Startup recognition expanded with national awards and mentorship platform launch, including special regional and sectoral categories.
National Startup Awards 2022 recognize startups and enablers for measurable social and commercial impact, awarding cash prizes to selected startups and to one incubator and one accelerator, and introducing a special category for Hilly and North East region startups alongside other special categories. The initiative covers 17 sectors with 50 sub sectors and seven special categories, and winners and finalists gain mentorship, funding linkages, partnerships, and market access support. The MAARG platform will be launched to enable mentorship matchmaking between startups and mentors across sectors, stages, and functions.

Customs Brokers Licensing Examination announced: bilingual computer based MCQ format with specified scoring and written-orals progression.
The written Customs Brokers Licensing Examination will be a bilingual Computer Based Test of 150 multiple choice questions with answers in English or Hindi; scoring assigns +3 for correct and -1 for incorrect responses, producing a defined maximum and a qualifying marks threshold for progression. Those meeting the written qualifying marks must appear for an oral examination conducted under Regulation 6 of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018, where the oral pass criterion is sixty percent.

Resilient trade: new bilateral working group to strengthen supply chain resilience, trade facilitation and sustainable trade cooperation.
Ministers directed sustained work under reactivated working groups to resolve outstanding trade issues, pursue intensified engagement on bilateral WTO disputes, and endorsed regulatory cooperation including resumption of product inspections, TED finalization and trials to restore shrimp market access, and consideration of eligibility for the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences under statutory criteria; they also launched a Resilient Trade working group to address trade facilitation, supply chain resilience, sustainable finance, clean technologies and circular economy approaches.

Resilient Trade Working Group launched to deepen trade facilitation, supply chain resilience, labor and regulatory cooperation.
The Ministers directed TPF working groups to continue resolving bilateral trade and regulatory issues, pursue WTO engagement and reform, and further multilateral coordination. They launched a new TPF Working Group on Resilient Trade to focus on trade facilitation, customs digitization, labor and workforce development, good regulatory practices, environmental sustainability, and strengthening critical supply chains, with quarterly reconvening of working groups and an inter-sessional meeting by mid-2023.

Spice trade promotion through a global congress to boost exports and align standards among major international partners.
Announcement of the 14th World Spice Congress in Mumbai (16-18 February 2023) organised by the Spices Board to promote international spice trade by convening policymakers, regulatory authorities, trade associations, exporters and technical experts. The Congress will feature business sessions on export promotion, food safety and quality requirements, market outlooks and crop forecasts; state and commodity pavilions; awards for export excellence; tech talks; and cultural and product showcases. Participation is limited to registered delegates with online registration.

Use of FTAs to boost leather and footwear exports, coupled with duty relief and industry support measures.
The Minister urged the leather and footwear industry to leverage FTAs to expand exports and enter new markets, encouraged innovation, sustainability, packaging and branding, and proposed niche awards for entrepreneurs. He noted concerns about import duties and promoted the MOOWR duty exemption for inputs imported for export production, offered to consider amending burdensome standards, and pledged support for testing facilities, ease-of-doing-business reforms, and a new scheme to promote domestic manufacturing of industry machinery.