Access to medicines urged globally, enabling facilitated cross-border health professional movement and trade facilitation for essential supplies.
Calls for a global framework to enhance affordable access to medicines and to facilitate temporary cross-border movement of health professionals, together with improved regulatory and R&D cooperation and pre-agreed protocols for rapid deployment of critical pharma products and healthcare personnel. The statement also commits to keeping markets open and logistics networks functioning while allowing targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary emergency trade measures consistent with WTO rules, including trade facilitation, temporary documentary relief, production incentives, and safeguards against profiteering to ensure availability and affordability of essential supplies.

Relaxation of SEZ compliance: temporary non punitive treatment and electronic facilitation for extensions during pandemic disruptions.
Relaxations for SEZ units, developers and co developers suspend or ease filing and attestation obligations - including QPR attestation, SOFTEX filings and APRs - and permit extension of Letters of Approval for developing or non operational units. Development Commissioners must refrain from punitive action where compliance is impacted, facilitate electronic processing of extensions where possible, and may grant ad hoc interim extensions or deferments of expiry without prejudice until 30.06.2020 or further instructions.

Business continuity support: centralized platform offering real-time advisory updates and expert redressal for COVID-19 business disruptions.
The Invest India Business Immunity Platform centralizes real-time regulatory and government advisory updates on COVID-19 and operates an expert-staffed business issue redressal mechanism addressing queries via email and messaging, with a SIDBI partnership for MSME support and programs for supply matchmaking, stakeholder outreach, and a startup solutions challenge.

Export import continuity amid COVID 19: stakeholder consultations to inform practical, accommodative measures for trade disruption.
Assessment of export-import disruptions due to COVID-19 was conducted via a video conference between the Minister, senior commerce officials, and representatives of multiple Export Promotion Councils to gather feedback on pandemic-related operational hardships and proposed mitigatory suggestions. The Minister committed to consider the councils' recommendations, seek a balance between health measures and trade continuity, and pursue timely, practical, and accommodative actions informed by recent fiscal and monetary measures.

Policy rate cut supports growth and liquidity amid COVID-19 disruptions while maintaining an accommodative monetary stance.
The Monetary Policy Committee cut the policy repo rate and reduced MSF and Bank Rate while widening the LAF corridor with a lower reverse repo rate, maintained an accommodative stance to support growth amid COVID-19 shocks, and complemented the action with liquidity operations (long-term repos, open market purchases, operation twist, and forex swaps) to improve transmission, sustain credit flows, and stabilise markets while monitoring inflation dynamics and urging coordinated fiscal and regulatory responses.

COVID-19 export-import helpdesk provides channels for exporters and importers to flag issues directly to DGFT.
A Helpdesk has been operationalized to address export and import issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling exporters and importers to directly flag operational and regulatory problems through an online contact platform, a dedicated email address, and a toll-free telephone number to facilitate prompt reporting and assistance.

Export prohibition on ventilators and sanitizers restricts any export route after policy amendment, preventing alternative classifications.
The export of all ventilators, including artificial respiratory apparatus, oxygen therapy apparatus, or other breathing devices, is prohibited and the export policy was amended (Notification No 53/2015-2020) to widen the prohibited category and prevent exports under any alternative classification; all sanitizers are also placed in the prohibited export category.

Export prohibition on ventilators, surgical disposable masks and textile inputs restricts shipments under amended export policy.
Export shipments of ventilators, surgical/disposable masks (2/3 ply), and textile raw materials used for masks and coveralls are prohibited under an amendment to the Export Policy by Notification No.52/2015-2020, while other items except surgical/disposable masks listed in the earlier Notification No.48 remain free for export.

SEZ policy reform expands multi-sector eligibility and relaxes land and operational requirements to increase investment flexibility.
SEZ rule amendments convert SEZs into multi-sector SEZs allowing co-existence of sectors, relax minimum land requirements, permit shared duty-exempted infrastructure and common amenities, exclude indigenous goods from NFE calculation, and enable work-from-home arrangements for SEZ employees.

FTA utilization shows moderate overall use with sectoral highs and ongoing reviews between trading partners.
An internal assessment reports aggregate trade growth with selected FTA/PTA partners alongside generally moderate FTA utilization, with moderate-to-high preferential use in sectors such as iron and steel (India-Korea/India-Japan CEPAs), plastics (India-Singapore CECA) and automotives (India-Malaysia CECA). Reviews, renewals and negotiation rounds proceed on mutual consent and stakeholder demand, including completed reviews of India-Singapore CECA, renewal/extension of India-Bhutan and India-Nepal arrangements, and ongoing reviews of India-Korea, India-Japan and India-ASEAN agreements.

