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GUIDELINES FOR SETTLEMENT OF TRADE DISPUTES AND COMPLAINTS

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..... nforcement action in the office of Director General of Foreign Trade against erring exporters can be taken under the existing Rules Regulations depending on the offence as follows:- Non-payment of commission, supply of sub-standard goods, non-adherence of delivery schedules, indulgence in unethical commercial dealings, amount to breach of contract for which action can be taken under clause 7 of the Export (Control) Order, by which the Central Government or Director General of Foreign Trade or an authorised officer may debar an exporter from exporting any goods if he commits a willful breach of contract. This applies to the cases pertaining to a period prior to 19-6-1992. However, cases pertaining to a period on or after, 19.6.1992 enforcement action is taken in terms to Foreign Trade (Development Regulation) Act, 1992 and Rules framed thereunder namely: (i) Section 8 empowers the Director General of Foreign Trade to suspend or cancel the Importer/ Exporter Code Number which is a prerequisite for any export or import, where the Director General of Foreign Trade has inter-alia reason to believe (a) that the exporter has committed an economic offence as s .....

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..... y Registering Authority to register or deregister an exporter or otherwise issue such directions to them consistent with and in order to implement the provisions of the Act, the Rules Orders made thereunder, the Policy or the Hand Book. Besides , the Registering Authorities viz. Export Promotion Councils, Commodity Boards etc. may also take appropriate necessary action and view on the application furnished by the exporters for registration if, prima-facie, there are reasons to believe that he has indulged in any form of unfair, corrupt or fraudulent practice. Adequate Opportunity is to be provided to the exporter to explain his stand before resorting to penal action by way of issuance of Show Cause Notice, personal hearing etc., as per rules. B. Certain export products have been notified for Compulsory Quality Control Pre-shipment Inspection prior to their export. Penal action can be taken under the Export (Quality Control Inspection) Act, 1963 as amended in 1984, against exporters who do not conform to the standards and or provisions of Act as laid down for such products. COMPLAINTS Besides Foreign Trade (Development Regulation) Act and Ex .....

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..... esignated as the 'Nodal Officer' for the purpose of dealing with trade disputes and complaints. It is imperative, therefore, that all information concerning a articular trade dispute or complaint is received by the 'Nodal Officer' so as to arrange for its just and amicable settlement within a specified period. Different Authorities including Missions are dealing with or referring the trade disputes and complaints to different agencies in Government of India. No uniform procedure is being followed which makes their monitoring difficult. It has now been decided by the Ministry of Commerce that all trade disputes and complaints including those registered with the Missions should be sent to the 'Nodal Officer' in the office of Director General of Foreign Trade, Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi who would take follow up action on these references. Details of such trade disputes and complaints sent to the 'Nodal Officer' however may continue to be incorporated in the reports being sent to the respective Territorial Divisions in the Ministry of Commerce. In many cases, such issues are referred to different agencies/Ministries in the Government of India withou .....

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..... mmittees will also be responsible to suggest steps for arresting recurrence of such complaints and to decide effective and appropriate penal action against the erring exporters and those found guilty and/or primarily responsible for attracting the complaints. The 'Regional Committees' are composed of: 1. Joint Director General of Foreign Trade -Chairman 2. Bureau of Indian Standard -Member 3. Office of Agricultural Marketing Advisor -Member 4. Small Industries Service Institute -Member 5. Reserve Bank of India -Member 6. Officer-in-charge of Export Promotion attached to the office of Jt.DGFT -Member 7. Export Promotion Council/Commodity Board/Trade Association -Invitees 8. Export Inspection Agency-Member -Secretary. The 'Regional C .....

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..... by the 'Regional Committees' and after examination, initiate appropriate penal action to de-register/debar the exporter and/or take such action as per law as considered necessary, including, in appropriate cases, legal action depending upon the gravity of the offence. VII. These Committees will submit monthly reports to the 'Nodal Officer' who will monitor the progress of action taken for settlement of complaints and disputes. VIII. As mere settlement of the complaints and dispute would not be enough, the quality complaints and disputes would also be examined by the Export Inspection Agency (Which is under the administrative and technical control of the Export Inspection Council of India, Ministry of Commerce) as a Member-Secretary of the 'Regional Committee from technical point of view, to assess whether there had been any technical failure for which a complaint had been received. Such technical failure may be with regard to technical deficiency of not meeting the standard, manufacturing/design defects, etc. To eliminate such failures and avoid such complaints in future proper technical advice may be extended by the Export Inspection .....

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..... ritorial Division in the Ministry of Commerce. (vi) In cases when the 'Complaint Panel/Committee' fails to resolve a dispute amicably and conciliation does not take place and the Panel/committee feels that the fault lies with the Indian Exporter who is not cooperating, on its recommendation, Councils/Commodity Boards will take action to de-register such exporter after issue of show cause notice and a hearing. The 'Nodal Officer' will be informed of the action taken and also of further action if warranted in the case. (vii) If the dispute is covered by an arbitration clause in the export contract or where the firms concerned agree to arbitration and a large financial stake is involved, the same will be transferred to the Indian Council of Arbitration for consideration who will send a report to the 'Nodal Officer' with a copy to the Territorial Division in the Ministry of Commerce. (viii) In cases where there is no arbitration clause or firms do not want arbitration and the sum involved is not significant and even on the recommendation of the Complaint Panel/Committee of/export promotion council/Commodity board, it h .....

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..... received. It shall also identify commodities for which the incidence of quality complaints are frequent and will interact with the concerned Commodity Division in the Ministry of Commerce for evolving measures to arrest their incidence. While the respective Territorial Division in the Ministry of Commerce will be the repository of all complaints received in respect of their territory and for coordination work relating thereto as the nodal point for all matters relating to international trade of their territory, it shall be the 'Nodal Officer' in the office of Director General of Foreign Trade, Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi who would be following up on these complaints for their redressal and remedial measures. The complaints of Indian exporters/importers against their importers/exporters abroad received in the office of the 'Nodal Officer' in the office of Director General of Foreign Trade will be referred to the concerned Missions abroad for arranging for their amicable settlement. The Missions shall keep the 'Nodal Officer' informed of the action taken on such reference with an endorsement directly to such complainants and respective E .....

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..... 1. Complaint lodged by (Name full address) 2. Against whom(Name Full address) 3. Whether the supplier is a merchant exporter or a manufacturer exporter? 4. Particulars of complaint(Please furnish details) (a) Non-payment of Commission i) Export order/LC(Copy may be furnished) ii) Agency agreement(copy may be furnished) iii) Export invoice(copy may be furnished) iv) Amount due date as commission v) Copies of correspondence exchanged(Furnish) vi) Any complaint in the past and mode of settlement (b) Non-execution of export order (i) Export order/LC(Copy may be furnished) (ii) Whether any sample was approved(Give details) (iii) Copies of correspondence exchanged. (iv) Was anything pending from your end? (v) Reasons for delay/non-execution, as for as known (c) Short supplies (i) Whether any agency was nominated for inspection prior to export? (Furnish details including inspection certificate, if any)? (ii) Short landing survey certificate(copy may be furnished) (iii) Whether any survey was carried out at port of destination (Please enclose copy) (iv) Packing list(Please enclose copy) (v) Reason for short .....

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