What Are Restricted Goods
Restricted goods are those goods that cannot be freely imported or exported into the Indian market without any authorization from the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade). These goods are restricted because of the fact they are harmful to either humans or nation and if they are market freely can cause a great damage to the society. Restricted goods are divided into various categories and are classified as under:
CATEGORIES OF RESTRICTED GOODS
Arms And Ammunition:
All the arms and ammunition are to be considered restricted good as to prevent the proliferation of weapons and ensure national security so that it ensures safety.
Drugs And Pharmaceuticals:
To regulate the import and export of narcotics and psychotropic substances DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) make sure that no illegal item enters the country
Chemicals And Hazardous Substances:
DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) controls the movement of al the chemical, hazardous substances, and potentially dangerous material.
Antiques And Artifacts:
To preserve the cultural heritage and prevent illegal trade to be conducted in India DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) manages its operation
Wildlife And Animal Products:
To protect the illegal smuggling of the endangered species and the animal products the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) regulates the import and export to adhere the conservation efforts.
High-technology Items:
DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) regulates the control the import and export of advanced technologies with the potential to affect the military applications.
Legal Framework Governing Restricted Goods
To regulate the import and export of all the restricted product in India various legal frameworks and international agreements are required to govern the trade which includes:
Foreign Trade (Development And Regulation) Act, 1992
This act empowers the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the import and export of any of the restricted goods in to the market
Customs Act, 1962:
Custom Act, 1962 provides a framework to the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) for the imposing and collection of custom duties and enforcement of all the prohibition and restrictions.
Export And Import Policy (Exim Policy):
The EXIM (Export and Import) policy lays down the various policies and procedures that are required for the import and export of the goods and services and these policies are updated periodically by the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade).
International Agreements:
India is the signatory to various international agreements which includes the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) which is responsible for the influences its trade policies on restricted goods.
Process Of Dealing With Restricted Goods
To import and export all the restricted goods the business must follow a certain process for their dealing. The business must obtain Specific authorization from the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade). The process involves
Application Submission
The business must be applied online through the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) portal, providing all the detailed information of the goods and services to be imported or exported and the purpose of the import/export.
Supporting Documents
After login to the portal company is required to submitted all the documents which includes technical specification, end user certificates, and safety data sheets. All the documents are to be uploaded as per the requirement.
Review And Approval
The documents uploaded are then reviewed by the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) and if the documents and the application are certified and meet all the requirements the company is given the authorization of import and export. In case of some requirements, it may involve consultation with the other government agencies.
Compliance And Reporting
After the authorization of the license the business must comply with all the necessary regulatory condition as specified in the authorization and make sure that they give all the proper reports of import/export to the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade).
Penalties For Non-compliance
in case the company fails to comply with the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) regulations regarding restricted goods could leads to various penalties, which include:
Seizure Of Goods
If the goods are not authorized for the import or export the goods could be seized by the custom authorities and might stop their business with international markets.
Fines And Penalities
If there is some fault in the import and export of the restricted goods monetary fines and penalty could be imposed on the basis of value and nature of the goods.
Prosecution
Sometimes if the company does not comply with the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) legal action could be filed against them which might lead to imprisonment or other penalty.
Blacklisting
If the businesses fail in the compliance as per the authorization they may be blacklisted, affecting their ability to engage in future trade and may lead to some other problems.
