India

Draft MINUTES of the Meeting^* held on 2 and 4 June 2015

Delegations are invited to submit factual corrections, if any, on their own statement to the Secretariat (Mrs Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org, or to tprd@wto.org) no later than 1 July 2015.

Inde

Projet de compte rendu de la réunion^* tenue les 2 et 4 juin 2015

Les délégations sont invitées à soumettre leurs éventuelles corrections factuelles concernant leurs propres déclarations au Secrétariat (Mme Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org, ou tprd@wto.org) le 1er juillet au plus tard.

India

Proyecto de acta de la reunión^* celebrada los días 2 y 4 de junio de 2015

Las delegaciones pueden enviar a la Secretaría (Sra. Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org, o tprd@wto.org) a más tardar el 1^ero de julio de 2015 las correcciones fácticas que deseen introducir en sus propias declaraciones.

_______________

Trade Policy Review

India

Draft Minutes of the Meeting

Chairperson: H.E. Mr Atanas Atanassov Paparizov

CONTENTS

1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON.. 3

2  OPENING STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF India. 5

3  STATEMENT BY THE DISCUSSANT. 9

4  STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS. 12

5  REPLIES BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF India AND ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. 53

6  CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON.. 59

Note: Advance written questions and additional questions by WTO Members, and the replies provided by India are reproduced in document WT/TPR/M/313/Add.1 and will be available online at http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e.htm.

1  INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON

1.1.  The sixth Trade Policy Review of India was held on 2 and 4 June 2015. The Chairperson H.E. Mr Atanas Atanassov Paparizov (Bulgaria) welcomed the delegation of India headed by the Honourable Mr Rajeev Kher, Commerce Secretary; the rest of the delegation, including H.E. Ambassador Anjali Prasad, Permanent Representative of India to the WTO; other colleagues from the Mission in Geneva; and the discussant, H.E. Ambassador Esteban B. Conejos (Philippines).

1.2.  The Chairperson recalled the purpose of the Trade Policy Reviews and the main elements of the procedures for the meeting. The report by India was contained in document WT/TPR/G/313 and that of the WTO Secretariat in WT/TPR/S/313.

1.3.  The following delegations submitted questions before the deadline of 19 May and had been transmitted to the delegation of India: Malaysia; China; Australia; Mexico; Switzerland; Canada; Hong Kong, China; Colombia; Argentina; the United States; Singapore; the Republic of Korea; Kenya; New Zealand; Oman; Japan; Guatemala; the Philippines; Chinese Taipei; Norway; Indonesia; the European Union; Chile; Brazil and Peru. The following delegations submitted written questions after the deadline and had also been transmitted to the delegation of India: the Russian Federation; the Dominican Republic; Costa Rica; Thailand; Turkey; Saudi Arabia; Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago.

1.4.  The Chairperson was very pleased to note that India's economic growth had been accelerating and inflation had become slightly milder in recent years. The current account deficit had also been decreasing recently thanks, in particular, to the contribution of services exports, and the macroeconomic outlook was positive. The Chairperson was sure that Members would be interested in learning about what steps the authorities were taking, or planned to take, to consolidate its economic development, as well as their views on India's future economic and trade prospects.

1.5.  The Chairperson was also pleased to note that, since its last Review in 2011, India had continued its efforts to liberalize and facilitate trade, such as the introduction of self-assessment in customs procedures and the elimination of state-trading requirements for some agricultural products. India had also continued to liberalize its investment policies, including raising foreign‑ownership limits in some sectors, such as insurance and railway transport.

1.6.  With regard to the overall policy framework, both the Government and Secretariat reports had briefly touched upon the Government's new Foreign Trade Policy for the period between 2015 and 2020. The Chairperson understood that this Policy was released on 1 April 2015 and he was sure that Members would be interested in learning more about this Policy, as various Members had sought information in their written questions about the details and implication of this Policy for India's trade policy formulation and implementation.

1.7.  As both reports indicated, agriculture played an important role for employment and livelihoods, but its productivity was still low. The Government, in its report, emphasized that increasing agricultural productivity was necessary to bolster food security. In this context, many Members asked questions about India's support measures for agriculture, including the National Food Security Act adopted in 2013. The Chairperson was sure that Members would be interested in learning more about how India intended to achieve this objective through the use of these and other measures and/or adopting new measures.

