Installation certificate delay: submit acknowledgment plus Chartered Engineer certificate to validate capital goods installation when authority does not respond.
If the Central Excise installation certificate is not issued within 30 days of acknowledgment, the trade may submit the acknowledgment plus a Chartered Engineer certificate confirming installation of the capital goods within six months of import, together with a declaration that no deficiency has been raised and the original acknowledgment has not been recalled; these documents will be accepted by the DGFT office.

Export Obligation Period extension to 36 months applies to eligible advance authorisations; request on plain paper and no fee.
The Export Obligation Period under the Advance Authorisation Scheme is extended to 36 months and this extension applies to all advance authorisations that are within 36 months from their issue date as on 26th February, 2009 or thereafter. Composition fees already deposited before that date for earlier EOP extensions are not refundable. Applicants must file a plain paper request to the Regional Authority for endorsement to 36 months without any specified format or composition fee; authorisations issued on or after 26th February, 2009 will receive the 36 month endorsement automatically.

Export traceability requirements for pharmaceuticals require barcode-based track-and-trace and certificates of analysis to prevent counterfeit exports.
Export shipments of drugs and pharmaceuticals under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act must include, at shipment, a Certificate of Analysis issued by the manufacturer, by an importing-country/FDA-approved laboratory, or by a laboratory approved by the Drugs Controller; port drug control officials may retain consignment samples for reference and tracing. Exporters must implement GS1 barcode-based track-and-trace across primary, secondary and tertiary packaging encoding GTIN, batch number, expiry date and serial number.

Indian Rupee Valuation revised for deferred payments contracts under Soviet-era protocols; applies to affected contracts.
Revision of the Indian Rupee Value of the Special Currency Basket as determined by the Reserve Bank of India, to be applied for calculating obligations under deferred payment contracts concluded under the Deferred Payments Protocols of 1981 and 1985 relating to deliveries from the former USSR; the Public Notice directs use of the revised rupee valuation for settlement and accounting of those contracts and records the administrative reference.

Registration/RCMC recognition for handicraft exporters now suffices for listed table exports, enabling alternative certification compliance.
The Handbook of Procedures, Vol. I RE 2008 is amended to state that for exports of handicraft items listed in Table 9 of Appendix 37A, Registration/RCMC from the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts shall suffice as the required registration document; this alternative documentary acceptance is authorised under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2004-2009 and applies to exports made from 1.4.2009.

Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms updates inputs for Montelukast Sodium and removes an obsolete SION entry.
Public Notice amends the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. II) by revising the Standard Input Output Norms (SION), specifically updating the SION entry for Montelukast Sodium with detailed input and solvent quantity specifications, and deleting an obsolete SION entry.

EPCG authorization conversion requires same export obligation period and maintenance of annual average export obligation.
A unit converting from the EOU scheme to an EPCG Authorization is entitled to the same export obligation period as a direct EPCG holder, with the obligation period commencing from the EPCG issue date. The converting unit must also maintain the Annual Average Export Obligation prescribed under the Foreign Trade Policy, applying the same annual average export performance criterion as for direct EPCG beneficiaries.

Import licensing for waste paper: Regional authorities may issue licences on MOEF no-objection certificates without waiting HQ approval.
Import of waste paper is subject to an actual user condition and prior environmental permission; importers must obtain a No Objection Certificate from the environmental authority and apply to the Regional Authority for an import licence. The Regional Authority shall issue the licence based on that No Objection Certificate without awaiting formal headquarters approval for a limited transitional period.

Export Promotion Council designation: Coconut Development Board added for coconut products excluding husk and fiber under FTP.
The Coconut Development Board has been added to Appendix 2 of the Handbook of Procedures (Vol. I) as an Export Promotion Council/Commodity Board with jurisdiction over all coconut products other than those made from coconut husk and fiber, effectuating product-specific designation under the Foreign Trade Policy for export promotion and coordination.

Direct import of precious metal: nominated agencies must obtain certification and comply with monitoring, reporting and distribution requirements.
The circular prescribes procedures for direct import of precious metals by nominated agencies under Paragraph 4A.4 of the FTP, identifying eligible entities and requiring Regional Authority certification for Premier/Star Trading Houses (Annexure I). Nominated Agencies (other than RBI designated banks) must maintain import and distribution records, file monthly returns to the Gems & Jewellery EPC for onward transmission to DGFT, supply at least ten percent of imports to exporters, and undergo annual performance review, while complying with FTP, RBI guidelines and Customs procedures (Annexure II sets the monthly reporting format).

