Seafood Sector To Meet In Chennai On January 2014

The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, in association with the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) is organizing the 19th edition of India International Seafood Show (IISS) at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai, India from 10th - 12th January 2014.

IISS is the oldest and largest seafood event in Asia, providing a platform for manufacturers and suppliers of processing machinery, packaging systems, certifications, processing ingredients, cold chain system, logistics etc. to showcase their products along with technical sessions delivered by world renowned experts on the latest technological developments in this industry.

This time, MPEDA enhanced an overseas as well as domestic participation with 75% of space sold out by end of September 2013. As on date, 306 stalls and 1000 delegates have registered for the show. Exhibitors from USA, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Argentina etc. are going to make their presence felt in IISS 2014. 50% participants are exporters of marine products, 25% are from the manufacturers / suppliers of equipment/ machinery and refrigeration. The rest is covered by aquaculture sector, packaging, ingredient/chemical manufacturers, Government agencies, labs, logistics etc.

With only 30 days for the show, few stalls that are available will be allotted on first come - first served basis. It is pertinent to note that the marine products exports for the last two quarters (April to September 2013) has shown a quantum jump of 39 % in Rupee terms and 28% in Dollar terms, compared to same period last year and if the trend continues, it will surpass the export target of USD 4.3 billion setting a new record in the history of marine exports.

More details and online registration/ booking are available in the event website, www.indianseafoodexpo.com

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e-BRC project wins 2013 eASIA Award

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category as announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on November 29, 2013.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Anand Sharma expressed his happiness and congratulated officers and staff on winning 2013 eASIA Award. This award is administered by AFACT. Shri Sharma said that it has been our consistent endeavour to increase transparency in governance structures, reducing the human interface and improving the ease of doing business in India. This project is a significant step in this direction and will contribute considerably in reducing the transaction cost of our exporters.

e-BRC project launched on June 5, 2012 created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all Bank Realization related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. It was made mandatory with effect from August 17, 2012.

Bank Realization Certificate is required for discharge of export obligation and to claim incentives under Foreign Trade Policy. Earlier this certificate was issued by banks manually. BRC is also used by state government departments for refund of VAT.

e-BRC project enables banks to upload Foreign Exchange realisation information relating to merchandise goods exports on to the DGFT server under a secured protocol. So far 89 banks operating in India, including foreign banks and cooperative banks have uploaded more than 64 lakh e-BRCs on to the DGFT server. This initiative has reduced the cost of transaction for exporters by eliminating their interface with bank (for issuance of BRC purposes) and enhanced the productivity of banks and DGFT. At the state level, Commercial Tax Departments of Maharashtra, Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have signed MoU with DGFT for receiving e-BRC data for VAT refund purposes. Many other states are in the process of signing MOUs. e-BRC project is a success story involving multiple stake holders, each with a different technology platform. This project is a live example of power of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to improve service delivery.

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