NEW DELHI, May 30: The finance ministry has increased the duty drawback rates for readymade garments, hand tools, bicycles and parts, brass hardwares and artwares, leather and leather products made-ups and certain machinery items.

In all, the rates have been increased on a total number of 190 export products. Also 11 new items have been added to the list. The revised all industry rates of drawback will come into effect from June 1, 1997. However, rates for 268 export products have been reduced in line with the decrease in duties on their inputs. For 186 items, the rates have been retained at the existing level.

Talking to newsmen on Friday, Drawback Director S P Shrivastava said that one item namely printed carton boxes has been removed from the list as it no longer attracted excise duty.

The new rates, Srivastava said, would result in revenue outgo of Rs 2,700 crore in fiscal 1997-98 but the benefit by way of increased exports would be manifold.

The new rates have been announced at a time when India's annual export growth has dropped from 20.28 per cent in 1995-96 to 9.83 per cent in 1996-97, he said.

The Government, he added, also proposed to rationalise the system of verification of availment of Modvat in respect of certain export products.The Government has effected a major rationalisation by way of broad banding for the hand tools and the textile made-ups sectors.

For hand tools, a single rate has been allowed on FOB value basis in place of the earlier system of granting drawback at different rates based on their weight.

This was expected to do away with the need to furnish test certificates, or physical weighment of the shipments. For made-ups, a single rate has been allowed to avoid disputes relating to nomenclature.

Drawback rates on exports made under quantity based advance licensing scheme, have also been continued to reimburse the additional duties of customs paid on the inputs by exporters.

According to an official press note, procedural changes by amending Drawback Rules treating the Shipping Bill itself as a claim for payment of Drawback and reducing number of documents required to be filled have already been introduced thereby enabling exporters to claim Drawback within a period of week to ten days. Earlier, in November 1996, payment of instant Drawback under EDI was extended at New Delhi Air Customs to facilitate payment of Drawback on the same day.

As part of on-going exercise of rationalisation of customs procedures particularly those relating to export drawback table, a new column has been included indicating the heading/sub-heading of the first schedule to the customs tariff under which specified export products are classifiable. This is expected to clarify doubts of exporters relating to the nomenclature of the export products as to the classification of drawback table. u

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.