Export Consultant in Kanpur | Leather and Saddlery Exporters | Rasp International

Yes, and this is the most urgent item on any Kanpur exporter’s desk right now. The European Union Deforestation Regulation applies from 30 December 2026. Cattle hides and leathers under HSN 4101, 4104 and 4107 are inside its scope.

If you ship any of those lines into the EU, you will need geolocation traceability back to the source of the raw hide, plus due diligence documentation. This is not a customs formality you handle at the port. It is a supply chain data problem that has to be solved months before the consignment moves, because you are collecting information from tanneries and hide suppliers who have never been asked for it.

Units that start this in December will not ship in January. Start now.

Town of Export Excellence is a Foreign Trade Policy recognition given to notified clusters that cross a threshold of export production. For units inside a recognised town, it opens priority access to certain export promotion support and market access assistance, and it strengthens the case for common facility and infrastructure funding in the cluster.

It is not an automatic cash benefit. It is a status you have to actively use through your council and through the schemes it unlocks, which is exactly why most units never see anything from it.

The Council for Leather Exports is the relevant body for leather, leather products, footwear and saddlery. RCMC from CLE is what most benefit claims are checked against, and it is now issued electronically through the DGFT platform.

The recurring problem is data agreement. The firm name on your IEC, your GST registration, your bank records and your RCMC application all have to match. Name matching is case sensitive, so a firm registered in capitals will not clear against the same name in title case. Branch addresses have to be entered in the serial order shown on your GST certificate, not the order that seems logical to you.

RoDTEP rates are fixed against the eight digit HS code. Finished leather, leather goods, footwear, safety boots and saddlery sit under different headings and carry different rates. A saddlery exporter shipping bridles, harness and dog collars in one consignment is not shipping one product for scheme purposes.

Classify wrong and the remission silently reduces or disappears. There is no rejection notice. The money simply comes in lower than it should have and most units never audit the difference.

Two structural points worth holding. RoDTEP issues a transferable scrip and that scrip can only be sold twenty four hours after issuance. Duty drawback is a different scheme and pays directly into your bank account rather than as a scrip.

The RoDTEP declaration not being marked on the shipping bill checklist at the time of filing. It cannot be added afterwards. The claim is gone regardless of eligibility, regardless of a valid RCMC, regardless of everything else being correct.

In a cluster where clearing agents are moving high volumes of export oriented consignments daily, this is the failure we see most. Put it on an internal pre filing checklist owned by someone in your office. Do not leave it with the CHA.

Close behind it is an AD Code, IFSC or bank account number mismatch between DGFT records and the shipping bill. The scrip cannot credit into an account the system does not recognise.

Documentation mismatch across PAN, Aadhaar, GST and bank records is the leading cause. PAN and Aadhaar not being linked is the second, and it is absolute, because it blocks Aadhaar OTP authentication entirely and pushes you onto a Class 3 digital signature certificate.

Third is the cancelled cheque. Handwritten cheques get rejected. The cheque has to be pre printed with the account holder name. When a consignment is waiting, a bank certificate in the prescribed format is usually faster than ordering a new chequebook.

Fourth is the bank account name not matching the official firm name exactly.

Yes. The window is 1 April to 30 June each year and it is mandatory even with zero changes. Confirming no change costs nothing. Modifying carries a fee. Missing it deactivates the IEC and shipments stop.

Established Kanpur units get caught by this far more than new ones, because a firm exporting for thirty years assumes the code needs no maintenance.

Rates were cut by fifty percent in February 2026 under Notification 60/2025-26, then restored in full in March 2026 under Notification 66/2025-26. ITC HS Chapters 01 to 24 were exempt from the cut. The scheme runs to 30 September 2026 under Notification 74/2025-26.

The number that should change your behaviour is the FY2026-27 allocation of roughly ten thousand crore against a previous figure nearer eighteen thousand crore. Smaller pool, same claimants. File early. Holding claims now has a real cost attached.

EUDR readiness if you ship hides or leather to the EU, because December is closer than it looks. IEC annual updation confirmed for this year. RoDTEP declaration marked on every shipping bill without exception. HS classification checked line by line against your actual product mix. AD Code and bank details consistent across DGFT, GST and shipping bills. Any issued scrips sitting unsold past the point you needed the working capital.