DGFT considering Policy to facilitate export of specialised chemicals under 'Dual Use' category

Aug 24, 2018

 

Mumbai, 23 August 2018: In order to facilitate the export of specialised chemicals falling under the 'Dual Use' category, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is actively considering a policy of issuing general and bulk licenses, drawing upon the templates used by several countries that are members of multilateral export control regimes.

 

This was stated by Mr. Sanjay Tiwari, Deputy Director, Directorate General of Foreign Trade while addressing the workshop on 'Trading in Strategic and Dangerous Chemicals: What the Industry needs to know' organised by FICCI in association with the Indian Chemical Council (ICC) and Henry L. Stimson Centre (Washington, DC).

DGFT is committed to a sustained dialogue to further enhance corporate compliance so that India maintains its strong non-proliferation record while also maximizing the opportunity for robust growth in the chemical sector, he added.

 

Dr. Anupam Srivastava, CEO, SafeZone India and Non Resident Fellow, Stimson Centre, highlighted the need for updated policies, control list and guidelines upon joining the Australia Group (on Jan 19, 2018), eliciting industry feedback on whether any process-level simplifications might facilitate them for meeting their compliance obligations, and the international best practices in manufacturing and meeting chemical safety and security standards.

 

Specialised Chemicals falling under 'Dual Use' category, i.e. items that have both civilian and military use, are regulated under Indian export control list - SCOMET (Strategic Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies". All items under this list require licence from DGFT, DAE or DDP/Ministry of Defence, prior to export of the regulated commodities.

 

Ms. Anandi Venkateswaran, Under-Secretary (D&ISA), Ministry of External Affairs said that robust compliance standards by the industry were crutial in building trust with foreign partners and forging technology-based partnerships.

 

The workshop witnessed participation from a range of companies from the Indian Chemicals sector, experts from Government of India, US Department of Energy, Stimson Centre and the Indian industry who engaged in a technical and policy discussion relating to trade in dual-use items, technologies and services.