The government will come out with a new Foreign Trade Policy, 2014-19 within the next two to three months to increase the exports.

Showcasing the government performance here at a press conference, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, this time the trade policy will be different from the previous one and the government has initiated various steps to improve it.

The government also plans to strengthen the Indian Institute of Packaging in order to help it emerge as a technology hub/centre for setting packaging standards of export oriented products in line with international trends/norms and improving/controlling quality of export packages.

On the issue of WTO, Sitharaman said that negotiations are on to find a permanent solution to India’s food stockpiling. She said, WTO member countries would understand India’s position on food stockpiling , which is meant for public distribution system in the country.

She said, government is mulling dual usage of Special Economic Zones land, to help developers earn faster returns. Government will start online application process for SEZ developers by the end of next month.

Commerce Minister also said that the government is not considering an immediate cut in the gold import duty despite the current account deficit narrowing.

As per the current rankings, India is the 19th largest exporter (with a share of 1.7 percent) and 12th largest importer (with a share of 2.5 percent) of merchandise trade in the world. In Commercial Services, India is the 6th largest exporter (with a share of 3.3 percent) and 7th largest importer (with a share of percent).

The government also laid out stress on forging stronger relationships in its immediate neighbourhood. In this regard, a more focused direction would be given to the utilisation of FTAs and to establish new approaches to preferential trading with Latin America, CIS region and Africa. Government will also strategise global trade engagements to conclude trade pacts, where negotiations are in various advance stages, such as with EU, PERU/Columbia, COMESA, RCEP, MERCOSUR, Russia, China, US.

A National Policy for rubber sector is also being formulated. While a special agency, namely the ‘Saffron Production and Export Development Agency’ (SPEDA) will be set up for development, production and marketing of saffron with headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir.

A press release from the PIB also mentions that a mandatory standards regime will be implemented, to protect consumers and also raise the quality of merchandise produced which in turn raises the capacity to export to discerning markets.

The government hopes that this together with promotion of our traditional brands of goods like tea, spices, ayurvedic products and services like, yoga, wellness and health care as valued Indian brands can lead to greater value addition and export realization.