Ministry streamlines system to avoid errors in export data

NEW DELHI: Errors in reporting of export data could be a thing of past, with the Commerce Ministry streamlining the system to ensure smooth and correct flow of shipment figures from different ports in the country.

"The ministry has fixed all the problems and has also reduced the time lag in releasing export numbers. For example, time lag for principal commodity exports has been reduced by a month since October 2012 from 3-4 months earlier," an official told PTI.

This follows a series of steps taken by the Department of Commerce to ensure timely reporting and collating of export data by different agencies, including Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) and the RBI.

The review exercise was started by the then Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar after an error of USD 9 billion was noticed in 2011 in the country's exports for April-November period of 2011-12.

The exercise was completed by current Commerce Secretary S R Rao.

The error happened due to several reasons, including mis-classifications, double counting and problems in the computer software.

The Prime Minister's Office had also asked the commerce department to explain the errors.

The issue was discussed in detail on January 29 during the meeting between Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, Commerce Secretary S R Rao and Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose.

The Commerce Ministry gave a detailed presentation to the Cabinet Secretary and has apprised him of the work. The ministry has also started issuing press statements in advance by almost three weeks since November 2012, the official said.

"Prompt and error free data from customs to DGCI&S is a pre-requisite for expeditious dispersal of trade data," Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Anup Pujari said.

Lax in data reporting has also created problems for officials during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to Mauritius last month where bilateral trade figures were found not matching.

According to a source, one of the main reasons for discrepancy in the bilateral trade figures was lack of computerisation at minor ports.

Out of about 300 ports, 180 ports are still non-EDI (electronic data interchange).

"Collation of manual figures takes time and in that chances of error is also there but soon things will be fixed," the source said.