Status Certificates

3.1

The Policy relating to the status holder is given in Chapter- 3 of the Policy.

Application for Grant of Status

3.2

For grant of any status, the application shall be filed before 1^st March. The application for One to Five Star Export House shall be filed in Appendix-17. The application for One to Five Star Export House for service providers http://dgftcom.nic.in/exim/2000/pn/pn02/pn1702.htm

shall be filed in Appendix-17A.

An existing status holder shall be automatically treated to be an equivalent star export house as per the table given herein under:

Erstwhile status under Exim Policy 2002-07

Converted Status as per the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09

Export House

One Star Export House

Trading House

Three Star Export House

Star Trading House

Four Star Export House

Super Star Trading House

Five Star Export House

However, any exporter irrespective of whether he is a status holder or not can apply afresh in Appendix 17 or Appendix 17 A for grant of status or upgradation of his existing status.

3.2.1

Application for grant/ renewal of certificate for One to Five Star Export House shall be filed with the concerned regional licensing authority headed by Joint DGFT. Provided further that, application for grant/ renewal of status certificate in respect of EOU/ SEZ units, shall be filed with the concerned Development Commissioner if it does not involve clubbing of FOB value of exports of its other company(ies) in the DTA. However in case of clubbing, the application shall be filed with Joint DGFT.

3.2.2

Such application shall be made by the Registered Office/Head Office/Corporate Office in the case of a Company and Head Office in case of others. Where the applicant is the Registered Office/Head Office/Corporate Office in case of a Company, it shall furnish (a) Self certified copy of valid RCMC where the name of the Registered Office or Head Office or Corporate Office is given and (b) A disclaimer from the Head Office and Corporate Office (or Registered Office and Corporate Office or Registered Office and Head Office as the case may be) that no such application has been filed by the Company earlier against the period of entitlement for the status certificate.

3.2.3

The application for grant of status certificate in the case of non service providers mandates the submission of a "Bank Certificate of Export Realisation/ Deemed Exports for Status Certificate" as given in Appendix-17B.

Target Plus Scheme

3.2.5

The Policy for the Target Plus Scheme is given at Chapter 3 of the Foreign Trade Policy

I.

For direct as well as third party exports, the Export documents viz Export Order, Invoice, GR form, Bank Realization Certificate should be in the name of applicant only.

However for the third party exports, where goods have been procured from a manufacturer, the shipping bill should contain the name of the exporter as well as the supporting manufacturer.

II.

Goods allowed to be imported under this scheme shall have a broad nexus with the products exported and a declaration in this regard shall be made by the applicant in Appendix 17D.

III.

The licensing authority shall at the time of issuance of the duty credit entitlement certificate endorse the name of the associate manufacturer/ supporting manufacturer/job worker on the certificate as declared by the applicant. Goods imported against such entitlement certificate shall be used by the applicant or his supporting manufacturer/ job worker.

III.

The last date for filing of such applications shall be 31^st December.

IV.

For each duty credit certificate, split certificates subject to a minimum of Rs 5 lakh each and multiples thereof may also be issued. A fee of Rs 1000/- each shall be paid for each split certificate. However, a request for issuance of split certificate(s) shall be made at the time of application only and shall not be considered at a later stage.

V.

The duty credit certificate shall normally be issued with a single port of registration. However the applicant may choose for different ports of registration for each split certificate.

VI

The duty credit certificate shall be valid for a period of 24 months from the date of issue

VII

The applicants shall within one month of the last imports made under this certificate or within one month of expiry of the certificate which ever is earlier, submit a statement of imports/ utilization made under the certificate as per Appendix 17E, to the jurisdictional Regional Licensing Authority who have issued the Certificate with a copy to the jurisdictional Excise authorities.

Maintenance of Accounts

3.3

The status holder shall maintain true and proper accounts of its exports and imports based on which such recognition has been granted and the exports and imports made during the validity period of such recognition certificate. The record shall be maintained for a minimum period of three years from the expiry of the validity of such certificate. These accounts shall be made available for inspection to the licensing authority or any authority nominated by the Director General of Foreign Trade.

Refusal/ Suspension/ Cancellation of Certificate

3.4

The status certificate may be refused or suspended or cancelled by the authority which is competent to issue/renew such certificate, if the certificate holder/ applicant or any agent or employee acting on his behalf:

(a)

Fails to discharge the export obligation imposed;

(b)

Tampers with licences;

(c)

Misrepresents or has been a party to any corrupt or fraudulent practice in obtaining any licence;

(d)

Commits a breach of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, or the Rules and Orders made there under; or

(e)

Fails to furnish the information required by the Director General of Foreign Trade or any person or authority authorized by him.

3.4.1

A reasonable opportunity shall be given to the status holder before taking any action under paragraph 3.4 of Handbook.

