Promotion of millet exports through APEDA-led multi stakeholder programmes and digital trade facilitation to boost market access.
APEDA, with a mandate to promote export of millets, provides assistance to registered exporters under its Export Promotion Scheme across Infrastructure, Quality and Market Development components; it operates digital platforms (a millet web portal, e catalogues, and a 24x7 Virtual Trade Fair), organises global marketing campaigns, trade fair participation and Buyer Seller Meets, and coordinates a multi stakeholder International Year of Millets 2023 action plan alongside state millet missions and other outreach to boost production, consumption and export linkages.

Market access barriers: agreement to address registrations, procurement restrictions, anti dumping concerns and improve logistics for trade.
The parties agreed to pursue measures to deepen trade cooperation across identified sectors and to address market access obstacles and technical barriers through sustained bilateral engagement. India urged resolution of pending registration for fishery and meat export establishments, restrictions on pharmaceutical public procurement, and high anti dumping duties on certain products. The meeting also proposed Mutual Recognition Agreements for professional services, internationalisation of payment infrastructure including RuPay and QR payments, domestic currency trade settlement, and trade facilitation measures such as direct shipping services, coordinated freight movement and improved air connectivity.

Trade transparency urged to counter mispricing and non tariff barriers and to strengthen resilient, diversified supply chains.
The Minister urged trade transparency and cooperative engagement among BRICS members, cautioning that non science based sanitary and phytosanitary measures and other non tariff barriers impede collective trade efforts. He advocated incremental WTO reform through concrete operational improvements, linked BRICS collaboration to G20 trade and investment work, and prioritized supply chain resilience, digital inclusion and MSME cooperation. He also raised concern about trade mispricing and under invoicing and supported capacity building to address it.

Export facilitation secures US market access for fresh pomegranate by coordinating phytosanitary compliance and traceability measures.
APEDA facilitated a first trial air shipment of fresh pomegranate to the United States by coordinating with national and US phytosanitary authorities, state agencies, research institutions and a registered exporter to secure market access and ensure compliance with import requirements, while promoting traceability via AnarNet and addressing production, post-harvest, logistics and packaging through Export Promotion Forums and infrastructure support.

Trade and investment cooperation: India seeks deeper ties with Latin America and the Caribbean to expand trade, investment and health collaboration.
India sets a four point agenda to deepen engagement with the Latin American & Caribbean region focusing on boosting trade flows via a roadmap and potential FTAs, leveraging bilateral partnerships to attract investment and integrate supply chains, expanding healthcare and pharmaceuticals cooperation through mutual recognition agreements and smarter regulation, and collaborating on global challenges by pooling resources and technology within a Global South framework, while pursuing trust building and operationalising these aims through the Department of Commerce's outreach with Invest India and export promotion councils.

Decriminalization of minor regulatory offences replaces imprisonment with calibrated administrative penalties and adjudication mechanisms.
The legislation advances a systematic decriminalization initiative by eliminating imprisonment for numerous minor, technical and procedural offences across multiple central Acts and replacing criminal sanctions with calibrated non-custodial responses, including conversion to penalties, compounding of offences, revision of fines, and establishment of Adjudicating Officers and Appellate Authorities to oversee administrative adjudication.

Restricted import category: tyre import licensing now tied to manufacturers' commitment to invest in domestic brownfield or greenfield projects.
Imports of new pneumatic tyres are classified under the Restricted Category, mandating an Import Licence. The Ministry has proposed that tyre manufacturers seeking authorisations for restricted tyres commit to invest in India via brownfield or greenfield production projects; procedural details are held by the relevant licensing division.

National Logistics Policy implementation advances digital integration and state planning to improve logistics performance and trade facilitation.
National Logistics Policy implementation is advanced through CLAP action areas emphasizing digital integration (ULIP), supply-chain visibility (LDB), and development of State Logistics Plans and Sectoral Plans for Efficient Logistics to address infrastructure and process gaps. Institutional coordination mechanisms (SIG, E-LoGS), capacity building via training institutes, and ministry-level projects to improve last-mile connectivity and standardise procedures at ports and airports are driving reductions in dwell time and targeted improvements across Logistics Performance Index parameters.

Decriminalization of minor regulatory offences reduces imprisonment risk and replaces penalties with administrative sanctions for business compliance.
The Bill implements comprehensive decriminalization across 42 Central Acts by altering 183 provisions to remove imprisonment, convert criminal sanctions into penalties, permit compounding, revise fines proportionate to offence gravity, and establish Adjudicating Officers and Appellate Authorities to administer and review administrative sanctions, thereby shifting minor and technical defaults away from criminal prosecution and aiming to reduce court pendency while preserving proportionality of punishment.

Free trade agreement talks advance as UK and India conclude eleventh round with detailed draft treaty discussions across policy areas.
Eleventh-round negotiations toward a Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of India concluded on 18 July 2023 in a hybrid format. Senior ministers and officials participated in meetings and technical discussions, which comprised 42 sessions across nine policy areas and involved detailed consideration of draft treaty text. A twelfth round of negotiations is scheduled in the coming months to continue the structured negotiation process.

