Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman Virender Uppal has urged the centre to look into its demands favourably, which included introduction of separate chapter for pre- and post-shipment export credit at fixed rate of 7 per cent interest, as done in the past and inclusion of two per cent fabric within five per cent overall entitlement under EPC for improving fabric base under Customs Notification dated March one 2015.

He also demanded introduction of Duty Credit scrip at 5 per cent to major markets like the US, EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland, Russian Federation, Ireland, Brazil, China, Korea, Norway, Chile, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Malaysia. Simplification in landing certificates as proposed by AEPC should also be considered. Besides, actual implementation of 24 x 7 clearances of import and export must be ensured by Customs at all airports and shipping ports, Uppal said.

Government also must give some indication about the finalization of India-EU FTA, CEPA with Canada, etc which need to be implemented on urgent basis so as to mitigate the duty disadvantage suffered by India vis-a-vis competitors like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pakistan etc. in the major markets. The council also demanded for upward revision of duty drawback rate for the garment industry and simplified procedure for taxation and single window clearance, trust based clearances and assessments.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 55th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) in New Delhi, Uppal said “Under the foreign trade policy (FTP) 2015-19, garment sector got 2 per cent reward only on 239 HS lines out of 398 lines, while the service sector got 5 per cent scrip under Service Sector India Scheme.” Besides India is facing duty disadvantage of 9.6 per cent compared to competing countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan which are having zero-duty access under LDC/GSP+ status under EU GSP Scheme, Uppal added.