Standing Committee on Commerce Invites
Suggestions on Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2009
The
Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2009, introduced in
the Rajya Sabha on the 25th November, 2009, has been referred to the
Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, with Shanta Kumar, Member, Rajya Sabha, as its Chairman, for
examination and report.
The Bill seeks to amend the Foreign Trade (Development and
Regulation) Act, 1992 with a view, interalia,
to:-
i) Provide
a statutory provision for safeguard measures enabling imposition of
Quantitative Restrictions (QRs);
ii) Bring
in tighter export or trade control in the case of dual-use goods and related
technologies and to provide enabling provisions for establishing controls as in
the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of
Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005;
iii) Bring
“technology” and “services”, including financial services, within the ambit of the
Act for the purpose of administering incentive schemes and other provision of
the Foreign Trade Policy;
iv) Dispense with the requirement of obtaining any licence or permit for import or export except as may be
provided under the Act;
v) Enable
swift and exemplary action in trade dispute matters;
vi) Further rationalise as well as
improve the system of levying and realising fiscal
penalties;
vii) Empower
Customs and Central Excise Settlement Commission for settlement of customs and
excise duty and interest dues;
viii) Broaden the scope of word “licence”
defined in the Act;
ix) Provide
a provision for review of all decisions of subordinate officers by Director
General of Foreign Trade.
The Committee has decided to invite memoranda, containing
views of the individuals/organizations, etc., interested in the subject-matter
of the Bill, and also to hear oral evidence on the subject.
Those desirous of submitting memoranda to the Committee may
send two copies (either in English or Hindi) thereof to Surinder
Kumar Watts, Joint Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Room No. 240, Second
Floor, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi (Tel:
23034240, E-mail: watts@sansad.nic.in) within fifteen days of publication of
this advertisement, indicating whether they would also be interested in giving
oral evidence before the Committee.
The memoranda submitted to the Committee would form part of
the records of the Committee and will be treated as confidential. These are not
to be disclosed to anyone, till the report of the Committee is presented to
Parliament, violation of which would constitute a breach of privilege of the
Committee.
The Bill was published in the Gazette in India,
Extraordinary, Part II, section 2, dated the 25th November, 2009. Its copies
can be had on written request to the above-mentioned Officer or can be
downloaded from the official web-site of the Rajya Sabha
(http://rajyasabha.nic.in), under the caption “Bills with the Committees”.
[Source:
MoC&I Press Releases dated 13 January, 2010]
The
Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2001
The
Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2009