Central Government, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 read with Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992, read with Paragraph 1.02 of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), 2023, has amended Para 2.03(A)(iii) of the FTP, 2023 relating to imports by Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Units and Developers. This notification is issued with the approval of the Minister of Commerce & Industry.

Para 2.03A(iii) of FTP, 2023 is substituted as follows. The existing provision and the revised provision are set out below.

Existing Para 2.03A(iii): Exemption from applicability of mandatory QCOs issued under the BIS Act, 2016, shall be provided to SEZ on import of inputs which are required for export production. No DTA clearance of such inputs or goods manufactured made out of such inputs, are allowed. An undertaking to that effect will be submitted to the concerned Development Commissioner of the SEZ by the SEZ Unit at the time of importation. The exemption from QCO will be available for physical exports only. This exemption is further subject to para 2.03(c) of FTP.

Revised Para 2.03A(iii): Exemption from applicability of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) issued under the BIS Act, 2016, shall be provided to SEZ Units or SEZ Developers for import of all permissible goods, including raw materials, components, consumables, spares, and capital goods, required for authorised operations within Special Economic Zones (SEZs), in accordance with the provisions of the SEZ Act, 2005 and Rule 27 of the SEZ Rules, 2006 made thereunder. Such exemption shall apply only for the use of the imported goods within the SEZ for authorised operations. However, any removal, transfer or clearance of such goods, or goods manufactured or processed therefrom, from the SEZ into the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) shall be subject to compliance with the applicable Quality Control Orders (QCOs), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) requirements and any other applicable laws, rules or regulations in force at the time of such clearance. An undertaking to the above effect shall be submitted to the concerned Development Commissioner of the SEZ by the SEZ Unit or SEZ Developer at the time of importation.