Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) today announced that items under HS Code 901850, 901890, 9020, 392690, 621790, 630790 which covers personal protection equipment (PPE), including medical coverall of all classed/categories, medical goggles, all masks other than non-medical/non-surgical masks (cotton, silk, wool, polyester, nylon, rayon, viscose-knitted, woven or blended), nitrile/NCR gloves, face shields are prohibited for exports. All other allied items are freely exportable.
This decision has come as a setback for the industry that was expecting the ban to be lifted – especially considering India has been making 0.8 million PPE daily.
With this regard, Nitin Gadkari, Minister, MSME has also been calling to remove the ban. Even yesterday, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) requested to lift the ban on the export of PPE.
DGFT vide Notification No. 14/2015-20 dated 22.06.2020 has amended the export policy of Personal protection equipment( PPEs) and Masks to only prohibit specific items falling under PPEs.
For more details, please refer to the link below:https://t.co/DK3rzddht7
— DGFT (@dgftindia) June 22, 2020
Even on Twitter, some of the industry people have reacted strongly and said that this is a horrendous decision. Thousands of exporters are having stocks of face masks purchased at exorbitant rates and Government has conveniently banned the export for over 3 months now. It is time to #LiftTheBan.
Also Read: This is how India is losing and competitors are growing in PPE export
Prior to this, on 16 May, DGFT had allowed export of non-surgical/non-medical masks made up of rayon, nylon, polyester, viscose fabrics in woven, blended and knitted form in addition to masks made up of cotton, silk and woollen.