The Central Government has extended the validity of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme beyond December 31, 2005 up to March 31, 2006.

The notification issued this week said that the decision was in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) and was taken in public interest, amending the notification of the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 89/2005-Customs, GSR 624(E), dated 4th October, 2005.

Pharmabiz had reported earlier that the government would extend the scheme till March 2006. The drug exporters under the banner of Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) had sought for the continuation of the scheme for some time to help them avoid the possible hazards at the customs end, even after the announcement of the new scheme.

Recalling the issues that plagued the exporting community soon during the time gap between the earlier expiry of DEPB and its renewal in October, the drug exporters wanted the government to take precautionary measures to avoid similar confusion. Pharmexcil had wanted status quo until the office of the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) was prepared with the new scheme, and the exporters were familiar with it. The government decision to extend the time will now be of immense help to the exporters to make transitional arrangements for the DEPB scheme to enable them to extend their export orders beyond December 2005 without any confusion.