Diamond exporters sending product abroad for testing get additional time to reimport at zero duty

The government on Thursday gave an extra time of three months to exporters of cut and polished diamonds, who send their products abroad for testing in laboratory, for duty free reimport of consignment due to the unprecedented situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the current Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) norms, an exporter (with annual turnover of Rs 5 crore for each of the last three years) or an authorized office/agency sending cut and polished diamonds (each of 0.25 carat or above) for testing abroad has to reimport the consignment at zero duty within a period of three months.

The FTP is amended to enhance "the time limit for re-import facility with zero duty from three months to six months for cases where re-import period is expiring between February 1, 2020, to July 31, 2020, in light of Covid-19," the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Welcoming the decision, an industry expert said the customs authorities should immediately issue a notification to give full effect to DGFT's decision.