The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 replaced which of the following Acts ?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 1:
The Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992 (FTDR Act) was introduced as part of the sweeping economic reforms initiated in India in 1991. Its primary and explicit purpose was to replace the **Import and Export (Control) Act, 1947**. The 1947 Act was a relic of a time when the government adopted a highly restrictive and control-oriented approach to foreign trade, relying heavily on licensing, quotas, and discretionary power. The new FTDR Act of 1992 marked a paradigm shift in India's trade policy, moving the legal framework's focus from 'control' to the 'development and regulation' of foreign trade, thereby liberalising the process and aligning it with the new open-market economy.

The incorrect option is 2:
The option 'Export Regulation Act, 1962' is incorrect. While specific rules and regulations concerning exports existed, the central and comprehensive legislation governing both imports and exports was the Import and Export (Control) Act, 1947. There was no distinct, umbrella 'Export Regulation Act, 1962' that served as the predecessor to the 1992 Act. Therefore, it was the 1947 Act, covering both facets of trade, that was fundamentally superseded by the FTDR Act.

The incorrect option is 3:
The option 'Import Development Act, 1952' is also incorrect. Similar to the previous option, no primary, separate statute by this name was the main legal framework for trade that the 1992 Act replaced. The original 1947 Act handled both import and export controls collectively. The 1992 legislation aimed to consolidate and modernize the entire framework for developing and regulating all of India's foreign trade, not just one specific aspect, making a replacement of a partial or non-existent 1952 Act inaccurate.

The incorrect option is 4:
Since the 1992 Act was a replacement for a single, comprehensive piece of legislation—the Import and Export (Control) Act, 1947—the claim that it replaced both an Export Regulation Act, 1962 and an Import Development Act, 1952 is factually wrong. The single predecessor law governed the entire trade regime until the 1992 reforms brought in a more facilitative and development-focused legal structure.