Advance Authorisation Scheme allows duty free import of export inputs, streamlined via a searchable ad hoc norms database.
The Advance Authorisation Scheme allows duty free import of inputs for export production subject to sector norms and HBP compliance. DGFT's searchable ad hoc norms database permits exporters to apply on a "No Norm Repeat" basis when an existing ad hoc norm matches the item description, wastage specifications, and procedural requirements, avoiding fresh Norms Committee review and expediting Advance Authorisation processing.

Trade deficit improvement despite export contraction, driven by import decline and mixed sectoral performance in merchandise and services.
India's June 2023 and April-June 2023 trade shows overall export and import contraction but a narrowed trade deficit for the quarter; merchandise exports and imports fell year on year, non petroleum and non gems & jewellery trade declined, while sectoral results were mixed with strong gains in electronic goods, iron ore and several agricultural products and declines across many import categories. Services exports grew modestly, supporting a services surplus; June services data are provisional and subject to revision.

Free Trade Agreement talks advance as ministers focus on closing negotiable chapters and unlocking pragmatic trade opportunities.
Advancement of the Free Trade Agreement negotiations focused on identifying low-hanging fruits and closing several negotiation chapters to overcome technical and policy obstacles. Ministerial and senior-official engagement, coupled with industry outreach, aimed to align negotiation strategy with trade facilitation, market access objectives, and sustained economic diplomacy to accelerate a comprehensive bilateral trade arrangement.

Free Trade Agreement negotiations to be advanced through ministerial talks, focusing on market access, investment and IP cooperation.
Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom are being advanced through high-level meetings to address trade barriers, promote investment, and expand market access, with emphasis on technology, innovation, and intellectual property rights. Simultaneously, consultations with European Free Trade Association members will review progress on the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement to encourage reduced trade impediments and greater investment between India and EFTA countries.

Gold smuggling foiled after airport seizure leads to arrests and prosecution under customs law, investigation ongoing.
Operation Goldmine led to seizure of 48.20 kg of gold paste at Surat International Airport, extraction of over 42 kg of high purity gold, recording of statements under the Customs Act, 1962, and arrests of three passengers and one airport official on suspicion of participation in an organised smuggling syndicate; further investigation to identify other involved persons and officials is ongoing.

One District One Product Awards promote ODOP best practices and invite eligible administrations to apply via the portal.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade launched the One District One Product (ODOP) Awards to recognise district, State/UT and mission achievements that select, brand and promote one district product, resolve supply chain bottlenecks, increase market and export access, and encourage replication of best practices; all States/UTs, district administrations and Indian Missions abroad are eligible and invited to apply via the central awards portal.

E Logs platform enables faster resolution of logistics bottlenecks through Service Improvement Group intervention and stakeholder access.
Industry associations must use the E Logs platform to post logistics-sector issues for expedited resolution by the Service Improvement Group (SIG), an inter ministerial body within the Logistics Division, DPIIT. The SIG, chaired by the Special Secretary, Logistics, and comprising nodal officers from relevant ministries, identifies cross jurisdictional bottlenecks-such as procedural delays, excessive documentation and digitalisation gaps-and coordinates interventions via concerned departments to accelerate redressal, improve stakeholder outreach and contribute to logistics cost rationalisation under the National Logistics Policy.

Affordable export credit to MSMEs urged, with ECGC scheme expansion and faster claim payments to boost exports.
Banks were urged to extend enhanced and affordable export credit to MSME exporters; ECGC proposed modifications to its enhanced cover product to reduce export credit cost and treat borrower accounts as equivalent to higher-rated accounts; expansion of the pilot scheme to all banks was recommended to increase export credit offtake; operational changes proposed include adopting CGTMSE-like claim processing, quicker substantial claim payments to banks after receipt, and full digitization of ECGC services to minimize physical interaction.

Destruction of seized narcotics reinforces export customs' role in anti drug enforcement against illicit trafficking and public safety.
Air Cargo Customs (Export) Commissionerate, Delhi carried out destruction of seized narcotic and psychotropic substances at an approved waste facility and handed over additional opium consignments to a government opium and alkaloid factory, following seizures from export courier and foreign post office channels.

Production linked incentive scheme promotes industry-government collaboration to boost manufacturing, quality, and timely grievance redressal.
The Government commits to accelerating growth in Production Linked Incentive (PLI) sectors through industry-government collaboration, regular consultations between implementing ministries/PMAs and beneficiaries, and effective grievance redressal to resolve procedural issues. A DPIIT workshop spanning 14 sectors convened departments, PMAs, industry associations and companies to discuss scheme scope, eligibility, incentives, domestic value addition, and implementation roadmaps; attendees reviewed reported investment, production, employment, export and disbursement metrics and pledged active participation to enhance competitiveness, quality and scheme effectiveness.