India-US trade: Contours of a deal almost final, says Piyush Goyal October 24 , 2019

NEW DELHI: In a clear sign that India and the US are close to finding common ground on their outstanding trade issues that started looking intractable, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently said here that the two sides “have almost resolved the broad contours” of an imminent deal in this regard. He even hinted at a “much larger engagement between the two countries in the days ahead”, hinting at the possibility of a larger bilateral trade agreement, following the limited deal on the immediate horizon.

 

This is perhaps the first time New Delhi is making it unambiguously clear that the differences between the two sides on a host of trade issues have indeed narrowed down. A limited deal was expected to be announced when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump on Sept. 24 

 

but that was not to be, as both sides practically stuck to their positions. India’s exports to the US, its largest market, touched $52.4 billion in 2018-19, while imports were to the tune of $35.5 billion. Its trade surplus with the US has been shrinking in the past two years, as it has stated importing oil and gas from the largest economy, something that India has been highlighting. According to the US Government data, New Delhi’s trade surplus with Washington eased to $21.3 billion in 2018 from $22.9 billion in 2017. In contrast, China’s trade surplus with the US widened further to a record $419.2 billion last year from $375.6 billion in 2017, despite the tariff war between the top two economies.

On the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Goyal said that the government would protect the interests of domestic industry before entering into the proposed mega free-trade pact, which is in the last phase of negotiations.

PICT handles its First Concor Container Movement October 24 , 2019

PARADIP: The first Concor Container train movement took place from Paradip International Cargo Terminal (PICT) on dock rail siding for our esteemed customer Jindal Stainless Steel Ltd on 6th October 2019. 

 

A detailed advance planning / coordination in terms of necessary approvals pertaining to siding inclusion, Railway Receipt (RR) generation, 

etc was well coordinated by 'PICT marketing & railway liaisoning team', finally with smooth rake handling within free time, by PICT operations team, ensured overall a happy customer experience, especially for the reputed corporates involved namely JSL and CONCOR.

The rake was loaded with 44 TEUs of Quick Lime and 46 TEUs of Scrap.

HICT bags the Swachhta Hi Seva Award 2019

KOLKATA: The Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) held an event “Swachhta Hi Seva” at the CPT Officers Club Auditorium, Haldia Township at 1800 hours on the 2nd of October 2019. The event was to acknowledge the efforts of the entities towards sanitation and cleanliness of the surroundings and by extension, the environment.

 

The Haldia International Container Terminal (HICT) was felicitated by the HDC for the upkeep and their efforts in the “Swachhta Hi Seva” motto. HICT has played an active role for ‘Pakhwada’ with the activities pertaining to cleanliness. Scheduled guidelines for the ‘Pakhwada’ were formulated and circulated to each department of HICT and all departments observed the same in the effectively. A series of activities, like upkeep and cleaning of office premises, terminal, carrying out inspection and repair work of all sanitary facilities in the office premises and terminal, cleaning and painting of road signs, displaying cleanliness message safety banners have been undertaken as part of the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’. Besides, a special cleanliness drive was organized on 19th May 2019 and 19th September 2019 at the office premises, terminal, wharf, main stores, workshop and Training Centre. Also, various training programs on cleanliness and ‘5S’ Kaizen were organized for employees explaining the importance of keeping the premises clean & hygienic and to stop the usage of plastic in daily life.

 

The award was presented by Shri. G. Senthilvel, Dy. Chairman Haldia Dock Complex, KOPT and was received by Mr. Sauvik Kumar Saha – Head HR and Mr. Harikesh B Singh – Head Engineering on behalf of HICT and the J M BAXI GROUP.

 

Some notable personalities like Shri. CR Das – Deputy Inspector General, Coast Guard, Shri. B Dutta – Principal, DAV School, Shri. SK Jha – Commandant, CISF, Haldia, and other representatives from TMIL, Five Star Logistics, ISPL, AM Enterprise, AEGIS Logistics, Replay Stevedoring and Nationalist HDC (C.P.T) Thika Sramik Mazdoor Union graced the occasion.

