What is Amnesty Scheme in New Foreign Trade Policy – A Comprehensive Guide

The Indian government broke the most awaited new Foreign Trade Policy on Friday, 31st March 2023. This policy has brought a lot of changes to the import-export industry of our country. All these changes have been made to promote more Indian exports in the international market. This time the government changed the traditional 5-year target policy to a long term focus policy.

The FTP 2023 is dynamic and it does not have any end date. It completely focuses on the internalization of the Indian rupee. One of the key highlights included in the FTP 2023 is the introduction of a one-time Amnesty scheme. But, what does this scheme hold? Is it beneficial for the exporters? Here, in this blog, we have mentioned it all.

During the release of the new Foreign Trade Policy 2023, it was announced that a one-time amnesty scheme has been framed by the Union government. The main motive of this scheme is to offer a one-time facility to provide regularisation for defaulters of Export Obligation cases (EO) of Advance Authorization and EPCG authorization. This has been done to motivate Indian exporters and improve the country’s foreign trade businesses.

The amnesty scheme has been introduced with the aim to provide relief to exporters who are not able to fulfill their EO on time. This scheme in FTP 2023 will help exporters to close their old pending authorizations and initiate new ones. 

The amnesty scheme in FTP 2023 has been introduced for a limited period. It is available only till 30 September 2023 according to the new FTP that has been applied from 1st April 2023.

Now, let us take a closer look at this scheme and the advantages that it holds for the Indian export industry.

The scheme has been framed to motivate the exporters for the growth of Indian foreign trade.

The benefits that the Amnesty scheme provides are:

The Amnesty scheme in India’s new foreign trade policy will provide relief to exporters who are unable to accomplish their export obligation (EO) under the Advance authorization and EPCG authorization.

This scheme also comes with the one-time settlement of default in EO by EPCG and Advance Authorization holders.

The DGFT also mentioned that all the pending cases of the default meeting in Export Obligation (EO) can be converted into regular ones by authorization holders according to the customs duties payment which had been exempted.

Under the Amnesty scheme, the maximum amount of interest has been capped at 100% of such customs duties exempted. Moreover, there is no need to pay interest on the portion of additional customs duty and special additional customs duty.

Moreover, even the application fees for both Advance Authorization and EPCG have been reduced. 

Important: The Amnesty scheme framed in India’s new Foreign Trade Policy will be available only till 31st September 2023. Therefore, exporters who are willing to enjoy the benefits of this scheme must quickly apply for it.

The trade businesses might be wondering if they are eligible for this amnesty scheme or not. So, an exporter will be eligible to avail of the benefits of this scheme if there has been a default in export obligation (EO) due to genuine reasons.

Cases that fall under investigation and unauthorized diversion of goods and materials do not apply to the Amnesty scheme in FTP 2023. Also, if duty along with interest has been already paid, then also you will not be able to apply for this scheme.

An online portal for this scheme has been released along with a six-month window that will be available for exporters to enjoy the benefits that come with the scheme.

The Amnesty scheme in India’s Foreign Trade Policy opens up a big opportunity for import-export business owners having long pending Export Obligation (EO) cases to settle them in a single time. The Amnesty scheme has been framed along the line of the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ initiative of the Indian government, which has been introduced with the motive to resolve various tax disputes amicably. The reports state that there will be more details announced about this one-time amnesty scheme soon.