Star Export House

The Objective of the Export House Certificate or Status Holder Certificate is to boost export performance. As per the updates to the Foreign Trade Policy of 2015-2020, exporters are assigned status holder positions by their export performance. You must have also made significant contributions to India’s foreign trade.

(a) Status Holders are business leaders who have excelled in international trade and have successfully contributed to country’s foreign trade. Status Holders are expected to not only contribute towards India’s exports but also provide guidance and handholding to new entrepreneurs.
(b) All exporters of goods, services and technology having an import-export code (IEC) number shall be eligible for recognition as a status holder. Status recognition will depend on export performance. An applicant shall be categorized as status holder on achieving export performance during the current and previous three financial years (for Gems& Jewellery Sector the performance during the current and previous two financial years shall be considered for recognition as status holder) as indicated in paragraph 3.21 of Foreign Trade Policy. The export performance will be counted on the basis of FOB of export earning in freely convertible foreign currencies
(c) For deemed export, FOR value of exports in Indian Rupees shall be converted in US$ at the exchange rate notified by CBEC, as applicable on 1st April of each Financial Year.
(d) For granting status, export performance is necessary in at least two out of four years.

There are the following eligibility criteria to recognize an exporter as a “status holder exporter”:
• The applicant for the grant of Star Export House must have the Import – Export Code (IEC).
• The certificate is given depending upon the certain level of export performance achieved by the exporters.
• Status Category Status Category Export Performance FOB / FOR (as converted) Value (in US $ million)
One Star Export House 3 (in US $ million)
Two Star Export House 25 (in US $ million)
Three Star Export House 100 (in US $ million)
Four Star Export House 500(in US $ million)
Five Star Export House 2000(in US $ million)

Grant of Double Weightage
(a) The exports by IEC holders under the following categories shall be granted double weightage for calculation of export performance for grant of status.
(i) Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) as defined in Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act 2006.
(ii) Manufacturing units having ISO/BIS.
(iii) Units located in North Eastern States including Sikkim and Jammu & Kashmir.
(iv) Units located in Agri Export Zones.
(b) Double Weightage shall be available for grant of One Star Export House Status category only. Such benefit of double weightage shall not be admissible for grant of status recognition of other categories namely Two Star Export House, Three Star Export House, Four Star export House and Five Star Export House.
(c) A shipment can get double weightage only once in any one of above categories.

1. Turnover of only those shipments can be counted for which e-BRC has been generated.
2. Export performance in at least two out of the four Financial Years is compulsory to get Star Export House Certificate.
3. The DGFT does not recognize exports made on a re-export basis.

For the export performance, the DGFT will consider the Free on Board (FOB) value of export earning in free foreign exchange. In the case of deemed exports—that is, transactions involving goods that remain in the country and which are paid for either in Indian or foreign freely convertible currency —the DGFT will take into account the FOB/FOR value of the exports after it is converted from Indian rupees to US dollars. For this conversion, the exchange rate will be as declared by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) on 1st April of the Financial Year.

• Authorisation/License, import-export customs clearance is issued to status holders on the basis of self-declaration.
• Norms fixation for import licenses may be done within 2 months on priority basis.
• Status holders are exempted from submitting BG (Bank Guarantee) under Advance/DFIA/EPCG Schemes under FTP.
• Compulsory negotiation exempted for export documents through banks;
• Two-star export house certificate and above are allowed to build Warehouses as per guidelines of Revenue Department.
• Three Star and above Export House shall get the benefit of Accredited Clients Programme (ACP) under CBEC guidelines
• Three Star/Four Star/Five Star status holders (Manufacturer Exporters) will be enabled to self-certify their manufactured good as originating from India (Certificate of origin) to qualify for preferential treatment under following
  • Preferential trading agreements (PTA),
  • Free Trade Agreements (FTAs),
  • Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA) – –
    Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA).
• Status holders are permitted to export freely exportable items on free of cost basis for export promotion subject to an annual limit of Rs 10 lakh or 2% of average annual export realization during preceding three licensing years whichever is higher.
• There are various Government Schemes under which status holders are given access to loans easily.

• Status Holder Certificate or Export House Certificate shall be valid for 5 Years from the date of issue of certificate.
• Certificate renewal shall be filed before the expiry of existing validity period.

There are the following documents required for Star Export House Certificate.

• Application Form –ANF 3C
• Submitting Hard copy of ANF3C
• CA Certificate as per Annexure to ANF 3C,
• Statement of Export, Certified by Chartered Accountant (CA),
• Self-certified copy of IEC,
• Self-certified copy of valid RCMC,
• Self-certified copy of PAN.

• We help our client in the compilation of exports made in the present FY plus the last three financial years export and analyze to check the eligibility for getting a certificate.
• Accordingly, prepare the application along with the documentation.
• Submit the application online & coordinate with DGFT till issuance of the Status Holder Certificate.
• Guiding Clients in taking advantage of the various privileges given to Star Export House Holders.

• We help our client in the compilation of exports made in the present FY plus the last three financial years export and analyze to check the eligibility for getting a certificate.
• Accordingly, prepare the application along with the documentation.
• Submit the application online & coordinate with DGFT till issuance of the Status Holder Certificate.
• Guiding Clients in taking advantage of the various privileges given to Star Export House Holders.

• Notification on 31.03.2020 : Extension of FTP 2015-20 till 31st March 2021:
  All Export House Certificates will be valid till 31.03.2021 or 5 Years from date of issue whichever is later.