Page 80 - CII-ARTHA

ARTHA

trade ecosystem, mandating an FTA module in customs Policy Priorities to Boost
broker licensing (with continued refreshers) and creating
incentive structures for brokers who facilitate FTA Trade Competitiveness
utilisation can have an outsized impact. Integrating FTA
eligibility alerts into the UDYAM registration portal and the Boosting India’s trade competitiveness requires:
GeM platform that prompts MSMEs with relevant FTA
opportunities based on their existing product and export • Strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem
profiles can further help increase awareness. through plug and play SEZ and industrial parks with
in-place approvals and supporting infrastructure –
enabled by the government and led by the private
sector. The industry highlights land acquisition and
attaining the required permissions and clearances as a
Ecosystem Gaps
significant hurdle for greenfield projects.
Pre-clearances and approvals supported by collective
The absence of dedicated support for trade promotion infrastructure and utilities that are built and manged by
further compounds these challenges. ASEAN countries
(especially Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia) the private sector can help mitigate this issue. Such
have sophisticated export promotion agencies, clusters, when supported by appropriate sectoral
well-established Certificate of Origin (CoO) issuance policies, will aid the development of input value chains,
systems, and deep integration into global value chains ancillary ecosystems and soft infrastructure, boosting
that naturally meet Rules of Origin (RoO) criteria. Korean MSMEs and supporting the workforce.
conglomerates (chaebols) have dedicated FTA utilisation
teams, while the Korean Customs Service actively tracks
utilisation. Japanese trading companies (Sogo Shosha) • Building dedicated sectoral trade desks that track
are globally renowned for their trade facilitation. Indian global demand trends across trade channels and
exporters, particularly MSMEs, lack equivalent provides real time inputs: An AI-powered trade
institutional support and struggle with a fragmented trade analytics system can help monitor real-time trade
enablement ecosystem. flows and demand landscape, predict impact
scenarios, and proactively make suggestions to the
government and companies. This can also include
"Global Connect" programmes with targeted
High Compliance Costs interventions for each FTA market.

These challenges are further compounded by high
compliance costs. High compliance costs, including for • Improved access to finance: Developing a rating
obtaining quality certificates and CoOs (documentation system for export-ready firms and providing targeted
preparation, agency visits, potential re-submissions) can support based on ratings , including through a
exceed the tariff saving, making FTA utilisation dedicated fund for technology upgradation and quality
economically irrational for small players. Dedicated support certification support, can help focus efforts and
infrastructure and increased testing and certification funding where it is most needed and can drive the
infrastructure that issues digital documentation on most impact. Specialised credit schemes for MSME
blockchain can help address these challenges. exporters with performance-based incentives can
provide additional support.

• Customs digitisation with rule-based,
discretion-free processing: Despite transformation
initiatives across the past decade, several customs
processes remain partly offline and discretion-driven,
causing delays. Digital systems that leverage
technologies such as AI and blockchain will help
strengthen implementation and create automated
self-check compliance mechanisms. Additionally,
expanding Customs Advance Ruling capacity will help
reduce turnaround times.

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