Foreign Trade Policies aim at simplifying and making the import-export process desirable to the importers, exporters, and traders. There are several schemes for encouraging exports, Export House Certificate or the Status Holder Certificate is one amongst them. The Export House Certificate aims to boost export performances. As per the scheme, exporters are allotted status holder positions according to the export performance.
Consulting And Compliance
Export House Certificate: An Overview
What is the Export House Certificate?
Export House Certificate holders are the Indian businesses that have given excellent performance in international trade and have made a significant contribution to the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
The Export house status is issued to all the exporters of goods, services, and technology who have an import-export code (IE Code).
Export House Certificate is provided as recognition to those who have excellently performed throughout the financial year (FOB/ FOR value).
What are the benefits of the Export House Certificate?
The exporters tend to enjoy various benefits and privileges under the Export House Certificate:
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Authorisation and customs clearance for both imports and exports may be allowed on a self-declaration basis.
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Exemption from the furnishing of bank guarantee for Schemes under Foreign Trade Promotion, unless specified otherwise.
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Input-output norms can be fixed on priority within 60 days by the Norms Committee.
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Exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks. Remittance or receipts should however be received through banking channels.
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Houses that are two-star and above are permitted to establish export warehouses as per Department of Revenue guidelines.
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Three-star and above export houses are allowed to get benefits of the Accredited Clients Programme, as per the guidelines of the Central Board of Excise and Customs.
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Status holders would be entitled to preferential and priority treatment while handling consignments by concerned agencies.
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Status holders are eligible to export freely exportable items on free of cost basis for export promotion subject to an annual limit of Rs.10 lakhs or 2% of average annual export realisation during the preceding three licensing years, whichever is higher.
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Exporters involved in manufacturing would be eligible to self-certify their goods as origination from India.
What’s the procedure to obtain Export House Certificate or Status?
The exporter of goods or services is eligible to obtain the Export House Certificate. The applicant will be eligible only after reaching a specified minimum export performance in the current and previous two financial years.
The export performance is estimated by considering the FOB (Free on Board) value of the earning in free foreign exchange. Also, in the case of deemed exports, the FOB value of exports is converted from the Indian rupee to the USD at the exchange rate by the Central Boards of Excise and Customs, applicable for 1st April of every financial year.
What’s the MSME Export House Status Eligibility?
Exporters acquiring IE code are granted double weightage while calculating their export performance for issuance of Export House Certificate. However, there are other types of exporters as well who can claim double weightage to get classified as a one-star export house. Like any other category, the regulations prohibit double weightage for recognition of status, namely, two/ three/ four/ five-star export house.
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Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
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Manufacturing units having ISO or BIS Certification
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Units located in the North Eastern States including Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir
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Units located in Agri Export Zones
What are the conditions for granting Export House Certificate?
Transforming of export performance of one IE Code holder to the other IE Code holder isn’t permitted. Further, export that is based on re-export, the export of items under authorization, SCOMET items are also not considered in the calculation of export performance.
What are Standard Input-Output Norms?
The DGFT issued the Standard Input-Output Norms (SION) with an aim to determine the number of inputs required for the production of a unit of output to be exported.
This method has pre-fixed norms for thousands of products of different segments such as Chemical and allied products, Electronics, Engineering, Food products, Handicrafts, Leather, Plastics, Sports, textile, etc.
What are the Benefits of Export House Certificate?
Standard Input-Output Norms (SION)
These comprise norms that are fixed under the Advance Authorization/ EPCG License within 2 months, based on priority by the Norms Committee.
Exemption from the furnishing Bank Guarantee (BG)
All the status holders are completely exempted from the furnishing of the Bank Guarantee (BG) underneath the Advance Authorisation/ EPCG Scheme.
Establishment of Export Warehouse
According to the Department of Revenue (DoR) guidelines, the status holders who have two stars or above are eligible to establish Export Warehouses.
Export of free of cost samples
The status holders are entitled to freely export the eligible goods. The exports are carried out on a free-of-cost basis for encouraging exports subject to the annual limit as per the notifications. Gems, and jewelry, articles of gold, and other precious metals are excluded from this.
Self Certification
The status holders with three stars or above (manufacturer exporters) are eligible to self-certify their manufactured goods as originating from India under Certificate of Origin to qualify for enjoying preferential treatment under the below mentioned terms:
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Preferential trading agreements (PTA),
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Free Trade Agreements (FTAs),
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Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA)
- Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA).
Ease in Documentation and Preferential treatment
Compulsory negotiation is exempted for export documents through banks and is entitled to preferential treatment and priority in the maintenance and handling of import-export consignments.
AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) Benefits
Status holders with three stars and above shall be directly entitled underneath the AEO Benefits.
Financial Assistance
There are various Government Schemes under which status holders are provided access to loans easily.
Why get assistance from the DGFT Gurus?
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The DGFT Gurus are in the field for over 30 years with more than 7000 cases and 1000+ happy clients.
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With our expert advisors, the clients will be able to get their hands on the process conveniently. We assist our client in the compilation of exports and analysis for checking the eligibility to claim the Export House Certificate.
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The documentation and application are handled by our professional export advisors and regular follow-ups are taken from the authorities to prevent any sort of delay.
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Our team of DGFT Consultants works dedicatedly towards their responsibility, thus, they are 24/7 available at your service to maximise your benefits.
30+ Years of Experience, dedicated team of DGFT Experts
FAQ
There are a few eligibility criteria for an exporter to be marked as “status holder exporter”.
These eligibility criteria include:
- The exporter applying for the grant of Star Export House must have the Import – Export Code (IEC).
- This certificate is issued observing a certain level of export performance achieved by the exporters.
The exporter can be recognized under any of the 5 categories. These categories vary from One Star Export House to Five Star Export House.
Your export performance FOB/FOR value for them should be $3 million, $25 million, $100 million, $500 million, and $2000 million, respectively.
Exporters may obtain any number of Import Certificates which will be debited to Export Performance Certificate, as per the existing procedure. Exporters shall submit a copy of the final Bill of Entry issued by Customs within 30 (Thirty) days from the clearance of the goods from the Customs to the Head Office of SRTEPC.
Who is eligible to claim the status of export houses? Who is eligible for the Export House Certificate/Status Holder Certificate.
Exporters who acquire international exchange code (IE) are granted double weightage while calculating their export performance for issuance of Export House Certificate, but there is another type as well. They can claim this special status to get classified as a one-star exporter or even two/ three four five-star houses depending on what classification level they want!
- Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
- Manufacturing units having ISO or BIS Certification
- Units located in the North Eastern States including Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir
- Units located in Agri Export Zones
You can get customs clearance and authorization for both imports and exports may be allowed on a self-declaration basis. Unless it is specified otherwise, you can get exemption from the furnishing of bank guarantees for Schemes under Foreign Trade Promotion.
Within 60 days by the Norms Committee, Input-output norms can be fixed on priority.
Exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks. Remittance or receipts should however be received through banking channels.
As per Department of Revenue guidelines, houses that are two-star and above are permitted to establish export warehouses.
As per the guidelines of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Three-star and above export houses are allowed to get benefits from the Accredited Clients Programme.
Status holders would be entitled to preferential and priority treatment while handling consignments by concerned agencies. You can claim a free export on items for export promotion subject to an annual limit of Rs.10 lakhs or 2% of the average annual export realization.
Exporters involved in manufacturing would be eligible to self-certify their goods as originating from India.
