Composition fee on delayed export obligations required for extension of export authorisations; conditions govern clubbing and second extension.
Corrections limit clubbing of authorisations to exports made up to thirty months from the earliest authorisation and prescribe a composition fee regime for exports after the initial obligation period, including a monthly charge for later months. The same rules apply when eighteen month and thirty six month authorisations are clubbed. For export obligation extensions, a second six month extension requires at least fifty percent fulfilment of the obligation on a pro rata basis, payment of a monthly composition fee on unfulfilled FOB value, a CA/CE certificate confirming available inputs, and no extensions beyond twelve months past the EO expiry.

Preferential handling for status holders: expedited disposal of advance authorisations and amendments for higher-rated exporters under Foreign Trade Policy priority.
Preferential treatment for Status Holders under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 requires Regional Authorities to give priority and expedited, time bound processing of electronic advance authorisation applications and related amendments, including revalidation and invalidation, in accordance with Para 3.24(g) and the Handbook of Procedure Para 9.10; RAs must follow the prescribed shortened timelines scrupulously when disposing applications from Status Holders.

Pre-shipment inspection agency recognition: extended application deadline with provisional filing allowed; bank guarantee required before notification.
Amendments require existing and new applicants for recognition as Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies to apply in ANF 2L by the prescribed cutoff, with late applications taken up after the subsequent month. Applicants may initially submit applications without the ANF-2L bank guarantee; however, the requisite bank guarantee or equivalent financial instrument must be submitted before they are notified as PSIA under the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures.

Free of cost exports cap for status holders limited, imposing the lower of a fixed ceiling or percentage of average exports.
Amendment limits the entitlement of Status holders to export freely exportable items on a free of cost basis for export promotion by prescribing that such exports are allowed subject to an annual ceiling equal to the lower of a fixed monetary limit or a percentage of average annual export realisation during the preceding three licensing years; the amendment is effected under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy and is effective immediately.

Online filing requirement for export applications: electronic processing mandated, with temporary manual filing exceptions for specified certificates.
Mandates online filing and electronic processing of export-related applications, with DGFT issuing deficiency letters and communications only in electronic mode. As a transitional arrangement, limited manual filing is permitted until the EDI online module is ready for specific applications: Status Holder Certificate, bond waiver, and Nominated Agency Certificate. Status Certificates issued under the prior policy remain valid for the transition or until reissuance under the current policy.

Foreign trade procedure amendments: revised duty free import entitlements, clubbing rules and export obligation extension conditions.
Notification amends the Handbook of Procedures of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 effective 1 April 2015, revising duty free import entitlements for R&D and agro chemicals, authorising use of listed Inspection and Certification Agencies for capital goods certification, and tightening issuance of non preferential Certificates of Origin. It revises clubbing rules for Advance Authorisation (eligibility windows, restricted categories, composition fee regimes for exports outside EO periods, and value addition requirements) and limits export obligation extensions to defined conditions and maximum aggregate duration.

Border haat trade arrangements permit specified locally produced goods to be traded under MOU operational guidelines, subject to vendor residency.
Permits regulated cross-border trade at Kamalasagar and Tarapur Kasba Border Haats under the MOU and Foreign Trade Policy, specifying allowed categories of locally produced goods (vegetables, fruits, spices, minor forest produce excluding timber, cottage industry products, small agricultural implements, processed foods) and defining "locally produced" as originating in the concerned border districts; delegates commodity classification and approval of immediate-consumption items to the Haat Management Committee and limits vendors to residents within a five-kilometre radius of the Haats.

Paperless submission for EPCG authorisations now requires online applications with digitally uploaded documents; physical copies will no longer be accepted.
An online Beta version of ANF 5A permits filing EPCG authorisation applications and uploading supporting documents with digital signatures; uploaded documents obviate physical copies and RAs must not insist on paper where documents are submitted online, while during the trial phase applicants must submit a signed printout and physical copies only for documents not uploaded, after which only online submissions with uploaded documents will be accepted.

Quality complaints and trade disputes mechanism enables investigation, hearings and action for cross-border complaints under DGFT jurisdiction.
A Committee on Quality Complaints & Trade Dispute is constituted with specified membership to receive and investigate quality and trade disputes within the stated jurisdiction. Complaints must be filed in the prescribed ANF format with self-attested documents or online; online complaints will be forwarded by the nodal officer for examination. The committee will investigate, afford both parties an opportunity of hearing, conclude the inquiry and take appropriate action; domestic complaints against foreign exporters will be forwarded to the relevant trade division for diplomatic follow-up.

Importer-Exporter Profile update enables paperless document submission and linking of RCMC for streamlined authorisations and procedures.
Importer Exporter Profile holders must upload and maintain basic details and supporting documents on the DGFT portal, update the profile immediately on change and at least annually, and use a digital signature; documents in the profile need not be filed again with each application for authorisations or scrips under the Foreign Trade Policy. Export Promotion Councils must record and link RCMC details with member profiles to enable paperless application filing.

