Surprise and Concern as Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry Faces Delisting by DGFT
24-09-2023 : The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCC&I) has been taken aback by a surprising turn of events, as it finds itself removed from the roster of authorized agencies capable of issuing certificates of origin. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) made this unexpected decision, leaving the trade body both shocked and concerned.
Javid Ahmad Tenga, the president of KCC&I, expressed his astonishment at this development. He revealed that the DGFT’s notice claimed that 32 agencies, including KCC&I, had failed to respond to the DGFT’s persistent efforts to bring them onto the e-CoO platform for certificate of origin issuance, despite repeated follow-ups and reminders.
Tenga commented on the matter, noting, “The public notice astonishingly states that a trade Notice No 22/2023 dated 16-08-2023 was given to those agencies enlisted under Appendix 2 E of FTB 2023 who have still not On-Boarded on the e-CoO platform for issuance of Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) to complete their On-Boarding by 31st of August.”
However, KCC&I firmly refutes the contents of the DGFT’s notice. They assert that they never received any communication or notification regarding onboarding on the DGFT Platform. According to their understanding, the first notification came on 19-02-2021, followed by a couple of subsequent extension notices.
“In fact, KCCI never received any communication/notification for onboarding on the DGFT Platform. Notably, the first notification, as KCCI has now learned, had been issued on 19-02-2021 vide notice no 42/2022-2021 followed by a couple of other extension notices,” stated KCC&I.
This unexpected delisting has left the trade body in a state of bewilderment, as they were entirely unaware of the situation until they received the notice. This has led them to question whether their delisting had been predetermined.
KCC&I has taken swift action by bringing this issue to the attention of DGFT and other relevant authorities. Simultaneously, they are actively involved in assisting exporters in obtaining Certificates of Origin.
