The Central Government on Thursday increased the strictness on the import of all types of articles related to gold, silver and platinum. The purpose of this step is to prevent misuse of Free Trade Agreement (FTA). According to the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), these restrictions will apply irrespective of any prior contract, irrevocable letter of credit, advance payment or shipment status. According to PTI news, it has been made clear in the notification that no benefit of any kind of transitional arrangement will be available under this decision and the revised policy has come into effect with immediate effect.
Applicable to all products
According to the news, the government said that this change will be applicable to all products falling under Chapter 71, which includes natural or cultured pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, precious metals, articles made from them, imitation jewelery and coins. Earlier, on April 1, the government had also imposed restrictions on the import of gold, silver and platinum jewellery. Now comprehensive control has been implemented on all these categories.
Some importers are misusing FTA
An industry official said that some importers were misusing the India-ASEAN FTA. He demanded the government to simplify the licensing process so that honest businessmen do not face problems. The Free Trade Agreement for trade in goods has been in force since 2010 between India and the 10-nation Southeast Asian organization ASEAN. Earlier, the government has also imposed a temporary ban on the import of certain types of platinum jewelery in November and silver jewelery in September 2025.
According to officials, some traders were importing these metals in the name of unstudded jewelery from countries like Thailand to take advantage of the difference in duty and avoid tariffs. This step of the government has been taken to stop such misuse. The price of gold and silver has faced huge fluctuations so far in the year 2026. There may be huge fluctuations in the prices of these metals in the coming days also.
SK Sharma is a content writer who writes on news, entertainment, and lifestyle topics. She has over four years of experience and is known for conveying information in simple and clear language.
