FAQs for Trade Enquiries
a. I would like to sell my products in Italy. How should I go about it?
Please write an email to enquiries.milan@mea.gov.in detailing the products you wish to sell and specifying the contact details of the company. Upon receipt of this email the Consulate will send a response with a list of Italian importers who may be interested in your products.
b. What are the rules and regulations to export Indian products to Italy?
Italian/ European regulations for import/export may be referred to the following links:
https://europa.eu/european-union/business/import-export_en
https://www.adm.gov.it/portale/en/web/guest/home-english
c. What are the customs and duty rates in Italy?
Italy is liable to common tariffs in the European Union.
European custom and duty rates may be referred to the following links:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/calculation-customs-duties/what-is-common-customs-tariff/taric_en
d. How can I contact Italian Chambers of Commerce?
In Italy, most cities have a local Chamber of Commmerce.
An exhaustive list of the Italian Chambers of Commerce with contact details can be found at the following link:
http://www.registroimprese.it/en/le-camere-di-commercio
The Italian Foreign Trade Association (AICE) represents Italian companies that are committed predominantly to commercial activities abroad: trading, export, import, countertrade, buying-offices, export management, small and medium enterprises, etc., as well as the services related to such activities. AICE also supports foreign companies interested in the Italian market by assisting them in the search for potential Italian business partners, (suppliers, buyers, distributors, agents), offering a consolidated wealth of professionalism, contacts and knowledge.
For contacts of AICE:
https://www.aicebiz.com/it/associazioni/categoria/aice/en/contatti/
e. I am interested in setting up a business activity in Italy. What are the rules and regulations?
The Foreign Investments Attraction Department is a dedicated unit of the Italian Trade Agency for facilitating the establishment and the development of foreign companies in Italy. The Department focuses its attention on:
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Promoting business opportunities
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helping foreign investors to establish or expand their operations
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supporting investors throughout the investment life cycle
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offering high-level tutoring services for existing strategic investments
For information on starting a business in Italy, paying taxes in Italy, labor market laws and investment incentives opportunities in Italy, the following link may be visited:
https://www.ice.it/en/invest/starting-business-italy
For contact details of the Italian Trade Agency:
https://www.ice.it/it/chi-siamo/contatti
f. Public tenders in Italy
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal' of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement.
TED publishes thousands of procurement notices a year pertaining to all European Countries.
For business opportunities/tenders in Italy, the following link can be visited:
https://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByBO.do
g. What is the “Make in India” campaign?
Launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 25 September 2014, the Make in India campaign involves the introduction of policy directives that are aimed at supporting the three essential requisites for transforming the manufacturing sector in India. These include; (i) Improving the business environment - through de-licensing & deregulation and increasing the ease of doing business in India; (ii) Enabling manufacturing - through special focus on industrial corridors and clusters, development of smart cities, innovative approaches, upgrading of industrial infrastructure and skill development; and (iii) Opening up FDI in key sectors - such as defense, construction and railways. The program represents an attitudinal shift in how India relates to investors: not as a permit-issuing authority, but as a true business partner.
For more information on Make in India campaign, visit the portal:
http://www.makeinindia.com/home/
h. I am interested in setting up a business activity/investing in India. What are the rules and regulations?
Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and acts as the first point of reference for investors in India. As the national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India focuses on sector-specific investor targeting and development of new partnerships to enable sustainable investments in India.
Invest provides sector-specific and state-specific information to a foreign investors, assists in expediting regulatory approvals, and offers hand-holding services. Its mandate also includes assisting Indian investors to make informed choices about investment opportunities overseas.
For contact details of Invest India: https://www.investindia.gov.in/
Provisions for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in India are included in the FDI Policy, issued and reviewed periodically by Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India.
Foreign Direct Investment Policy may be referred to at the following link:
https://dipp.gov.in/policies-rules-and-acts/policies/foreign-direct-investment-policy
i. What are the customs and duty rates in India?
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is the nodal agency responsible for administering Customs, GST, Central Excise, Service Tax & Narcotics in India.
Indian custom and duty rules and rates may be referred to the following link:
http://www.cbic.gov.in/htdocs-cbec/customs
j. What is the taxation system in India?
The tax structure in India is divided into direct and indirect taxes.
While direct taxes are levied on taxable income earned by individuals and corporate entities, the burden to deposit taxes is on the assessees themselves. On the other hand, indirect taxes are levied on the sale and provision of goods and services respectively and the burden to collect and deposit taxes is on the sellers instead of the assessees directly.
Taxes in India are levied by the Central Government and the State Governments. Some minor taxes are also levied by the local authorities such as the Municipality and the Local Governments.
Over the last few years, the Central and many State Governments have undertaken various policy reforms and process simplification towards great predictability, fairness and automation. This has consequently lead to India’s meteoric rise to the top 100 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking in 2017. The Goods & Services Tax (GST) reform is one such reform to ease the complex multiple indirect tax regime in India.
For a taxation overview in India visit the following link:
https://www.investindia.gov.in/taxation
k. I would like to sell my products in India. How should I go about it?
Please write an email to enquiries.milan@mea.gov.in detailing the products you wish to sell and specifying the contact details of the company. Upon receipt of this email the Consulate will send a response with a list of Indian importers who may be interested in your products.
l. Public tenders in India
The Central Public Procurement Portal, Government of India, publishes daily updates on the latest tenders.
For tenders in India, the following link may be visited:
https://etenders.gov.in/eprocure/app
