During the annual review of the Foreign Trade Policy on April 7, Focus Product and Focus Market were the two new schemes announced by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
The Target Plus scheme has been scrapped and replaced by these two schemes.
The government has notified the list of products eligible for export benefits under the Focus Product scheme declared as part of the Foreign Trade Policy.
In order to give a thrust to manufacturers and exporters of certain industrial products that could generate large employment per unit of investment compared to other products was the aim of Focus Product scheme.
It allows duty-credit facility at 2.5 percent of the FOB (Free on Board) value of exports on 50 percent of the export turnover of notified products.
According to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the list has 74 items covering five sectors of leather products and footwear; sports goods, stationery and fireworks; handloom; handicraft and value added fish items.
It also includes carpets and other handicrafts made of iron, steel, brass and copper; all handloom products bearing the Handloom Mark and fish products such as shrimp, squid, fish curry, fish pickle, stuffed crab and canned tuna.
With the notification, products such as saddles, handbags, footwear, toys, dolls, fishing rods and stationery items such as pens and pencils would get duty-free credit facility.
Focus Market scheme, which is meant for promoting exports to countries that have so far been neglected.
It has not been finalized owing to differences between finance and commerce ministries.
The commerce ministry wanted to include Africa and Latin America while the finance ministry has expressed reservations over the additional revenue outgo due to inclusion of both markets under the scheme.
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