Transport and Marketing Assistance Scheme (TMA scheme) for Exporters

Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) Scheme is rolled out GOI for agricultural products. Under this Scheme, the GOI has slashed the transportation cost of specific farm products. It fundamentally implies that the Government shall reimburse the price inflation relating to fright cost to make Indian Agri products competitive in the international market. 

Further, GOI also facilitates marketing assistance under this Scheme to improve the presence of Indian Agri products in the global market. The TMA came into effect in 1st March 2019 and was included in the FTP (2015-20)

Eligibility Criteria for TMA Scheme

The Scheme encompasses all the exporters of the entitled agri-products registered with the respective Export Promotion Council, as per the FTP. The TMA scheme envisages reimbursing the specific percentage of freight cost paid by the exporter and the marketing expenses involved in the product’s promotion. 

Eligible Products under the TMA scheme

• The Scheme is eligible for all the exportable items cited under chapters 1-24 of the ITC-HS, including plantation and marine items. 
• But, some specific items covered under Chapter 1-24 would not be encompassed under the Scheme for assistance. 
• A list of such items is cited in Annexure (1). 

List of ineligible items under TMA scheme

Chapter	HS Code	Description
Chapters 1, 2, and 5	All HS code	Live animals
		Meat and edible meat offal
		Animal-based products, no elsewhere included
Chapter 3	30617	Other Prawns and Shrimps
Chapter 4	401	Milk and Creame, not concentrated nor having sugar
		Milk and Creame, concentrated or having sugar
		Buttermilk, Curdled milk and creame, kephir, yogurt and other acidified or fermented milk and creame, whether or not concentrated or having sugar or flavoured or having added fruit.
	404	Whey, either concentrated or having sugar; items  having natural milk constituents either concentrated or having sugar; not elsewhere included
	405	Butter and other oils and dates extracted from milk; dairy spreads
	406	Curd and Cheese
Chapter 07	703	Shallots, Garlic, Onions, other alliaceous vegetables, chilled or fresh
		Mesline and Wheat
		Rice
Chapter 13 and 14	All HS codes	Lac; Resins, Gums, and other Vegetables extracts and saps
		Vegetable plating materials; Vegetable items not elsewhere mentioned
		Beet sugar or Cane and Chemically pure sucrose in raw sugar not having colouring or flavouring content
		Molasses  resulting from sugar refinement
Chapter 22 and 24	All HS codes	Beverages, Vinegar, and Sprits
		Tobacco and its substitutes.

Coverage under the TMA scheme

• Exports of Agri items to certain permissible nations, as mentioned in Annexure (2), shall only be encompassed under the TMA scheme. 
• The scheme benefit is available in terms of transportation and marketing effort regardless of the mode of shipment except for road transport.
• Annexure- 2 cited a list of all export nations in each region accessible under this scheme. 
• For sea consignment, TMA shall be based on freight paid by the exporter for the TEU (Twenty Feet Equivalent Unit) containers. The assistance is not open for Less than container load (LCL) and a container containing both eligible and ineligible cargo categories. Note: TMA is non-accessible to cargo being shipped in breakbulk mode. Also, the 40 feet container shall be considered as two TEUs. 
• The assistance for air consignment shall be based on the per tons freight charges on the overall weight of export cargo, estimated on the full ton basis, not considering any fraction thereof. 

List of Regions and Export nations/destinations in each region eligible for TMA are as under

Region	Nation
West Africa	Algeria, Angola, Benin, Faso, Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Niger, Senegal, soon  and so forth
East Africa	Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, so on and so forth
EU	Albania, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Malta, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, so on and so forth
Gulf	Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Yemen, etc
ASEAN	Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, etc
North America	Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, so on and so forth
Russia	Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine, etc.
Far East	North Korea, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia
Oceania	Australia, Kiribati, Fiji, Micronesia, New Zealand, Samao, Tongo, etc
China	Hong Kong, PRC China, Taiwan
South America	Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, etc

The assistance is facilitated in accordance with the rates notified in Annexure-3

The assistance is provided as per the rates notified in Annexure-3.

Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) Scheme Annexure (3)

Differential assistance’s rate under TMA (INR)

Region	Amount per TEU (Standard)	Amount per TEU (Reefer)	By Air amount per Kilogram
East Africa	11200	21000	0.84
West Africa	11200	19600	0.84
Gulf	8400	14000	0.70
EU	9800	21000	1.12
ASEAN	5600	12600	.70
North America	21000	28700	2.80
Russia and CIS	12600	22400	0.70
Oceania	16800	24500	2.80
Far East	8400	12250	0.84
South America	23800	31500	3.50
China	0	12600	0.84

TMA Scheme: Important Terms & Conditions

• The assistance would only come into effect when the export payment is received in Foreign Exchange via normal banking mode. 
• Only the exports executed via EDI ports are allowed under the scheme. 
• Nature of Assistance provided under TMA scheme: Assistance shall be facilitated in cash via a direct bank transfer in the form of reimbursement of freight costs paid by the exporter. 
• The TMA scheme proposes that in FOB supplies, where exporters skip the freight payment, such export would not fall under this scheme. 

Ineligible categories under the TMA Scheme

The following list reflects the ineligible categories under the TMA scheme:-

• Products exported from SEZs (Special Economic Zones)/ EOUs (Export Oriented Units) / EHTPs/ STPs/ BTPs/ FTWZs
• SEZ/EOU/EHTPs/STPs/BTPs/FTWZs items shipped via DTA units
• Export of imported items cited under paragraph 2.46 of the FTP;
• Exports via trans-shipment, i.e., exports that are originating in the third nation but trans-shipped via India;
• Exported items are prohibited or restricted for export under Schedule-2 of Export Policy in ITC (HS) unless directed otherwise by the authority concerned. 
• Export of goods via foreign post offices or courier using e-Commerce

Documents for Claiming Incentives under TMA Scheme

One can apply for the TMA scheme by filing a prescribed application on the DGFT portal. The following documentations shall accompany the said application; 

• Import Export Code (IEC Code)
• RCMC certificate 
• Shipping Bill Copy
• Commercial Invoice
• E-BRC
• Bill of Lading, in case of sea transit 
• Airway Bill, in case of Air transit
• Certificate of practising Chartered Accountant (C.A.)/ Company Secretary (C.S) 

Online Procedure to avail TMA Scheme

1. Visit DGFT Portal^[1] and login to the same.
2. On the home page, open the Service Page from the main menu.
3. Select TMA Scheme from the drop-down list
4. On the next window, click the “file new application” option 
5. Enter Personal and Business related details and then click Add 
6. Enter RCMC Certification Number
7. Next, enter shipping details, container number, etc
8. Conform to Payment Realization
9. Add Description for ITC (HS) code and Freight paid
10. Attach documents as mentioned above. 

Conclusion

The “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) is a beneficial scheme for the exporters of specific farm products. It helps reduce shipping costs for the exporter, thereby ensuring a good profit margin. 

Read our Article:Duty Free Import Authorization Scheme – An Overview