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MAIT seeks US, Korean help to combat DGFT notification

NetScribes/Abhijit Basu

After having tried - rather unsuccessfully - to make itself heard, the Manufacturers' Association of Information Technology, is now invoking the 'foreign hand'. The apex body of the Indian hardware industry has now sought assistance from the US and Korean embassies to lobby for changes in the import notification issued by the directorate general foreign trade (DGFT) earlier this month.

The notification states that all goods imported into India should have a label that states the origin of the goods, the names of the importer and exporter, the date of shipment and the maximum retail price of the merchandise. This, according to experts, was done with the intention of curbing cheap Chinese imports into the country.

"Since most hardware imports come from the US and Korea, we will work with the respective embassies to lobby with the ministry of commerce to make some concessions for certain components as the notification does not make sense across the board," said Vinnie Mehta, director of MAIT.

Thus MAIT, in association with the embassies, has moved the ministries of commerce, finance and civil supplies, asking for changes to the notification.

"We have demanded that captive goods like microprocessors, sub-assemblies, and any other component for manufacturing computers be exempted from the notification. For printers and PCs, the industry is anyway adhering to the Weights and Measurements Act, wherein they fix an MRP on the unit at the time of sale. It is not possible to put an MRP for components imported for further assembly in India. However, we do not mind consumables like floppy disks and toner cartridges being covered under the guidelines of the notification," he said.

"The January-March quarter has already started and this is the fastest-moving quarter for the hardware companies. Unless imports ease, the quarter's sales will suffer," he added.

Currently, goods worth millions of rupees are stuck at various ports across the country due to confusion regarding the notification. "While the customs department is keen to offload them to make space for other imports, it is now allowing traders to stick the labels at ports, within customs-designated areas. This is a temporary move to clear all goods, lest they stock up beyond control," said Mehta.

To clear up the current pile, MAIT has also suggested that the importer be allowed to give an undertaking that the required labels will be affixed to the goods immediately after customs clearance. Mehta was quick to clarify that this would apply only to goods stuck at ports and not to fresh imports.

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