India lifts restriction on N-95 mask exports

08 Oct '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

India recently lifted the restriction on the export of N-95/FFP2 masks, allowing all kinds of masks to be freely exported. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had on August 25 allowed their export with a restriction that fixed the monthly export quota at 50 lakh units of such masks. It issued a notification announcing amendment to the earlier policy.

The country had in February banned export of many medical textiles, including clothing and masks used in healthcare activities where there is a risk of contamination, amid the pandemic outbreak but it gradually removed the export restrictions on most personal protection equipment (PPE).

In August, DGFT had also removed the export restrictions on 2/3 ply surgical masks and medical coveralls by amending their export policy to ‘free’ from ‘restricted’.

With the latest September 6 notification, all restrictions on exports of medical textiles have been removed. India’s current production capacity for N-95 masks is 25 lakh per day with 110 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) licensees, a media report said.

Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman A Sakthivel said the decision could fetch around ₹1,000 crore annually. He also welcomed the much-awaited notification for an enabling provision in Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) related to the issue of rebate of state levies (RoSL), saying the move will clear pending claims of ₹464 crore of apparel exporters.

The annual export of all PPE kits, including N95 masks, could be around ₹3,000 crore to ₹4,000 crore, he added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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