Reimagining Professional Involvement in Customs and FTP: A Call for Strategic Collaboration

In today’s rapidly evolving trade landscape, Customs Law and Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) are no longer peripheral subjects for finance professionals—they are becoming central to the functioning of global businesses and supply chains. The compliance challenges, interpretation issues, and practical gaps in policy implementation call for a stronger and more structured response from the professional community.

As Chartered Accountants, Advocates, Tax Leaders, and Compliance Professionals, our role is not just to ensure adherence, but also to guide businesses through the complexities of trade facilitation, duty structures, FTP incentives, and regulatory frameworks.

Why This Initiative Now?

Despite the growing significance of these areas, many practitioners and businesses still face the following challenges:

• Lack of consolidated and practitioner-focused guidance on Customs & FTP laws

• Inconsistent interpretation across ports and DGFT zones

• Limited resources or structured SOPs available for Customs Brokers (CHAs)—who form the frontline of documentation and compliance

• Minimal professional training modules that integrate Customs, FTP, GST, and international trade law perspectives

This creates a gap that ICAI, as a premier regulatory and knowledge body, is well-positioned to address.

The Vision

I am presently working towards building a core group of 8–10 professionals comprising CAs, Advocates, Tax Heads, and CFOs, with hands-on experience in Customs and FTP.

Together, we aim to:

• Develop a comprehensive and accessible Background Material (BGM) under the aegis of ICAI

• Propose simplified formats, compliance checklists, and SOPs for use by CHAs and industry stakeholders

• Build bridges with regulators (DGFT, CBIC) to share consolidated feedback and representation

• Create a sustainable knowledge structure within ICAI to continuously strengthen this domain for its members

ICAI’s Potential Role

As a body of national relevance, ICAI has both the technical depth and the credibility to:

• Be an advisory partner to the Government in shaping FTP schemes, customs automation, and trade compliance frameworks

• Equip its members with high-impact skills that go beyond tax filing and audit, towards becoming strategic trade compliance advisors

• Serve as a professional anchor for CHAs, helping them modernize practices and improve their understanding of legal positions

A Call for Collaboration

If you are a CA, Advocate, Tax Head, or Trade Compliance Professional with meaningful experience in:

• Customs Valuation

• FTP Licensing & Incentives (AA/EPCG/RoDTEP)

• CHA Operations & Port-based Compliance

• Litigation or Audit under Customs/FTP

I invite you to join this working group. Let us co-create a knowledge framework that serves the profession, the trade, and the country at large.

You may reach out to me directly via DM or email at navjot@sung.co.in.

Let’s come together to strengthen one of the most underrepresented yet crucial verticals of our practice.

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