A New DGFT Buyer Advisory Is a Reminder: Export Risk Management Starts Before You Sign

On 21 October 2026, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued Trade Notice No. 31/2026-27, cautioning all Export Promotion Councils, industry associations, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) and DGFT's regional offices against dealing with a specific overseas buyer — M/s Julfikar Fashions Limited of Mirpur, Bangladesh — after a Quality Control & Trade Dispute (QCTD) complaint against the firm went unanswered despite repeated follow-up through diplomatic and administrative channels.

The buyer named in this notice is in the garment sector, not agri-commodities. But the mechanism behind the notice is one that every Indian exporter — including manufacturers, merchant exporters and traders of rice, spices, pulses and fresh produce — should understand, because it exists for exactly the kind of dispute that can hit any export business: a buyer who goes quiet after goods have shipped or an advance has been paid.

How the advisory mechanism actually works

The notice is issued under Para 8.07(d) of India's Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, which provides that once an Indian Mission abroad, after investigating a trade dispute, is satisfied of a foreign buyer's mala fide conduct, it reports this to DGFT, which then circulates the information to EPCs, Commodity Boards, ECGC and other regulatory bodies. Complaints enter this system through DGFT's Quality Control & Trade Dispute framework, supported by Committees on Quality Complaints & Trade Disputes (CQCTD) that sit at roughly 22 DGFT zonal and regional offices, drawing members from BIS, APEDA, EPCs, the Export Inspection Agency, banks and MSME bodies. DGFT is explicit that the notice "is being issued purely as a precautionary measure" and is not a finding of fraud — it directs stakeholders to exercise enhanced due diligence, factor the risk into any pending transaction, and report back any adverse payment or contractual experience involving the named entity.

This is not an isolated event. Two months earlier, on 11 August 2026, DGFT issued a near-identical advisory — Trade Notice 19/2026-27 — against two Bhutanese firms, M/s Legoy Powersports and M/s Druk A-Z Store, under the same provision. Taken together, the two notices show this is a live, recurring tool DGFT uses once a dispute has stalled, not a one-off action.

Business takeaway for agri-commodity exporters

For manufacturers, merchant exporters and traders moving basmati and non-basmati rice, spices, pulses or perishables such as fresh dragon fruit, mango and grapes, the practical lesson is less about this particular Bangladeshi buyer and more about building the habit this advisory system is designed to support. Before confirming a new overseas buyer — especially for a high-value or perishable shipment where there is no time to wait out a payment dispute — it is worth checking DGFT's published trade notices for any existing advisory against that entity, and pairing that check with buyer-specific credit risk cover through ECGC before goods leave port. A buyer who stops responding after an advance is far costlier to chase once a container of fresh dragon fruit or turmeric powder has already sailed than it is to catch before the contract is signed. The DGFT advisory list, read alongside standard trade-reference checks and credit insurance, is a small and free addition to the due diligence any exporter should already be doing on a new basmati rice or spice buyer.