New Delhi, Dec 20: In a bid to cut the exporters' transaction cost, the government has decided to refund customs and excise duties paid by them within three days under the electronic data interchange (EDI) system and within five days under the manual system. Yet another measure taken in the same direction is to appoint a nodal officer in each of the customs house to deal with export promotion and to redress the exporters'grievances.These decisions follow acceptance by the government of some of the recommendations of a high-powered committee set up to suggest measures to reduce the transaction cost of the exporting community.
Minister of state for finance, GN Ramachandran announced these decisions at a meeting with select exporters of the Federation of Indian export Organisations (FIEO) in Delhi on Tuesday.
The government is "committed to ensuring a user-friendly environment for all sections of the society, more so for the exporting community, who is the most important source of foreign exchange," he stated. Mr Ramachandran also referred to the most fundamental change in the excise rules regarding the decision to dispense with statutory records from July 1, 2000. As a result, the excise department would rely on the manufacturers' own records, he said adding that this provision would be great boon for the manufacturer-exporters.
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