Shipper must indicate specific HS Codes rather than adopting ‘Others’ category: DGFT October 24 , 2019

NEW DELHI: The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has asked the trade and industry to be careful while mentioning Harmonised (HS) Codes in the Bill of Entry, in case of imports and Shipping Bills in case of exports.

It has asked them to indicate the specific HS Codes of items at 8 digit where they exist, instead of using the ‘Others’ category in a loose and inaccurate manner.

The DGFT warned that any wilful mis-declaration of HS Codes will be duly dealt with under Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992.

India maintains 8 digit HS Codes under the Indian Trade Classification (Harmonized System) 2017.

DGFT said it has observed that many importers while filing Bill of Entry with the Customs Authorities are not doing due diligence in mentioning the correct HS Codes at 8 digit level.

It said that even though specific codes are available for the imported items under ITC (HS), 2017, Schedule – 1 (Import Policy), importers tend to casually adopt the ‘others’ category, which is essentially a residual category of the relevant products.

Next FTP may reduce raw material costs to boost sliding exports

NEW DELHI: India’s upcoming Foreign Trade Policy is likely to ease the norms for import of raw materials and capital goods for exporters in a bid to provide a boost for exports, hit by sluggish global demand.

The Foreign Trade Policy 2020-25 will also offer higher export rewards to products with geographic indication (GI) tag such as Alphonso mango, Banarasi sarees and Moradabadi metal craft with the Make in India scheme being at its core, officials aware of the details said.

The Commerce Department also proposes to lay special emphasis on services and e-commerce in the upcoming policy that is to come into effect on April 1, 2020.

“In certain cases, there are notional duties that increase the export obligation of the exporters. We are rationalising some schemes to encourage them to do more local sourcing,” said an official.

The Department is considering simplifying various export incentive schemes such as Advance Authorisation Scheme, which facilitates duty free import of inputs for export products, Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) that allows exporters to import certain amount of capital goods at zero duty for upgrading technology related with exports, and Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) to incentivise exports of various services ranging from legal and accounting to engineering and medical, officials said.

MSC creates Mobile Game to raise awareness on sustainability in Shipping

GENEVA: MSC is pleased to announce the launch of a first-of-its-kind shipping game: The Sea Rider, said a recent release from the company.

Available on the Apple Store (for iOS) or Google Play (for Android) for everybody, the game provides fun, engaging entertainment for the users, who can navigate a giant container ship, collect coins and gather points.

While featuring MSC’s green fleet including some of the World’s Largest Container Ships and the actual MSC Global Network of some 200 ocean services worldwide, the game also provides insights into MSC’s environmental performance and sustainability approach.

Users will not only learn about some of the company’s activities around preserving the environment, but practically they will have to sling the ship from one port to another while minimising the environmental impact. This might include adapting the vessel speed, or avoiding whales.

Conducting shipping operations in a sustainable, ethical way MSC is a responsible company with a longstanding nautical heritage and passion for the sea. As an active member of the United Nations Global Compact, and supporter of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, MSC is pleased to introduce The Sea Rider game as a way to raise awareness on the importance 

of conducting container shipping operations in a sustainable way.

Recently, the company published its 2018 MSC’s Sustainability Report highlighting some key achievements from various companies in the MSC Group. To download a copy, please go to msc.com/sustainability.

Portall Infosystems inks MoU with IOS Partners, Florida

MUMBAI: Portall Infosystems Pvt Ltd and IOS Partners, Florida are working together to explore diverse business opportunities across the world in the maritime shipping and logistics sector.

This association will bring global best practices to technology offerings in the maritime and logistics space; backed by the right policy and legal framework.

The new partnership will bring about much needed transformation in the shipping and logistics sector.