DGFT notifies items under focus product scheme

NEW DELHI: The government has notified the list of products eligible for export benefits under the Focus Product scheme announced as part of the Foreign Trade Policy.

The list has 74 items covering five sectors of leather products and footwear; sports goods, stationery and fireworks; handloom; handicraft and value added fish items, according to a notification by the directorate general of Foreign Trade.

With the notification, products such as saddles, handbags, footwear, toys, dolls, fishing rods and stationery items such as pens and pencils would get duty-free credit facility.

It also includes carpets and other handicrafts made of iron, steel, brass and copper; all handloom products bearing the Handloom Mark and fish products such as shrimp, squid, fish curry, fish pickle, stuffed crab and canned tuna.

Focus Product and Focus Market were the two new schemes announced by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath during the annual review of the Foreign Trade Policy on April 7. The two schemes have replaced the Target Plus scheme which has been scrapped.

The Focus Product scheme was aimed at giving a thrust to manufacture and export of certain industrial products which could generate large employment per unit of investment compared to other products. It allows duty-credit facility at 2.5 per cent of the FOB (Free on Board) value of exports on 50 per cent of the export turnover of notified products.

Focus Market scheme, which is meant for promoting exports to countries which have so far been neglected, has not been finalised owing to differences between finance and commerce ministries. While the commerce ministry wants to include Africa and Latin America, the finance ministry has expressed reservations over the additional revenue outgo due to inclusion of both markets under the scheme.