1.8.  The Chairperson also noted that various Members asked questions regarding, for example, the increase in import tariffs, India's business environment and foreign investment regime including industrial licensing requirements, adoption and implementation of the Agreement on Trade Facilitation, clarifications for tariffs and other related duties and charges, recent amendment to legislation regarding anti-dumping measures, as well as regarding standards, technical regulations and SPS measures and their relations with international standards, export support measures, incentives and subsidies accorded to various sectors and exports, measures related to intellectual property rights, including India's use of compulsory licence, and measures related to manufacturing and services.

1.9.  At the time of the previous TPR, Members had raised questions on: the complex structure of tariff and non-tariff measures, active use of antidumping measures, and the scientific basis for certain sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Members had also encouraged India to: eliminate remaining investment barriers, notify to the WTO various incentive schemes, enhance the openness and transparency of its government procurement, strengthen the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and liberalize agriculture and services. These concerns have appeared again in the questions posed by Members in the ongoing Review. The Chairperson was sure that these and many other themes would be touched upon in greater detail at their deliberations on the first and second day and they all looked forward to hearing India's responses to these and other queries. Of course, he was sure Members would ask other issues as well.

1.10.  The Chairperson closed his introductory remarks by wishing India a very successful sixth Trade Policy Review. He looked forward to its active engagement in this TPR.

1.11.  He also noted that a podcast would be made of the meeting which could be accessed on the Members' website.

2  OPENING STATEMENT BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF India (Honourable Rajeev Kher)

2.1.  India welcomes the sixth Trade Policy Review of India by the WTO. I thank the WTO Secretariat team for the painstaking work they have put in on India's Trade Policy Review and the comprehensive report they have brought out. Let me also convey our thanks to the Permanent Representative of the Philippines, Ambassador Esteban B. Conejos, for agreeing to be the Discussant.

2.2.  India welcomes the interest of the WTO Membership in this Review. We look forward to a fruitful interaction with all of you over the next two days and would be happy to provide any further information or clarifications you may require in addition to our responses to the 700 plus questions raised by around more than 30 Members.

2.3.  We welcome this opportunity to apprise the WTO Membership about the Indian economy and our government's policies particularly our trade policy framework. We see such interactions with the WTO Membership as a valuable opportunity to gain an understanding of different perspectives as well as discuss some of the views expressed in the Secretariat's report.

2.4.  The previous Trade Policy Review of India took place in 2011, a year when the global economic crisis was at its peak. Four years later, the crisis is behind us but uncertainties and challenges continue. While some of the developed countries appear to have got back on the recovery path, growth in many other major economies is still weak.

The Indian economy

2.5.  Against this backdrop, the outlook for India holds out a promise of strong and steady growth. Several factors, both global and domestic, have provided a significant fillip to India's growth, particularly in recent months, such as decline in international oil prices, moderation in inflation and domestic reform initiatives.

2.6.  However, the country faces several challenges. While nearly half the population of the country is still engaged in agriculture for their livelihood, the share of agriculture in total GDP is less than 20%. For the past few years, agricultural incomes in the country have come under severe stress on account of rising input cost and inability of farmers to get reasonable prices for their produce. We also have the challenge of ensuring food security, particularly for the large number of poor in the country. Other challenges are to develop a robust manufacturing base in the country, generate employment for the large numbers joining the work force each year and work on the acute infrastructure deficit. At the same time, the Government also has to maintain fiscal discipline and this calls for a very delicate balancing act. 

New beginnings

2.7.  The last year has been a year of new beginnings. We have charted out a brand new agenda for reform, growth and investment. This is a model of better governance with less government. While the business of the Government will be to keep the Government out of business, we are committed to improving the ease of doing business, simplifying procedures, facilitating industry, trade and business to be efficient and, most importantly, passing on the benefit of the growth process to the common man by creating jobs.

2.8.  There is a new dynamism in the Indian economy. The Government clearly recognizes the critical importance of the manufacturing sector to boost and sustain economic growth by driving mass production and production by the masses. A flagship initiative of the Government is "Make in India" which aims to facilitate investment, foster innovation, create jobs, develop a skilled workforce and develop high quality manufacturing infrastructure. All these FDI reform measures have been consolidated and can be accessed online.

