The Indian Government has changed the import policy of specific iron and steel from ‘free’ to ‘free subject to compulsory registration’.
The Indian Government has introduced a Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) vide Notification dated 5th September, 2019 which has changed the import policy of specific iron and steel from ‘free’ to ‘free subject to compulsory registration’.
According to Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s statement, this will require importers of 284 tariff lines of iron and steel to submit advance information of their imports on an online system to get an automatic registration number.
An importer can apply for registration not earlier than 60th day and not later than 15th day before the expected date of arrival of the import consignment. The validity of registration will be for a period of 75 days. The only thing to be entered by an importer in the Bill of Entry is the registration number and expiry date of registration, the ministry said on 22nd November.
The purpose of SIMS is to gather advance information on important items of iron and steel and make it available to the stakeholders including Government and Indian domestic industry in responding to the market conditions in a more dynamic manner, it said.
