Saturday, Jun 22, 2002
Saturday, Jun 22, 2002 |
| Business | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Business
The commendation came at the conclusion of a review of India's trade policy conducted by the WTO at Geneva on June 19-21. During the review which attracted a high level of participation and interest, WTO members complimented India for its strong economic performance which had resulted from continued economic reform, including trade liberalisation, lower government involvement and liberalisation of key service sectors, an official release said here. Many delegations stressed that India's efforts would be greatly enhanced if its trading partners took steps to reduce, if not remove, the impediments to India's exports, especially in the context of the new negotiations in line with the Doha Work Programme. There was, however, concern about India's increased use of anti-dumping measures as also labelling, certification and standard requirements. Concerns were also expressed over the high tariffs, subsidies, the large stock of foodgrains and small sector dereservation. A view was conveyed that additional measures were needed if the ambitious growth targets were to be met, the release said. Reiterating its support for the WTO and the Doha work programme, India said the anti-dumping investigations were being conducted strictly on the basis of anti-dumping rules that were fully in accordance with the WTO trade agreement. India further pointed out that the actual trade affected by these measures was not significant. In all, the 39 measures against the U.S. and the EU, for instance, accounted for less than 0.1 per cent of all of India's total imports. Responding to queries on agriculture, New Delhi said various measures had been undertaken including removal of export restriction on agricultural products and allowing freer inter-state movement of foodgrains. India said further liberalisation would depend on how the trading partners committed themselves to reduction in export subsidies and domestic support. In textiles, India said several initiatives had been undertaken including dereservation of readymade garments and technological upgradation. New Delhi said the slower phasing out of the quota restrictions, tariff peaks in developed markets for quota items and repeated trade defence action were coming in the way of increased market access for developing countries like India. In respect of service sector, it was recognised that significant progress had been made in the reform in telecommunications, banking and insurance sectors. Further, it was noted that the success of India's software sector was indicative of its ability to compete globally. India was also commended for its efforts to enforce protection of Intellectual Property Rights both through the adoption of new legislation and through educational awareness campaign. The India delegation was led by the Commerce Secretary, Dipak Chatterjee, who in his address at the WTO on June 19 highlighted the initiatives taken by the Government, particularly in the lowering of customs duties, deregualtion in the number of service sectors such as banking, insurance and telecom and the liberalisation of the foreign direct investment regime. The trade review for India is conducted by the WTO once in four years, with the last one having been held in 1998. — PTI
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|