Union Minister of Commerce & Industry unveiled a significant initiative to issue system based automatic ‘Status Holder’ certificates under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023. Now the exporter will not be required to apply to the office of Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) for a Status Certificate and the export recognition will be provided by the IT system based on available Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) merchandise export electronic data and other risk parameters.
Exporters who are eligible for a higher status based on additional export data relating to services export, deemed exports or double weightage to some entities like MSME etc., which is not getting captured in disaggregated form presently, can apply online for a Status modification also at a later date.
The Status Holder certification program provides credibility to the Indian exporters in the international markets. In addition, it provides certain other privileges including simplified procedures under FTP 2023 and priority custom clearances on self-declaration basis, exemption from compulsory negotiation of documents through banks, exemption from filing Bank Guarantee for FTP schemes etc.