Special Campaign for disposal of pending matters accelerates public grievance resolution and file weeding, with daily portal reporting.
A Special Campaign for Disposal of Pending Matters mobilised the Department of Commerce and subordinate bodies to clear public grievances, parliamentary references and file pendency through targeted review, weeding, archival transfer and scrap disposal, with daily progress reported on the SCDPM portal.

Trade and regulatory engagement: spice sector forum to strengthen market access, standards harmonisation and supply chain collaboration.
The World Spice Congress, convened by the national spices board as a G20 linked event, will gather global industry participants and regulatory authorities to deliberate on production, processing, value addition, quality and safety standards, trade facilitation, and supply chain management. The programme pairs business deliberations with an exhibition showcasing industry capabilities, innovations and processing technologies to promote market linkages and investment under the thematic frame Vision 2030: SPICES, emphasising sustainability, productivity, innovation, collaboration, excellence and safety.

Trade growth: India's exports rose year on year in September, while imports and the trade deficit also increased.
Estimation and provisional accounting of India's external trade for September 2022 and April-September 2022 report year on year increases in both exports and imports, with imports rising faster and widening the overall and merchandise trade balance. Services exports and the services surplus strengthened, while trade excluding petroleum and gems & jewellery showed weaker export performance and stronger imports. Data are provisional and subject to revision when Reserve Bank services data and quarterly balance of payments adjustments are incorporated.

GIFT Special Economic Zone review prompts directives to improve bullion trading, regulatory coordination, and IFSC support for exporters.
Review of GIFT SEZ governance and regulatory coordination led to directives improving SEZ administration and leveraging IFSC infrastructure for export promotion. Specific measures target operationalising the India International Bullion Exchange to support a gold spot market, reduce gold metal loan costs for jewellery exporters, and permit TRQ utilisation under the UAE FTA from IIBX. IFSCA will resolve administrative issues with DC GIFT SEZ and join periodic export reviews to align IFSC financial services with export objectives; DPIIT will explore startup access to GIFT City facilities.

Customs valuation rules impose additional importer obligations and automated checks for identified classes of potentially undervalued imported goods.
The rules permit the Board to notify identified goods-classes of imports suspected to be undervalued-and require committees to examine written references and value trends. The Evaluation Committee must report specified parameters including 8 digit HS codes, brands, a precautionary unit value, Unique Quantity Code, technical specifications, additional importer obligations (such as manufacturer invoices, test or expert reports, costing) and checks to be exercised; notifications apply for 1-2 years and are implemented via the Customs Automated System, with review and specified exceptions.

Quality Control Order urged to limit imports and improve export quality in footwear sector, with FTAs enabling duty access.
Stakeholders are urged to adopt a Quality Control Order to limit low-quality imports and improve export quality, implement zero-waste, salt-free tanning and occupational health and safety measures, and pursue ethical manufacturing. Policy support via Free Trade Agreements for duty access and the Indian Footwear & Leather Development Programme (IFLDP) complements initiatives for multi-skilling, design and packaging collaboration, non-leather product focus, and global branding to expand production and exports.

Free trade agreement priority: Government will prioritise national interest and stakeholder consultation over negotiation deadlines.
India will prioritise national interest in negotiating Free Trade Agreements, ensuring thorough stakeholder consultation and refusing to rush agreements to meet deadlines. The Government emphasised consultative processes with industry, while a separate export performance review urged market diversification, services import analysis, and operational requests from industry including RoDTEP inclusion and rationalisation, increased support under Interest Equalisation and Market Access Initiative, and expansion of Production-Linked Incentive schemes.