Foreign trade policy to extend till September

Given the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting disruptions to India’s international trade, the government has decided to extend the existing foreign trade policy (2015-20) for an additional six months till September 30, 2020. This will extend to all the existing schemes under the policy. Additional measures are also being taken to ease the pain for exporters. This decision was taken even as the Department of Commerce is in consultations with stakeholders for the preparation of the next Foreign Trade Policy. The current one has expired its term on March 31, 2020. The policy will be formulated by the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT). Currently, tax benefits are being provided under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for goods and Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for services.