Bilateral treaty review and transit amendment to expand transit points and simplify procedures for cross border trade.
The parties agreed to review the Treaty of Trade and amend the Treaty of Transit to expand transit points, simplify procedures, enable electronic cargo tracking and permit movement of Indian cargo through Nepali territory, while consolidating prior Transit Treaty amendments; they also committed to synchronised development of land border customs infrastructure, harmonisation and mutual recognition of standards and testing, and establishment of a Joint Business Forum to provide regular industry policy inputs.

Export facilitation directory released to aid exporters, importers and MSMEs with contact details of trade regulators and promotion bodies.
The national foreign trade directory compiles contact and institutional information for export import offices of policy makers, regulators, facilitators, export promotion councils, commodity boards, development authorities, trade and industry organisations, and MSMEs established, approved, or sponsored by the central government, and is intended as a practical reference for exporters, importers, traders, manufacturers, MSMEs, authorised economic operators, export import management students, and new IEC holders; published by a private trade consultancy.

Long Term Agreements for iron ore export renewed, securing supply to Japanese and South Korean steel mills.
Renewal of Long Term Agreements authorises five year supply of high grade iron ore (+64% Fe) through a single national trading agency, specifying annual export ranges of 3.80-5.50 million tonnes with itemised ceilings for lump and fines, an allocation between Japanese and South Korean purchasers, and continuation of single agency exports with a trading margin of 2.8% of FOB price.

Global Financial Safety Net strengthened through IMF quota reform and enhanced multilateral surveillance to mitigate systemic risks.
The statement urges strengthening the IMF's permanent quota-based resource base to fortify the Global Financial Safety Net, calls for timely completion of quota realignment to address under-representation of emerging and developing economies while protecting the poorest members, and requests enhanced multilateral surveillance, a sharper toolkit for lending and policy advice-especially for low income countries-and coherent engagement with Regional Financing Arrangements to mitigate systemic risks.

Diesel smuggling disguised as mineral spirit leads to seizures and arrests under customs law and hawala payments exposed.
Smuggling of diesel was effected by declaring imported consignments as mineral spirit and substantially undervaluing invoices to evade import restrictions and customs duty; coordinated searches and chemical examination confirmed diesel, resulting in seizure of 14 containers and arrest of four persons under the Customs Act, 1962, with evidence of shell purchasers, hawala payments, and distribution networks across Kakinada and Chennai.

Exchange rate determination for customs: notified conversion rates apply to imports and exports under the Customs Act.
Under section 14 of the Customs Act, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs notifies distinct conversion rates for listed foreign currencies to be used for imported and export goods; the notification supersedes an earlier notification and directs that the schedule-specific import and export rates be applied for conversions in customs proceedings from the stated effective date, with savings for actions under the prior notification.

MSME digital platform enables exporters to digitise operations and access global business networks and support services.
A government-endorsed digital platform enables MSME exporters to digitise operations and join a global network by creating electronic business profiles and free e-commerce storefronts to find clients, suppliers, and advisors. It supplies business knowledge, searchable listings, and common-interest groups, and integrates services to improve efficiency (intranet, email, calendar). The platform links to federation services for registration, endorsements, renewals and promotional programme participation, and is paired with an emphasis on registering geographical indications to support market access for artisans and producers.

Trade Deficit widened as merchandise imports grew faster than exports, raising overall trade imbalance for the year.
Merchandise exports for April-March 2017-18 were US$302.84 billion with positive year-on-year growth, while imports rose to US$459.67 billion, producing a widened merchandise trade deficit; oil and non-oil import values both increased, services receipts for February were below prior-period levels but services maintained a positive monthly trade balance, and combined provisional merchandise and services data show an overall trade deficit larger than the previous year.

Exchange Rate Notification sets official currency conversion rates for import and export valuation under the Customs Act, superseding prior notice.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, under authority of the Customs Act, has fixed official conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for valuation of imported and export goods, superseding an earlier notification while preserving prior actions. The instrument contains Schedule I with per unit rates for imports and exports and Schedule II with rates per 100 units for currencies quoted accordingly, which are to be applied for customs valuation and administration.

Monetary policy: RBI keeps repo rate at 6.0% and stays neutral while revising inflation and growth projections.
The Monetary Policy Committee kept the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.0 per cent and maintained a neutral stance to achieve the medium term CPI inflation objective of 4 per cent ( 2%), while supporting growth. It revised CPI projections for 2018 19 (4.7-5.1% in H1; 4.4% in H2 including HRA impact) and projected GDP growth to strengthen to 7.4% in 2018 19, noting upside inflation risks from HRA/MSP changes, fiscal slippages, monsoon variability, input costs and crude price volatility.

Digital export facilitation: new EIC portals streamline certification, traceability and alert monitoring to reduce time and cost.
Digital initiatives by the Export Inspection Council create an integrated electronic platform linking primary production, processing units, testing laboratories, official controls and exports to provide end-to-end traceability, reduce transaction time and cost, support a paperless Go Green approach, and improve transparency in inspection and certification. The programme features a One Lab One Assessment portal to harmonise accreditation bodies, regulators and laboratories for joint certification, and an Export Alert Monitoring portal to track importing-country non compliances and analyse alert trends. Accredited Proficiency Testing providers are being developed domestically to strengthen analytical capacity.

Advance Pricing Agreements strengthen transfer pricing certainty by formalising agreed methodologies and reducing disputes.
Signing of multiple Advance Pricing Agreements in March 2018 comprised Unilateral and Bilateral APAs covering international transactions such as royalty payments, business and marketing support services, corporate guarantees, contract manufacturing, engineering and IT services, merchanting trade, and import/export of components across sectors including telecommunications, IT, automobile, pharmaceutical, beverage, trading, manufacturing and financial services, formalising agreed transfer pricing methodologies and treaty-based arrangements to provide certainty and dispute-avoidance.