India refutes USTR report on trade barriers

NEW DELHI: Refuting a US report on trade barriers, India today said its regime is transparent and consistent with the World Trade Organisation's rules and regulations.

"India's policies relating to tariffs, import policies, government procurement, export subsidies, intellectual property protection are consistent with its international and bilateral obligations," a Commerce Ministry official said.

In its latest report - '2013 National Trade Estimate: Foreign Trade Barriers' - the US Trade Representative ( USTR) has listed a whole range of difficulties American companies face in India, preventing them officials from realising the full potential of India-US economic relationship.

"While the US has actively sought bilateral and multilateral opportunities to open India's market, US exporters continue to encounter tariff and non-tariff barriers that impede imports of US products, despite the government of India's ongoing economic reform efforts," the report has said.

The Commerce Ministry official however said that India has been implementing its tariff policy within multilateral commitments and is committed to further liberalisation based on the global negotiations.

"In fact, India has been unilaterally reducing its tariff over the years. India's import licensing policies are consistent with it's WTO obligations," he said.

On government procurement issue, the official said that India is not a signatory to the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement and hence "many of the obligations that the report seeks to attribute to India are misplaced".

The Indian government, he added, is exercising its procurement policy in consonance with its perception of national interests and policy prerogatives. They neither violate any international agreement nor bilateral commitment.

Referring to the allegations with regard to intellectual property rights, the official said India's IPR regime is in consonance with its obligations under the TRIPS agreement.

He further said that the recent decision of the Supreme Court rejecting the patent plea in the Novartis case has reiterated that India's interpretation of Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act has balanced its public health interests with that of innovation.

With regard to the issues concerning services industries like insurance, banking, accounting and legal, the official said the country's regulatory regime is based on national interest and is in accordance with the commitments under General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).