exporters are debarred from future allocations and subject to penal action under the FT(D&R) Act, while those disputing recorded shortfall/excess or alleging timely submission may seek rectification from the RC issuing authority within three days with supporting documents.

Standard Input-Output Norms modification allows handles on specified engineering exports and permits additional input materials.
Amendments widen the Standard Input-Output Norms for SIONs C-390 and C-1538 to permit handles made of polypropylene, fiberglass (FRP) or wood and to add corresponding import input items-Roving 4800 Tex Glass, Resin GP/Isothermic, Polypropylene and Relevant Wood Blank-with specified input weights. Notes clarify applicability of fiberglass-plus-PP inputs versus wood blanks and provide for proportionate calculation of inputs where handle weight differs from the stated baseline.

Standard Input-Output Norms amendment sets allowed lug cap inputs and limits CIF value of certain imports relative to FOB.
Amendment to SION C-773 broadens the lug cap product description to include plain and printed lug caps and lists permitted imported inputs-Electrolytic Tin Plate, PVC lining compound, internal primer and adhesive lacquers, external base coat, and varnish-with specified quantities per kg of export product. The amendment also allows printing inks as an additional input for printed lug caps and imposes CIF value caps on specified imported inputs relative to the FOB value of exports to facilitate import of raw materials.

Export allocation rules for cotton: pro rata registration with eligibility tied to prior year export performance and compliance.
Allocation and registration for the additional cotton export quantity is available only to exporters with cotton exports in either of the two preceding cotton years; allocation is on a pro rata basis with a per IEC ceiling of 4,250 MT and a floor of 100 MT, and applicants may seek up to the higher of their prior year exported quantities (subject to the ceiling), with all applications in metric tonnes.

Extension of DEPB Scheme: operative period prolonged, allowing DEPB benefits to continue until 30 September 2011.
The Director General of Foreign Trade amends Para 1.1 of the Handbook of Procedures v1 to replace the phrase limiting the DEPB Scheme to 30th June 2011 with a provision that the DEPB Scheme shall continue to be operative till 30th September 2011, while HBP v.1, HBP v.2 and the Schedule of DEPB rates remain in force until 31st March 2014.

Deemed export policy review invites stakeholder submissions and offers presentations; comments to be emailed to designated contacts.
Review of the Deemed Export Policy requests written suggestions by email to two designated contacts within the prescribed comment period, with senders asked to include contact details; interested parties may also request to make in person presentations, and dates for interactive sessions will be announced on the Department's website.

Declaration of intent on Free Shipping Bills now required to claim FTP chapter benefits, with exemptions for other schemes.
A Declaration of Intent - "We intend to claim chapter 3 benefits" - must be stated on Free Shipping Bills to be eligible for Chapter 3 FTP benefits; this declaration is not required for schemes under Chapter 4 (including drawback), Chapter 5 or Chapter 6. For products or markets newly included for Chapter 3 benefits, a one month grace period from the date of decision/notification/public notice applies, after which the declaration is mandatory; exports made prior to the decision/notification/public notice do not require the declaration.

Served From India Scheme revised ANF 3B introduced with EDI filing, updated appendix applicability and documentation requirements.
Revised ANF 3B is mandated for claiming Served From India Scheme benefits, replacing the previous form in HBP Vol.1. Applicants earning foreign exchange under the prior and amended appendices must use this form; it requires applicant and RCMC details, service category per applicable appendix, fixed application frequency for the financial year, detailed foreign exchange entries across Para 9.53 supply categories, total in rupees and entitlement calculation, port of registration, and number of split certificates. Electronic filing data, a signed declaratory undertaking, and a prescribed CA/ICWA/CS certificate with supporting evidence must accompany submissions.

Declaration of Intent requirement on free shipping bills enables claim of Chapter Three benefits when properly recorded or customs attested.
Exporters must include a Declaration of Intent on free shipping bills to claim Chapter Three benefits; the declaration may be placed in the product description column or be the scheme name or a manual statement attested by customs, and such shipping bills will be accepted by Regional Authorities. The declaration is not required for shipments under FTP chapters four, five or six.

Input eligibility expanded to include alloy and non alloy HR coils/plates, with export description amended accordingly.
The SION is amended to permit HR coil/plates made of alloy steel as well as non alloy steel at Sl. No. 1, and the export description is revised to allow Non Alloy/Alloy Steel submerged arc welded pipes or hot formed steel bends; no other changes to permitted inputs or quantities are made.

Bonus benefit to silk carpets expanded to include ITC HS code 57019090 when shipping bill cites drawback code 570102.
An amendment adds ITC HS code 57019090 with drawback code 570102 to the Focus Product Scheme list of silk carpets eligible for bonus benefits; the bonus will be granted only if the shipping bill mentions drawback code 570102, thereby treating such exports as within the scheme's scope.

CXL Concessions Sugar quota allocation: designated agency may export to EU subject to certificate of origin and customs endorsement.
Allocation of 10,000 MT of CXL Concessions Sugar for export to the EU for fiscal 2010-11 under Foreign Trade Policy paragraph 2.4, with M/s Indian Sugar Exim Corporation Limited designated as the export agency under HS Code 17010000. Exports require a certificate of origin per Regulation (EEC) No. 2454/93 as referenced in Regulation (EC) No. 891/2009; the GSP certificate is to be issued by the Export Inspection Agency/DGFT and the EUR form endorsed by Customs at shipment.

Export Promotion Council listing changes RCMC issuer for jute exporters, with prior certificates remaining valid until expiry.
The Handbook of Procedures Appendix 2 entry for the jute sector is amended to recognise a designated jute products export council with specified offices and jurisdiction over all jute and jute derived products. RCMCs previously issued by the prior issuing body remain valid until expiry, but going forward RCMCs for exporters of jute and jute products shall be issued by the newly listed export promotion council, effecting a transfer of RCMC issuing authority.

SEZ port codes published; applicants must use designated codes when filing applications under SEZ Act procedures.
Publication of designated SEZ port codes for twenty-four Special Economic Zones and instruction that applicants must use these codes in filings under the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-14 and the SEZ Act and Rules; the circular lists each SEZ with its corresponding LOCODE and advises applicants to apply the listed codes in all relevant application forms and electronic filings.