Export promotion measures expanded through incentive schemes and tax remission to improve competitiveness and address export infrastructure gaps.
India increased merchandise exports between 2017 18 and 2018 19 and implemented policy measures under the Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) and its Mid term Review, including transferable duty credit incentive schemes (MEIS and SEIS), an Interest Equalization Scheme for export credit, procedural facilitation (online IEC, Advance Authorisations), EPCG obligation relaxation, logistics and infrastructure initiatives (Logistics Division, TIES), sectoral support measures (Agriculture Export Policy, TMA), and new duty/tax remission mechanisms (RoSCTL, RoDTEP).

Export-contingent subsidies ruled inconsistent with trade rules; appeal suspended and implementation paused pending resolution.
A WTO Panel found specified Indian export promotion schemes to be export-contingent and thus prohibited subsidies under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, recommending their withdrawal; India appealed the Panel report and, due to the non functioning Appellate Body, the appeal is suspended and India has no obligation to implement the Panel recommendations until the appeal is resolved.

Agricultural export collaboration links FPOs to exporters to strengthen export value chains and capacity building.
The MoU binds APEDA and SFAC to integrate FPOs/FPCs into the export value chain by jointly identifying clusters and linking producer groups with exporters, facilitating primary and secondary processing, and conducting capacity development and outreach. SFAC will provide cluster listings and identify FPOs/FPCs; APEDA will facilitate certification, including organic certification, and market linkage. Both parties will showcase FPO products and technologies and mentor Agri Business Promotion Units, with complementary use of SFAC's equity grant and credit guarantee mechanisms to enhance FPC viability.

Data protection and e commerce policy framing to empower domestic entrepreneurs and set cross border data norms.
The draft National e Commerce Policy seeks a facilitative regulatory framework to promote domestic entrepreneurship, Make in India, consumer protection and job creation while addressing data flow and cross border transfer norms in parallel with the Personal Data Protection Bill; extensive stakeholder consultations have been held and no timeline for publication is fixed. A new Industrial Policy aims to boost manufacturing competitiveness through a Working Group chaired by the DPIIT Secretary, comprising central and state representatives and industry associations, with inter ministerial consultations ongoing.

Decriminalisation of company law defaults shifts many technical offences to civil monetary penalties and regulatory exemptions.
The Bill replaces multiple imprisonment provisions with monetary penalties and daily continuing fines, adopts a principle based decriminalisation of technical defaults, empowers the Central Government to exempt or prescribe classes of companies and persons, and introduces a new Chapter establishing a statutory regime for Producer Companies covering objects, membership, governance, capital distribution, accounting, dispute resolution, mergers, conversion of inter State co operative societies, and tailored penalties and transitional provisions.

Excise duty hike on petrol and diesel preserves retail prices while increasing government revenue for fiscal needs.
The Government increased the excise incidence on petrol and diesel by three rupees per litre through hikes in special excise duty and road cess, estimating an additional annual revenue of about thirty-nine thousand crore rupees. State-owned oil companies adjusted posted retail prices against recent international crude-driven price declines, so retail pump prices did not rise. The change is justified as a fiscal measure to raise resources for infrastructure and development and is situated among a series of excise adjustments since 2014-15.

Supply chain support: government offers facilitation and encourages digital B2B engagement to resolve import-export disruptions.
Industry stakeholders were asked to submit specific supply-chain problems for departmental facilitation; they were advised to use contact details from overseas missions to arrange B2B interactions, preferably via digital video conferencing, and the Department committed to assist in sourcing alternative supplies, enhancing supply to existing markets and enabling access to new markets while encouraging collective, non-panic responses.

Trade balance shows a narrower overall deficit for April-February, driven by import contraction and services surplus.
India's trade for April-February 2019-20 shows modest overall export growth and a pronounced import contraction, producing a narrower overall trade deficit than the prior year. Merchandise exports rose marginally in February but fell slightly cumulatively; non petroleum, non gems and jewellery exports improved. Cumulative imports declined due to lower oil and non oil purchases, while services maintained a surplus that offset part of the merchandise deficit. February services figures are estimates pending RBI revision.

Trade negotiations: India declined RCEP membership citing unmet guiding principles and outstanding stakeholder concerns, while pursuing multiple FTAs.
India declined participation in RCEP because the agreement's current structure did not reflect RCEP Guiding Principles and did not address outstanding concerns of Indian stakeholders. Simultaneously, India is pursuing a broad range of bilateral, plurilateral and preferential trade negotiations and reviews-including BTIAs, CECAs/CEPAs, PTAs and framework consultations-with partners across Europe, Asia, the Americas and regional groupings to advance market access and address stakeholder priorities.

Remission of duties and taxes restores competitiveness by reimbursing non refunded export levies through transferable electronic credits.
Cabinet approved RoDTEP to reimburse non refunded central, state and local taxes, duties and levies incident to manufacture and distribution of exported products, with rates and eligible items to be set by an inter ministerial Committee. Refunds will be issued as transferable duty credit/electronic scrip in an electronic ledger, implemented with end to end digitization. Items will be phased from MEIS to RoDTEP when rates are notified; the rebate is claimable as a percentage of FOB value. An IT based Risk Management System and audit mechanism will verify exporter records.