Served From India Scheme SFIS application ANF3B-2 notified for 2014 15 net foreign exchange entitlement calculation.
Notification mandates filing ANF 3B-2 to claim SFIS benefits for 2014 15, prescribes Annexures A-E to compute foreign exchange receipts and service sector expenses, requires Customs notified exchange rates for conversion (with a field for rate as on 01.04.2015), sets entitlement at 10% of Net Foreign Exchange, and requires CA/ICWA/CS certification plus documentary evidence and signed submission.

Track and Trace for export drug formulations requires standardized barcodes on secondary and tertiary packaging and central data upload.
Manufacturers or exporters of drug formulations must apply standardized barcodes by packaging level (primary, secondary, tertiary), maintain parent-child packaging relationships, and upload prescribed packaging and serialization data to the Government of India central portal before release for sale or distribution. Responsibility for data correctness and timely upload lies with the manufacturer or exporter, subject to limited exemptions for importing-country barcode requirements and consignments manufactured before the implementation cutoff.

Pre shipment inspection agency recognition: new procedural, documentation and liability requirements govern issuance and evidence of inspection.
The amendments set a revised recognition regime for Pre shipment Inspection Agencies requiring ANF 2L applications by e mail and post, payment of an application fee, inter ministerial committee consideration, and time limited notification. PSIAs must issue PSICs in the prescribed format with a uniquely numbered hologram, upload or e mail scanned PSICs and inspection photographs/videos to the authority, and give prior intimation for inspections in countries without full time branches. PSIAs, importers and exporters bear specified liabilities for mis declaration, and technical, documentary, and bank guarantee conditions for recognition are prescribed.

Export time limit imposed for authorized shipments of value added Red Sanders wood, requiring compliance within the prescribed period.
Amendment prescribes a definitive time limit for execution of the export authorization granted to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for value added products of Red Sanders wood; the DGFT, under Paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy, amends Public Notice No. 42 (RE-2013)/2009-2014 to impose a cut-off date for completion of the previously time-unlimited authorized export quantity, leaving existing procedural permissions unchanged except for the temporal limitation.

Tariff rate quota allocation for sugar exports: highest FOB bids win, BG and reporting required before shipment.
APEDA will allocate TRQ quota for export of raw sugar to the USA by issuing Registration-cum-Allocation-Certificates (RCAC) after sealed applications; allocations are awarded by highest FOB price in USD per MT, with identical prices allocated pro rata. Applications must include a performance bank guarantee equal to 5% of the FOB value in Indian Rupees and processing charges per MT. RCACs run for 90 days with one 30-day extension possible; exporters must submit export details within 15 days of RCAC expiry and non-shipment may lead to invocation of the bank guarantee and reallocation of surrendered quantities.

Export procedure for certified organic products: implementation ordered, excluding textiles and applying NPOP-based rules.
The Director General amends earlier public notices to bring the procedure for export of certified organic products included in the NPOP document into operation, directing that the export procedure notified earlier will come into effect for all certified organic products except Textiles, and noting subsequent supersession by a later public notice.

Export quota allocation for sugar requires compliance with certification and reporting conditions under CXL and TRQ rules.
Allocation designates specified quantities of white sugar for export under the CXL Quota to the European Union and raw sugar from the non-levy pool for export under the Tariff Rate Quota to the United States for the stated fiscal period; exports are treated as Free subject to conditions in the referenced notification. Release under the EU CXL requires a Certificate of Origin issued by the Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, Mumbai, and EUR endorsement by Customs, while US preferential certification, if required, will be issued by the same authority; reporting requirements must be followed.

Export obligation period for raw sugar shortened, pre import condition made mandatory under Advance Authorisation scheme.
Amendment to Appendix 4J adds raw sugar with a six month export obligation period under the Advance Authorisation scheme and makes the pre import condition mandatory. The export obligation period runs from the date of customs clearance of each import consignment and the change takes effect immediately under powers conferred by the Foreign Trade Policy.

IEC exemption revised: CIF value thresholds for specified border consignments raised, changing eligibility for IEC exemption.
Amendment revises the category of persons exempted from Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) exemption by adjusting CIF value ceilings for import/export consignments to and from Nepal, Myanmar (through Indo Myanmar border areas), and China (through specified frontier points), allocating distinct per consignment CIF thresholds by route and by port, and thereby changing the eligibility for the IEC exemption for small value border trade consignments.

Committee on Quality Complaints and Trade Disputes established to handle trade quality complaints and coordinate responses under foreign trade procedures.
Constitutes a Committee on Quality Complaints & Trade Disputes (CQCTD) for Kerala, including Regional Authority, Trivandrum, chaired by the Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Cochin, to implement Chapter 8 of the Handbook of Procedures of the Foreign Trade Policy for effective handling of quality complaints and trade disputes; lists named members from DGFT, industry, standards, MSME, trade bodies, banks and special invitees, and directs circulation to DGFT offices, EP councils, Customs and notice boards for stakeholder notification and coordination.