Appeal

3.5

An applicant who is not satisfied with the decision taken to suspend or cancel the certificate, may file an appeal to the Director General of Foreign Trade within 45 days of the date of the said decision. The decision of the DGFT shall be final.

Export Promotion Council

3.6

The general policy relating to the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) is given in Chapter-2 of the Policy. A list and product category of Export Promotion Councils/ Commodity Boards is given in Appendix- 27.

3.7

The major functions of the EPCs are:

(a)

To provide commercially useful information and assistance to their members in developing and increasing their exports;

(b)

To offer professional advice to their members in areas such as technology up gradation, quality and design improvement, standards and specifications, product development, innovation etc;

(c)

To organise visits of delegations of its members abroad to explore overseas market opportunities;

(d)

To organise participation in trade fairs, exhibitions and buyer-seller meets in India and abroad;

(e)

To promote interaction between the exporting community and the Government both at the Central and State levels; and

(f)

To build a database on the exports and imports of their members.

Non-Profit, Autonomous and Professional Bodies

3.8

The EPCs are non-profit organizations registered under the Companies Act or the Societies Registration Act, as the case may be.

3.9

The EPCs shall be autonomous and regulate their own affairs. However, if the Central Government frames uniform bylaws for the constitution and/or for the transaction of business for EPCs, they shall adopt the same with such modifications as Central Government may approve having regard to the special nature or functioning of such EPC.

The EPCs shall not be required to obtain the approval of the Central Government for participation in trade fairs, exhibitions etc. and for sending sales teams/delegations abroad.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry/ Ministry of Textiles of the Government of India, as the case may be, would interact with the Managing Committee of the Council concerned, twice a year, once for approving their annual plans and budget and again for a mid-year appraisal and review of their performance.

3.10

In order to give a boost and impetus to exports, it is imperative that the EPCs function as professional bodies. For this purpose, executives with a professional background in commerce, management and international marketing and having experience in government and industry should be brought into the EPCs.

Government Support

3.11

The EPCs may be provided financial assistance by the Central Government.

Authorities Issuing RCMC

3.12

An exporter desiring to obtain a Registration-cum- Membership Certificate (RCMC) shall declare his main line of business in the application which shall be made to the Export Promotion Council (EPC) relating to that line of business as indicated in Appendix 27. However, a status holder has the option to obtain RCMC from Federation of Indian Exporters Organization (FIEO).

The service exporters (except software service exporters) shall be required to obtain RCMC from FIEO. In respect of exporters having their head office/registered office in the State of Orissa, RCMC may be obtained from FIEO office in Bhubaneshwar irrespective of the product being exported by them.

In order to give proper guidance and encouragement to the Services Sector, an exclusive Export Promotion Council for Services shall be set up.

3.12.1

In addition, an exporter has the option to obtain an RCMC from FIEO or any other EPC, if the products exported by him relate to those EPC's. If the export product is such that it is not covered by any EPC, RCMC in respect thereof may be issued by FIEO.

Registration cum-Membership

3.12.2

An exporter may, on application given in Appendix-4, register and become a member of an Export Promotion Council. On being admitted to membership, the applicant shall be granted forthwith Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) of the EPC concerned, in the format given in Appendix-4A subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified in this behalf. In case an exporter desires to get registration as a manufacturer exporter, he shall furnish evidence to that effect.

Prospective/potential exporters may also, on application, register and become an associate member of an export promotion council.

Validity Period of RCMC

3.12.3

 The RCMC shall be deemed to be valid from 1^st April of the licensing year in which it was issued and shall be valid for five years ending 31st March of the licensing year, unless otherwise specified.

Intimation Regarding Change In Constitution

3.12.4

In case of change in ownership, constitution, name or address of an exporter, it shall be obligatory on the part of RCMC holder to intimate such change to the registering authority within a period of one month from the date of such change. The registering authority, however, may condone delays on merits.

Furnishing Of Returns

3.13

The exporter shall furnish quarterly returns/ details of his exports of different commodities to the concerned registering authority. This will be in addition to any other returns as may be prescribed by the registering authority. However, status holders shall also send quarterly returns to FIEO in the format specified by FIEO.

De-Registration

3.14

The registering authority may de-register an RCMC holder for a specified period for violation of the conditions of registration. Before such de-registration, the RCMC holder shall be given a show cause notice by the registering authority, and an adequate and reasonable opportunity to make a representation against the proposed de-registration. Upon de–registration, the concerned export promotion council shall intimate the same to all the licensing authorities.

Appeal Against De-registration

3.15

A person aggrieved by a decision of the registering authority in respect of any matter connected with the issue of RCMC may prefer an appeal to the Director General of Foreign Trade or an officer designated in this behalf within 45 days against the said decision and the decision of the appellate authority shall be final.

Directives of DGFT

3.16

The Director General of Foreign Trade may direct any registering authority to register or de-register an exporter or otherwise issue such other directions to them consistent with and in order to implement the provisions of the Act, the Rules and Orders made there under, the Policy or this Handbook.