2.9.  To ensure that India's products are of world standard, we have developed a roadmap on measures required to protect consumers, raise the quality of the merchandise produced and enhance India's capacity to manufacture products which can meet the requirements and standards of even the most discerning markets.

2.10.  Similarly, many services sectors have been identified for internal reforms aimed at raising their competitiveness and quality with a view to enhancing India's engagement in international trade in services. We recently hosted a successful Global Exhibition on Services which served as a platform to strengthen our engagement in trade in services and attract FDI inflows into the services sector. This will be an annual event.

2.11.  There is a special emphasis on improvement of physical infrastructure, for which a new National Infrastructure Investment Fund has been set up.

2.12.  We have very liberal Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms across sectors. The FDI limits have been raised in insurance, railways and defence production.

2.13.  A major focus area of our reform agenda is the ease of doing business. An "e-Biz", Government to Business portal has been set up to serve as a one-stop shop for delivery of services to investors and to address the needs of business and industry from inception through the entire life cycle of the business. The portal has a provision to apply and pay online for a list of selected Central Government services, to which we are adding more every day. Several State Governments are also part of this project.

2.14.  A major transformative reform is the Goods and Services Tax (GST) slated to be introduced from the next financial year. The implementation of the GST would remove multiple layers of taxation and make Indian trade and industry more competitive by integrating markets, reducing inflation and the cost of production.

2.15.  We want to foster a culture of innovation, R&D and scientific research in India. As a step in this direction, a corpus fund was created in this year's budget. By taking broadband connectivity to all parts of the country, the Digital India programme will also contribute to making India a knowledge and innovation based society. A Self-Employment and Talent Utilization mechanism and an Innovation Mission have been established to nurture entrepreneurship and innovation.

2.16.  The Annual Budget of the Government of India has delivered on some pressing issues for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), such as providing access to funding and addressing the inverted duty structure in some key segments.

2.17.  India's demographic advantage is well known. The challenge is to provide gainful employment to large numbers being added to the workforce every year, through job creation and skill up gradation. A dedicated Department has been set up to promote skill development and entrepreneurial activities.

2.18.  Along with the challenge of creating jobs, we are mindful of the need for bringing existing labour laws in tune with market demands, while ensuring labour protection and welfare measures.

2.19.  For a large country like India, financial inclusion poses a big challenge. We have an important new programme in place for fostering financial inclusion. This envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household. Over 150 million accounts have been opened under this programme. Better financial inclusion will support initiatives for transfer of benefits directly to people in time.

2.20.  Major reforms have been initiated for improving transparency, efficiency and better enforcement. The recently conducted transparent coal and spectrum auctions are two such examples. 

2.21.  Apart from its transformative economic effect, the GST will bring in greater transparency and enable better administration by removing multiple layers of taxation.

2.22.  India has a three-tiered governance architecture which makes policy formulation and implementation a challenging exercise. To facilitate decentralized and more efficient planning, States have now been made equal partners in nation building in a spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism. To put this into effect, a much larger proportion of Government revenues will now go to the States. We are creating an institutional framework to enable States to play a greater role in promoting trade.

Trade policy

2.23.  We have put in place a new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for the period 2015-20 which seeks to make trade a major contributor to the country's economic growth and development. Its objective is to provide a stable, sustainable and predictable policy environment for trade in merchandise and services. While India's foreign trade policy does keep in view domestic supply concerns, it has rarely been used for this purpose. In fact, it has steadily moved over the years, towards greater liberalization. 

2.24.  The new FTP complements various new initiatives such as "Make in India", "Digital India" and "Skill India". It prepares India to respond to external challenges and to keep in step with a rapidly evolving international trading architecture. Our vision is to make India a significant participant in world trade by the year 2020. The Government aims to boost India's exports of merchandise and services and raise India's share in world exports from 2% to 3.5%. 

2.25.  We are also taking special measures such as outreach programmes and specialized training to help new entrepreneurs and manufacturers to participate in global trade. The FTP has a special focus on trade facilitation and the ease of doing business. Recently, the number of documents required for exports and imports was reduced to three, comparable with international benchmarks. We are also moving ahead in the direction of creating an electronic governance system in which exporters and importers would be able to submit all relevant documents online.

