The Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued Public Notice No. 07/2026-27 amending Para 4.12(vi) of the Handbook of Procedures 2023 under the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. The amendment extends the validity of ad-hoc norms ratified by the Norms Committee for Advance Authorisations obtained under Para 4.07. Previously valid up to 31 March 2026, such norms will now remain valid until 31 March 2028. The revised provision also clarifies that these norms can be reused by other applicants during their validity, except for items listed under Appendix 4P and cases where the Norms Committee explicitly restricts reuse. The amendment aims to ensure continuity, predictability, and reduced transaction costs for exporters by allowing reliance on existing ratified norms for a longer duration. Overall, the change facilitates ease of doing business by minimizing repetitive approvals and promoting consistent application of norms.
Government of India
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Department of Commerce
Directorate General of Foreign Trade
Vanijya Bhawan
Public Notice No. 07/2026-27-DGFT | Dated: 05 May, 2026
Subject: Validity of Ad-hoc norms under Para 4.12 (vi) of HBP-2023— reg.
In exercise of the powers conferred under paragraph 1.03 & 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, as amended from time to time, the Director General of Foreign Trade hereby makes the following amendments in Para 4.12 (vi) of HBP-2023:
| Existing Para 4.12 (vi) | Amended Para 4.12 (vi) |
| Norms ratified by any Norms Committee (NC) in the 0/o DGFT on or after 01.04.2023 in respect of any Advance Authorisation obtained under paragraph 4.07 shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of ratification. However, the Norms ratified by any Norms Committee (NC) on or after 01.04.2015 in respect of any Advance Authorisation obtained under paragraph 4.07 of HBP, 2015-2020 shall also be valid further upto 31.03.2026.i Since all decisions of the Norms Committees are available in the form of minutes on the DGFT website, all other applicants of Advance Authorisation are also eligible to apply and get their authorisations based on such ratified norms on repeat basis during validity of these norms. This para is not applicable for authorisations applied for items listed under Appendix 4P. | Norms ratified by any Norms Committee (NC) in the 0/o DGFT on or after 01.04.2015 in respect of any Advance Authorisation obtained under paragraph 4.07 shall be valid up to 31.03.2028. Since all decisions of the Norms Committees are available in the form of minutes on the DGFT website, all other applicants of Advance Authorisation are also eligible to apply and get their authorisations based on such ratified norms on repeat basis during validity of these norms. This para is not applicable for authorisations applied for items listed under Appendix 4P and to those ad-hoc norms in which Norms Committee (NC) has expressly specified that such norms shall not be applicable for other applications. |
Effect of this Public Notice: The validity period of ad-hoc norms ratified by Norms Committees on or after 01.04.2015 under Para 4.07 of HBP-2023 shall remain valid until 31.03.2028. This amendment aims to promote ease of doing business by ensuring continuity, predictability and lowering transaction costs for exporters.
(Lav Agarwal)
Director General of Foreign Trade
& Ex-officio Additional Secretary to Government of India
E-mail: dgft@nic.in
(Issued from File No. 01/94/180/011/AM24/PC-4)
