The central government is evaluating the benefits of allowing commodity and products exporters to invoice their transactions in rupees in view of the unexpected strength of the Indian currency against the US dollar.

"The government was looking at it as a policy issue and not as a knee-jerk reaction to the gains the rupee has made against the dollar," L V Saptarishi, additional secretary in the Union commerce ministry, told the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

Responding to concerns raised by exporters at the meeting conducted by IACC regional chairman M J Z Mowlah, he said any decision on invoicing in rupees was bound to take time in view of the involvement of multiple government ministries like finance, commerce and industry et cetera, as well as the Reserve Bank of India.

The practice of invoicing in euros had opened up the option of permitting the similar facility with the rupee.

Till such time as a policy to compensate exporters for the strength of the rupee was worked out, the commerce ministry would work out ways to compensate businesses through more competitive interest rates and other incentives, he assured exporters in the audience from the engineering, pharmaceutical and jute sectors.

The bureaucrat warned that Indian businessmen should get used to the fact that countries importing goods from India would use non-tariff barriers and safeguards on a continuous and sustained basis to shut out Indian commodity and product shipments.

Besides using anti-dumping investigations and related measures, developed countries would consistently evolve newer and newer norms on presence of antibiotic residues, hygiene, phyto-sanitary norms, manufacturing standards and qualitative barriers.

Every pesticide, chemical and fertiliser would come under scrutiny, he warned.

Importing countries would use these new guidelines to rule Indian exports were either unfit for human consumption, or unsafe for public use or violating new environmental norms, he warned.

Shrimp exports to Europe had been halted on grounds of presence of anti-biotic residues, but had now resumed after new labs certified the products as safe. However, we expect a new set of norms to be evolved and applied soon, he cautioned.

At the same time, he said that the government was not averse to demands that related to proper labour practices, like abolition of child labour, safety of women employees, creches for infants children of workers, etc.

Leather exporters should immediately implement humane and proper norms for transport of animals meant for slaughter, as demanded by some animal rights groups, he said.