Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the Commerce Ministry’s foreign trade arm DGFT will deactivate all importer-exporter codes (IECs) that have not been updated after 1st January, 2014.
According to DGFT’s trade notice, “all IECs which have not been updated after 1st January, 2014 shall be deactivated with effect from 6th December, 2021.”
However, IEC that would be deactivated, would have the opportunity for automatic re-activation after 6th December. For that, a trader would have to navigate to the DGFT website and update their relevant information.
“Upon successful updation, the given IEC shall be activated again and transmitted accordingly to the Customs system with the updated status,” the notice said.
The Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) granted by the DGFT is a key business identification number that is mandatory for exports or imports. De-activation of IECs helps in reducing the base load of the directorate and it helps in knowing the actual number of real exporters and importers in the country.
The nature of the firm obtaining an IEC includes proprietorship, partnership, LLP, limited company, trust, and society. After the introduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax), the IEC number is the same as the PAN of the firm.
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