The Government of India announces its Export Import Policy every five years through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The policy aims to develop export potential, improve export performance, encourage foreign trade, and create a favorable balance of payments position. The current policy covers 2004-2009 and is updated annually on March 31st. Trade policies can be free or protective, and outward or inward looking. An outward looking policy encourages free trade and movement of capital/people, while an inward looking policy stresses domestic development and restrictions on cross-border movement. The history of India's EXIM policy began in 1962 and aims to boost exports and control unnecessary imports.

1. The Government of India,
Ministry of Commerce and
Industry announces
Export Import Policy after every five years.
aims
•at developing export potential,
•improving export performance,
•encouraging foreign trade and
•creating favorable balance of payments position.
•The current Exim Policy covers the period 2004-2009.
•The Export Import Policy (EXIM Policy) is updated every
year on the 31st of March and the modifications, improvements
becomes effective from 1st April of every year.
•Export-Import (EXIM) Policy alternatively known as Trade Policy

2. Trade; Policy can be free trade policy or protective trade policy.
A free trade is one which does not impose any restriction on the exchange of
goods and services between different countries.
A free trade policy involves complete absence of tariffs, quotas, exchange
restrictions, taxes and subsidies on production, factor use and consumption.
Though free trade,
theoretically, offers several advantages, in reality, particularly
underdeveloped countries were at a disadvantage in such a system of
international trade.
As a result, in the early 20th century, international economy saw the
emergence of protective trade policies.

3. A protective trade policy pursued by a country seeks to maintain a system of trade
restrictions
with the objective of protecting the domestic economy from the
competition of foreign products.
Trade policies may be outward looking or inward looking.
An outward looking trade policy encourages
not only free trade but also the free movement of
capital,
workers,
enterprises and
students,
a welcome to the multinational enterprises,
and an open system of communications.
An inward looking trade policy stresses the need
for a country to evolve its own style of development and
to be the master of its own fate,
with restrictions on the movement of goods,
services and people in and out of the country.

4. Primary outward looking polices: Aimed at encouraging agricultural and raw
material exports
Secondary outward looking policies: Aimed at promoting manufactured
exports
Primary inward looking polices: Objective is to achieve agricultural self
sufficiency
Secondary inward looking polices: Objective is attaining manufactured
commodity self-sufficiency through import substitution.
Trade Policy will strongly influence the direction, trend and growth of foreign
trade of a country.
Therefore, trade policy is an important economic instrument which can be
used by a country.

5. History of export-import policy of India
In the year 1962,
the Government of India selected a special Exim Policy Committee
to review the government preceding policies of export import (Indian Exim
policy).
The committee was afterward permitted by the Government of India.
Mr. V. P. Singh, the Commerce Minister and pronounced the new Exim Policy
of India on the 12th of April, 1985.
Primarily the Export-Import Policy of India was launched for the period of
three years with main intention to boost the export business in India.
With the help of exim policy of India, the government looks after
controlling the import of unnecessary items.

6. Hence these objectives can be summarized as follows:
• To hasten the economy from low level of economic behavior to high level of
economic activities by making it a worldwide oriented vivacious economy and
to receive utmost benefits from escalating global market opportunities.
• To arouse constant economic growth by providing access to necessary raw
materials, intermediates, components, consumables and capital goods mandatory
for enlarging production.
• To augment the techno local strength and effectiveness of Indian agriculture,
industry and services, thus, improving their competitiveness.
• To produce new services, opportunities and support the accomplishment of
internationally accepted standards of quality.
• To offer worth consumer products at rational prices.