2.26.  India has continued steadily on a path of trade liberalization and is becoming increasingly integrated in the global economy. While growth in both exports and imports slowed down during the review period, imports have been consistently higher than exports, an indicator of the openness of our market. The trade deficit has remained high in these years, reaching a little more than US$190 billion in 2012-13, about 11% of the country's GDP and one of the highest amongst large economies.

2.27.  India's tariff structure reflects the country's continuous efforts in the direction of trade liberalization. As indicated in the Secretariat report, while the average bound MFN rate for all products is 50%, the applied rates are much lower, especially in the case of agricultural goods. The simple average MFN applied tariff is just 13% for all products and 9.5% for non-agricultural products. We have a simple tariff structure, with ad valorem duties on about 94% of our tariff lines. Alternate or specific duties apply to a mere 6% of India's tariff lines.

India and the WTO

2.28.  While the multilateral trading system needs to keep pace with new developments, it is well recognized that there are several asymmetries in the current trade rules which places developing countries at a disadvantage. The G-33 coalition took up one such asymmetry in the Agreement on Agriculture and was able to persuade the WTO Membership to work on this issue. We must aim to achieve a positive outcome at an early date.

2.29.  India is committed to assisting LDCs for their enhanced participation in international trade. We have further expanded our Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for LDCs which was introduced in 2008. It now provides duty free market access on 96% of India's tariff lines and preferential duties on 2.2% of the lines.

2.30.  At the high-level meeting of the WTO Services Council in February this year, India made an offer of preferential treatment to LDCs. This includes waiver of visa fees for LDC applicants seeking Indian business and employment visas, technical assistance and capacity building initiatives and market access commitments. These preferences would remain valid for a period of 15 years from the date of notification by India.

2.31.  In accordance with a commitment made by India in the WTO, we are running a Technical Assistance Programme for the cotton sector in six countries of Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Uganda, Nigeria and Malawi.

2.32.  We are happy to have had the opportunity to serve the training and capacity-building needs of a large number of developing countries in the Asia Pacific region by hosting the WTO's Regional Trade Policy Course for four consecutive years (2011 to 2014).

India in the Evolving Global Trade Architecture

2.33.  The world over, countries seem to be negotiating free trade pacts at a frenetic pace. India too is negotiating seven such agreements including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

2.34.  Mega-regional trading arrangements are new features on the international trading landscape with the potential to bring about enormous changes in world trade dynamics. Notwithstanding these developments, we should maintain the centrality of the WTO in the global commerce and trade architecture. The Doha Round may have run into one obstacle after another but it is in our collective interest to work towards a balanced approach in all pillars, keeping its development dimension intact.

2.35.  Fifteen years ago, India occupied a very small space on the global trade canvas. Today, foreign trade is a significant part of the Indian economy. The trade performance of a country is closely and inextricably linked with its overall economic policies. As various new initiatives of the Government start showing results, India will become more competitive in several product areas which would, in turn, open up better trade prospects.

2.36.  In conclusion, I would like to say that through focused efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges of poverty, unemployment and income inequality, we are confident that India will play an increasingly important role in global trade. A lot has been achieved but we are conscious that more needs to be done. India is a work in progress, an idea whose time has come.

2.37.  I thank all the Members once again for their keen interest in India's Trade Policy Review, and look forward to our interaction over the next two days.

3  STATEMENT BY THE DISCUSSANT

3.1.  The last time I visited India was in 2010. I remember India's imposing structures as well as the country's size and diverse, ever changing landscape. India is one of the most ethnically varied countries in the world. Hindi is the official language and English is widely used; at the same time, there are 24 languages spoken by at least a million or more people, and at least 1,600 known minor languages and dialects. As a Federal Republic, the country is divided into 25 states and seven territories. And these States often vary greatly from one to the next in terms of infrastructure and the amount of revenue they generate for the country overall.

3.2.  In relation to the world, India is increasingly becoming an important trading partner for many WTO Members. In fact, India emerged as the world's 3^rd largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) according to the World Bank's International Comparison Program (ICP) data for 2015. The strengthening of India's economic activity during the period under review has been supported by an accelerating growth where real GDP growth was 6.9% in 2013-14 and estimated to be around 7.4% in 2014-15. India's per capita GDP was around US$1,500 in 2013-14. This achievement had been driven by services and manufacturing while agriculture had expanded much more slowly. While the growth rate has picked up, the inflation rate stood at 5.9% in July to September 2014.

