Introduction to Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has released the draft Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 20261. The Bill aims to provide legal recognition to electronic trade documents and create a framework for trusted digital identity and verification services. This is a significant step towards implementing Bharat TradeNet as a Digital Public Infrastructure for Trade as announced in the Union Budget 2025-26. This draft bill demands the compliance management system and its processes be more important than ever now.
This Bill will substantially modernise India’s trade ecosystem, align it with global digital trade norms and impact exporters, importers, banks, logistics operators, customs brokers, and digital service providers.