India, Turkey to hold talks on cotton yarn dispute next month

NEW DELHI: India and Turkey will hold negotiations in Ankara next month to resolve their trade dispute over imposition of special import duties on Indian cotton yarn.

Last month, India has dragged Turkey to WTO over imposition of safeguards on cotton yarn imports from the country.

"Turkey has agreed to hold consultations in Ankara (the capital of Turkey) on March 12 and 13. The consultations are aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution for the dispute," a Commerce Ministry official told PTI.

India had requested for consultations with Turkey under the dispute settlement system of the WTO. The request for consultations, filed on February 13, formally initiates a dispute in the WTO.

Consultations give the parties an opportunity to discuss the matter and to find a satisfactory solution without proceeding further with litigation.

After 60 days, if consultations fail to resolve the dispute, India may request adjudication by a panel.

The safeguard measures by Turkey, a major producer of cotton, were imposed in 2008 for a period of three years. When the three-year term expired in July 2011, it imposed provisional safeguard measures and later reimposed final safeguard measures.

The import duty was increased to 15-20 per cent. Expressing concern over the issue, Indian cotton yarn producers has said that these markets are resorting to unnecessary restrictions.