Electronic Data Interchange

3.17

With a view to reducing transaction time and costs in obtaining licences/permission/certificate from the DGFT, electronic filing and electronic processing of licence application has been introduced.

Eligibility

3.17.1

The facility of electronic filing of applications shall be available to all exporters.

Procedure

3.17.2

Under this scheme, an exporter would be able to file his application on the DGFT website at http://dgft.delhi.nic.in. The application will then be processed in accordance with the prevalent rules and regulations. Deficiency, if any, shall be communicated online to the applicant.

The applicant will have to visit the concerned office to hand-over the hard copy of the application along with the requisite documents including the application fee. The licence shall be issued on receipt of the hard copies of the documents as mentioned above after due scrutiny as prescribed in this Book.

Only 50% of the normal application fee would be admissible if the application is made through a digital signature.

However, from 01.01.2005 onwards, the following deductions would be admissible for applications signed digitally and application fee paid electronically through EFT (electronic fund transfer)

S. No

Mode of Application

Fee Deduction (as a % of normal application fee)

1

Digitally signed

25%

2

Application fee payment vide EFT

25%

3

Both digitally signed and EFT of application fee

50%

Benefits

3.17.3

The facility will reduce unnecessary physical interface with DGFT. It will enable faster processing, speedier communication of deficiencies, if any, and on-line availability of application processing status.

3.17.4

Licence issued electronically shall be transmitted to the Customs through EDI Mode. This shall also obviate the need for physical verification of licences before allowing clearance, as the verification will be done electronically by the Customs.

Served From India Scheme

3.18

a)

The Policy for the Served From India Scheme is elaborated at Chapter 3 of Foreign Trade Policy.

b)

A single consolidated application for the duty credit entitlement certificate shall be filed with the jurisdictional regional licensing authority in Appendix-36A by the Registered office in case of a company and Head Office in case of others. The last date for filing of such application shall be 31^st December.

c)

Where the applicant is the branch office or the individual units of the service provider, it shall furnish (i) self certified copy of any valid documentary evidence such as tax return etc. where the name of the branch/unit is given and (ii) an authority letter from the Registered Office of a company or head office of a firm, clearly, indicating that the Registered/Head office or its branches and unit(s) have not been declared defaulter or otherwise made in eligible for import/export under any of the provisions of the policy.

d)

For each duty credit certificate, split certificates subject to a minimum of Rs 5 lakh each and multiples thereof may also be issued. A fee of Rs 1000/- each shall be paid for each split certificate. However, a request for issuance of split certificate(s) shall be made at the time of application only and shall not be considered at a later stage.

The duty credit certificate shall normally be issued with a single port of registration. However the applicant may choose for different ports of registration for each split certificate.

e)

The certificate holder intending to procure the item (s) from the indigenous sources/State Trading Enterprises in lieu of direct import has the option to source them against Advance Release Order (ARO) or invalidation letter, as the case may be, which shall be denominated in foreign exchange/Indian Rupees.

f)

The entitlement can be used for import from private/public bonded warehouses subject to the fulfillment of provision of paragraph 2.28 of Foreign Trade Policy and the terms and conditions of the notification issued by Department of Revenue from time to time in respect of private/public bonded warehouses.

g)

The duty credit entitlement certificate shall be valid for a period of 24 months. The service provider shall within one month of the completion of imports made or the expiry of the validity of the duty credit entitlement certificate whichever is earlier, submit a statement of imports made under the certificate as per Appendix-36B to the jurisdictional Regional Licensing Authority with a copy to the jurisdictional Excise authorities (service tax cell).

h)

All the applicants under this scheme who are hotels ( 1 star and above, heritage hotels) and stand alone restaurants would ensure that they pass on the entire benefit of the duty credit entitlement to the consumer .

This would be confirmed by the submission of a certificate as per Annexure 1 to Appendix 36 B pertaining to the "Statement of Utilization of Duty Credit Entitlement for Status Providers" to the licencing authority.

(i)

Only such foreign exchange remittances as are earned as amounts in lieu of the services rendered by the service exporter would be counted for computation of the entitlement under this scheme.

Other sources of foreign exchange earnings such as equity or debt participation, donations, repayment of loans and any other inflow of foreign exchange unrelated to the service rendered would not be counted for the computation of entitlement under the scheme.

Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana

3.19

The Policy pertaining to the Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojana is give in Chapter 3 of the Foreign Trade Policy.

The following guidelines would be applicable for exports under this scheme:

(a)

For direct as well as third party exports, the Export documents viz Export Order, Invoice, GR form, Bank Realization Certificate should be in the name of applicant only.

(b)

The Duty Credit may be used for import of inputs or goods including capital goods, as may be notified, provided the same is freely importable under ITC(HS).