Know How To Import

Import and export of goods and commodities is regulated by the EXIM policy (export and import policy). All the transactions and dealings have to be in confirmation with the guidelines henceforth laid down. Government of India controls the foreign trade policy and makes necessary amendments every five years under section 5 of Foreign Trade Development and regulation act 1992. Under current prevalent amendment 1997-2002 the export and import regulations are updated every year on 31st March and they are put into effect from 01st April for every financial year. The modifications and alterations are announced by the Minister of Commerce and Industry.

As far as the statutes import of goods in India must be in accordance with the laws of the land. There are certain commodities that are permitted to be traded in from foreign suppliers by state authorized agencies like state trading corporation – STC. This exercise is generally undertaken to compensate for the shortage of particular goods in the domestic market with an aim to regulate the price factor. The bulk imports of goods to serve the national objectives are also imported by the agency designates and non other than these entities.

As per the regulations there are some goods that can be imported by the authorized agencies and some are totally prohibited to be brought inside the borders of country.

To import you need to complete all formalities of forming an importing concern that must be registered under relevant statutes and be granted an Import Export Code – IEC. It is of utmost necessity that you must be quite well informed about guidelines of foreign trade agreements and understanding of foreign markets.

To import you must always wisely choose the goods type and nomenclature and the market for such imports. There are various sources that can help you in identifying foreign sources and destinations in domestic scenario. To achieve a profitable outcome of imports, it is crucial for you to address certain factors like

Availability of the planned imports in the domestic market and ruling price factor
Possible and prospective market that can be explored for trading and selling the imported goods
Possibility of goods making the market more and more competitive and receptive
Risks involved in importing the goods like transportation, delivery, quality and the exchange rates

Once the important factors and areas have been evaluated it becomes imperative for you to plan itenary of import with a clinical precision as in this case time factor plays an important role. One thing that must never be ignored is referring to laws with reference to Foreign Trade Policy Procedures 2004-09.

Once set on course you can go on ahead with the exploring, short listing and finalizing the goods. The terms and conditions must be finalized after ascertaining the facts about requirement of any import license and the amount of import duty to be paid for goods in question.

Product you wish to import:

Be aware of the import potential and the commercial viability of the commodity/product.
Check whether the items of your interest fall in the restricted list of ITC (HS) Classifications of Exports & Imports items.
Prohibited items are not permitted to be imported at all.
For import of items appearing in restricted list you need secure import license. Third category of items comes under the Canalized list of items. Imports of items included in Canalized list are permitted to be imported through Canalizing Agencies.
Thus items not appearing in Prohibited list, restricted list and or in Canalized list can be imported freely without any import license. A large number of Consumer goods are freely importable without license.