Union Commerce & Industry Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal unveils system based automatic ‘Status Holder’ certificates under Foreign Trade Policy 2023

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Mr. Piyush Goyal introduced an initiative to provide IT system-based automatic 'Status Holder' certifications to exporters, under which the government will identify around 20,000 exporters as Status Holders, up from 12,518 exporters previously identified.

In an effort to decrease transaction costs and increase the convenience of doing business, the government automated the mechanism of granting credibility to Indian exporters in overseas markets.

According to a statement from the Commerce and Industry Ministry, the plan was announced by Mr. Goyal during a meeting with the export promotion councils. The Status Holder certification programme offers Indian exporters credibility in international markets.

President, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Mr. A. Sakthivel said, “Over 15,000 exporters will be benefitted from this facility who will get 1 Star to 5 Star recognition on a real-time basis”.

Presently, an exporter must submit an online application along with an export certificate from a chartered accountant in order to receive a grant of status.

Every year in August, certification is granted based on annual export figures, and Emexporters who are eligible for a higher status based on additional export data relating to services export, deemed exports, or double weightage to MSMEs can apply online for a status modification at a later date.

According to the statement, exporters will no longer be required to apply to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) office for a Status Certificate, and export recognition will be provided by the IT system based on available Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics merchandise export electronic data and other risk parameters.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.