Page 46 - GSTL_14th May 2020_Vol 36_Part 2

J46 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 36
returns) extension granted up to 30-4-2020 instead of due date and
Annual Return extension granted upto 31-5-2020 instead of due
date 31-3-2020.
(G) Facilitation by the Marine Products Export Development Authority
(MPEDA) : MPEDA has started issuing most of the Certificates for
exports online i.e. DS 2301 certificates for the USA market w.e.f. 1st
April, 2020. This is an essential certificate for the export of shrimp to
USA. By making it online, the physical movements for the exporters
have been reduced. Another Certificate (Asia-Pacific Trade Agree-
ment (APTA) also has been made online after the lockdown was in-
troduced.
(H) Measures taken by Government e-market place (GeM) to facilitate
procurement :
The status of various interventions for ease of procurement for
COVID-19 related items are as follows :
(1) New page introduced for tracking COVID-19 categories and
the number of sellers.
(2) Shorter duration Bids with shorter delivery period enabled.
Bid Cycle for COVID-19 related categories has been reduced
to 3 days from existing 10 days. Buyers would also be able to
reduce the Delivery Period for such items to 2 days consider-
ing the critical nature of the items.
(3) A filter has been put in for Local Supplier and for Lead Time
for delivery selection by the buyer, to facilitate early delivery.
(4) Prioritization is being done in Product/Brand approval of the
COVID-19 Specific Categories.
(5) A new business rule has been put in place for controlling un-
reasonable price increase.
(6) Delivery Period Extension have been allowed for 30 days be-
yond the expiry of the original Delivery Period.
(7) New business rule to stock out sellers who do not update
stock within 48 hours of notification for specific categories.
(8) Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) & Sellers for
eight new COVID categories have been identified.
(9) A Business Continuity Plan has been put in place for MSP
and GeM to ensure continuity of system operations.
(I) Measures taken by Department to facilitate preferential Exports :
(i) In the wake of the lockdown, the agencies authorized to issue
the certificates of origin for India’s preferential exports under
the Free Trade Agreement (FTAs) are either not functional or
are operating with a skeletal staff. In the light of this, De-
partment of Commerce had included some specific FTAs on
this digital platform which had facilitated online application
by exporters for these certificates. Trade Notice 1, dated
7-4-2020 has added India’s main FTAs namely those with
ASEAN, Japan, SAARC countries and Asia Pacific Trade
Agreement (APTA) onto this digital platform. A related
Trade Notice 62, dated 6-4-2020 has asked the agencies to is-
GST LAW TIMES  14th May 2020  46