Standard Input-Output Norms updated to add new SION entries defining export-import input ratios and pro rata solvent rules.
Amendments add SION entries H562-H568 prescribing import-to-export input ratios for specific resin, adhesive and polymer export products. Each entry specifies export unit weight and itemised imported raw materials with quantities. Where resin percentage varies, core reactants are adjusted pro rata and solvent quantities inversely to solvent content. A two component adhesive entry allocates inputs between Component A and Component B. The Notice directs insertion after H561 under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures.

Bank realisation certificate optional at filing; exporters must later submit proof of realisation or face BG/LUT enforcement.
Exporters may opt to file DEPB and Chapter 3 transferable incentive applications without Bank Realisation Certificates; if so, they must submit BRCs or other permitted proof of realisation within 12 months of scrip issuance and provide shipping bill wise statements to the Regional Authority every three months. BG/LUT and prescribed documents are required at filing, with BG/LUT validity covering at least 24 months from the Let Export Order date; RAs will monitor compliance, enforce recovery and BG/LUT when realisation is not completed, and maintain scheme wise exporter records.

Bank guarantee and legal undertaking requirement for DEPB scrips mandates BG/LUT when BRC absent, enabling recovery and interest.
Where DEPB or freely transferable incentive scrips under Chapter 3 are applied for without submission of Bank Realisation Certificates, the applicant must execute a Bank Guarantee or Legal Undertaking in prescribed Appendix formats; BRC must be produced within 12 months or RA will initiate recovery, and failure to pay within 60 days after that 12 month period attracts interest at 15% per annum from scrip issuance, with unutilised scrip credit deductible from the payable amount. BG/LUT validity is normally 24 months from LEO and may be revolving or scheme specific.

Name change of export promotion agency: registered listing updated to reflect the revised agency name in Appendix 2.
Amendment to Appendix 2 of the Handbook of Procedures updates the registered name of the agency listed at serial number fifteen from Indian Oilseeds & Produce Exporters Association EPC (IOPEA) to Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council, while retaining its existing contact details; the change is issued as a public notice under the Foreign Trade Policy by the Director General of Foreign Trade for inclusion in the Appendix 2 listing.

Deemed export benefits: DTA suppliers file with the concerned RA while EOUs file with the Development Commissioner.
Claims for deemed export benefits must be processed by the authority having functional jurisdiction: DTA suppliers must submit claims only to the concerned Regional Authority, while EOUs must submit deemed export benefit applications only to the Development Commissioner, producing a suitable disclaimer from the DTA supplier and other documents specified in the Handbook of Procedures.

VKGUY benefits restricted to handmade products; Coir Board certification required for export eligibility under the Handbook of Procedures.
VKGUY export benefits for items in Table 9, Sl. No.26 are admissible only for Handmade Products, and the Coir Board shall certify that the exported product is handmade if any doubt arises; this qualification is inserted into the Note to Table 9 of Appendix 37A and applies to exports from the operative date specified in the amendment.

Prohibition on DTA sale of marble: EOUs must record marble quality at import and export to prevent clandestine diversion.
EOUs are prohibited from DTA sale of imported marble and must state marble quality-colour, type and name-in the relevant import and export documents to prevent clandestine diversion to the domestic market.

Corrigendum correcting a prior policy circular's cross-reference to identify the proper antecedent circular, clarifying administrative reference.
Corrigendum corrects a cross-reference in the last line of paragraph two of a prior policy circular, directing that the incorrect cited circular number be read as the correct antecedent circular number; the correction is an administrative notification issued with competent authority approval.

EPCG eligibility extended to EOU and relocated SEZ units converting to DTA, subject to NOC and required documentation.
An amendment permits an EOU or a relocated SEZ unit converting to a DTA unit to apply for an EPCG authorization in the prescribed ANF with the required documents; the application must be accompanied by a No Objection Certificate from the concerned Development Commissioner.

Alternative inputs under SION permitted for duty free import, granting exporters flexibility in DFIA input sourcing.
Under the DFIA scheme an exporter may import alternative inputs listed in the Standard Input Output Norms (SION) even if the specific SION input was not used; SIONs permit duty free import of inputs actually used or capable of being used in the exported product, so exporters have flexibility to import alternative inputs/products allowed by the applicable SION.