Indian Trade Service

Indian Trade Service
Service overview
Abbreviation I.T.S.
Formed 1965 (CTS), 1985(ITS)[1]
Country  India
Training ground Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi[2]

Attachments: Major ministries, ports, SEZs, industrial attachment, regional offices, NACEN, Centre for WTO studies

Controlling authority Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Legal personality Governmental, Civil Service
Preceding service Central Trade Service
Cadre size 180

The Indian Trade Service (ITdS) is a civil service[1] under Group A of the Central Civil Services of the executive branch of the Government of India. It was created as a specialized cadre to handle India's international trade and commerce on the basis of the recommendations of the Mathur Committee (Study Team on the Import and Export Trade Control Organization headed by Sri H.C. Mathur, Member of Parliament) in 1965. At present, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT),[3] under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is the cadre controlling authority of the ITS. DGFT has 38 regional offices[4] across India, and plays a significant role in promoting India's international trade with its policy formulation and implementation.

The Department of Commerce is headed by a Secretary[5] who is assisted by a Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, three Additional Secretaries, thirteen Joint Secretaries and Joint Secretary level officers and a number of other senior officers. Keeping in view the large increase in workload in matters related to World Trade Organization (WTO), Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), free trade agreements (FTAs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), joint study groups (JSGs) etc., two posts each of Joint Secretaries and Directors were created in the department during 2008–09.

The department is functionally organized into the following nine Divisions:[6]

  1. International Trade Policy Division
  2. Foreign Trade Territorial Division
  3. Export Products Division
  4. Export Industries Division
  5. Export Services Division
  6. Economic Division
  7. Administration & General Service Division
  8. Finance Division
  9. Supply Division
  1. ^ a b "Complete Service Profile of Indian Trade Service" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Indian Institute of Foreign Trade". Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Directorate General of Foreign Trade".
  4. ^ "List of Regional offices of DGFT". www.dgft.gov.in. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Department of commerce hierarchy". commerce.gov.in.
  6. ^ "Divisions in department of commerce". commerce.gov.in.