De-Activation of IECs not updated at DGFT

All Importer-Exporter Codes (“IECs”) that have not been modified after July 1, 2020 will be de-activated with effect from February 1, 2022, according to DGFT Trade Notice 31/2021-22 dated January 14, 2021.

DGFT requires that all IEC holders guarantee that details in their IEC are updated electronically every year during the April-June period, as per Notification No. 58/2015-2020 dated February 12, 2021, 11/2015-2020 dated July 01, 2021, and 16/2015-2020 dated August 09, 2021. (for which no user charges were to be borne by the IEC holder). The period for updating IECs was extended up to July 31, 2021, and then to August 31, 2021, based on representations received from IEC holders who had not updated their IECs. Prior to the phase-wise deactivation of the IECs not updated yet, due notice was issued by Trade Notice 18/2021-2022 dated September 20, 2021 and Trade Notice 25/2021-22 dated November 19, 2021.

The third phase of deactivation of IECs that have not yet been updated has begun, in addition to the aforementioned notification(s) and Trade Notice(s), and in accordance with paragraph 2.05(e) of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

With effect from February 1, 2022, any IECs that have not been updated since July 1, 2020 will be deactivated. The following site (https://www.dgft.gov.in/CP/?opt=IECDL) contains a list of such IECs. In this interim time, IEC holders are given the chance to upgrade their IECs until January 31, 2022; otherwise, the given IECs would be de-activated on February 1, 2022. Any IEC that has submitted an online updation application but is awaiting clearance from the DGFT RA will be exempt from the deactivation list.

It should also be noted that every IEC that has been de-activated has the option of being automatically re-activated without the need for any manual action or visits to the DGFT RA. If an IEC has to be reactivated after January 31, 2022, the holder can go to the DGFT website and update their IEC there. After a successful update, the supplied IEC will be reactivated and the revised status will be submitted to the Customs system.

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