The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a Trade Notice inviting comments on the draft “Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026”, pursuant to the Union Budget 2025–26 announcement on implementing BharatTradeNet as a Digital Public Infrastructure for trade. The draft Bill seeks to address gaps in the existing legal framework, particularly the lack of comprehensive recognition of electronic trade documents and cross-border digital trust services, which currently constrain interoperability with global digital trade systems.
The proposed legislation aims to provide statutory recognition, legal validity and enforceability to electronic trade documents, and to regulate digital identity and trust services, including electronic signatures, seals, time stamps, electronic registered delivery services, and electronic archiving. It defines key concepts such as “control” over electronic trade documents, “trust service providers,” “identity management systems,” and “electronic trade documents,” while ensuring alignment with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The Bill also empowers the Central Government to notify eligible electronic trade documents through Schedules and provides for cross-border digital trust mechanisms.
Stakeholders including commodity boards, trade and industry associations, academia, and legal experts have been invited to submit comments within 30 days of issuance of the Trade Notice via email at [email protected]. The Trade Notice has been issued with the approval of the Competent Authority.
[Notification No. 01/02/14/AM-26/EG&TF/e-42735]
