New Delhi, April 18: The government has reaffirmed its commitment to enhancing trade facilitation for exporters. In this regard, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched a series of targeted reforms aimed at strengthening the operations of standard committees under the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The primary goal is to reduce the time taken in processes under the Advance Authorization Scheme, ensure prompt approvals, and increase transparency and predictability. This information was disclosed in an official statement released on Friday.
The reforms include issuing detailed guidelines to ensure uniformity and consistency in the functioning of Norms Committees (NCs). These guidelines entail institutionalizing meetings on a fixed bi-monthly cycle, prioritizing long-pending cases, finalizing meeting minutes in a timely manner, and systematically monitoring pending cases and their durations. The statement noted that efforts have also been made to identify recurring cases to convert them into Standard Input-Output Norms (SION), thereby reducing repetitive approvals.
The relevant ministries have been requested to appoint additional technical officials to the committees to enhance regional expertise and reduce reliance on a limited group of members. Moreover, a special campaign has been launched for the swift resolution of pending applications, with meetings being held regularly and cases being processed in chronological order to ensure transparency and fairness.
To boost capacity, ten additional technical members have been appointed from various ministries, increasing the total number of technical authorities from 12 to 22. This enhancement is expected to improve the committees’ ability to handle a greater number of cases with increased efficiency.
As a result of these reforms, positive outcomes have already been observed. Between January 2026 and April 7, 2026, a total of 38 meetings of the standard committees were held, during which 3,925 cases were reviewed, and 1,770 cases were resolved, according to the statement.
These measures align with the government’s agenda to create a seamless and predictable trade environment, particularly for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The streamlined process for standard setting is expected to reduce transaction costs, shorten authorization timelines, and enhance India’s export competitiveness.
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