3.3.  India's trade policy objectives are stipulated in its Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), which is issued every five years, but revised periodically to take into account internal and external factors. Through the new 2015-20 FTP, released on 1 April 2015, Prime Minister Modi aims to elevate India as a significant participant in international trade and to raise India's share of global exports to 3.5% by 2020. The focus of the Government is to support both the manufacturing and services sectors driven by the slogan "Make in India" with emphasis on improving the "ease of doing business". While the motivation to progress is mounting, it is just appropriate for us to invite the Indian delegation to tell us more about this programme, starting perhaps with what India intends to make.

3.4.  To put us all into perspective for the current review, allow me to go back to areas that were put forward during the last review. In 2011, Members invited India to consider: (i) revising subsidies in certain sectors; (ii) reductions in agricultural tariffs; (iii) streamlining of SPS and TBT measures on agricultural imports; (iv) removal of restrictions in certain areas of government procurement to Indian goods and services; and (v) continuously increasing use of anti-dumping measures.

3.5.  Let us look at how these issues played out since then.

Subsidies

3.6.  The good exports have played a greater role in contributing to India's recent economic growth than in previous years. The Secretariat report noted efforts taken by India to diversify the sources of its growth, and in particular, to take advantage of more open markets around the world to export more goods. Increasing India's share in global exports remains the main thrust of the Government's trade policy goals. India pushed exports in the past year through a series of new export incentives. Direct or indirect subsidies as reported in the Central Government's Annual Budget amounted to Rs 2,667.0 billion (2.1% of GDP). 

3.7.  The bulk of India's explicit subsidies continue to be aimed at supporting agriculture, food, fertilizers and petroleum such as interest rate subsidies under the Technology Upgradation Scheme for the textile sector. Price controls, which apply to some commodities, including liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, kerosene, and agricultural products, are mainly aimed at providing subsidies to farmers and the population under the poverty line. In 2012, new price controls on drugs were introduced with a view to ensuring availability of "essential medicines". The central Government also allocates funds to subsidize lending interest rates, including for exporters.

3.8.  It would therefore be interesting to know whether India had evaluated the effectiveness of these schemes and given consideration to streamlining its import regime.

Tariffs

3.9.  The Secretariat report indicated that the standard rate of tariff is the statutory duty prescribed in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act. However, the "effective" tariff rate changes, based on general and "end-user" based exemptions which lowers the standard rate for certain users and adjustments made to the tariff through notifications issued in the Gazette of India. The effective rate can therefore vary throughout the year which adds to the complexity of the tariff and uncertainty for traders.

3.10.  The simple average applied MFN tariff in 2014-15 is 13%, up from 12% at the time of the last review (2010-11). While around 75% of the tariff is bound, tariff rates for agricultural products range from 10% to 300%, compared with those for manufactured products with 0% to 150%). The agricultural sector being of critical importance to the Indian economy, both for food security and for gainful employment, is the focus of India's tariff policy on supporting domestic agricultural policy objectives.

3.11.  Members pointed out in the last review that India's tariff structure remains complex. In fact, rates increased during the present review period. With this current state, Members will benefit from having additional information concerning the future course of India's tariff reforms, particularly in terms of simplification and liberalization of its tariff structure, as well as narrowing the difference between applied and bound tariffs.

SPS and TBT

3.12.  During the last review, a number of Members questioned the scientific basis for certain sanitary and phytosanitary measures adopted by India, and pointed out that certain technical standards could constitute a barrier to trade.

3.13.  Since 2011, the main changes to SPS measures in India included the full implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 on 5 August 2011 by way of, inter alia, adoption of four regulations related to Food Additives, Prohibition and Restriction on Sales, Contaminants, Toxins and Residues and Laboratory and Sampling Analysis. The FSSA is intended to increase transparency of the scientific basis upon which India's SPS measures are adopted through, among others, harmonization with international standards. Furthermore, the Secretariat report indicated that India regularly participates in the activities of Codex Alimentarius.

3.14.  It is worth noting that the report also stated that the authorities intend to recognize equivalence of its trading partners' SPS measures based on Codex Guidelines. And when FSSA is framing standards and procedures of an SPS nature, all regulations notified under FSS regulations are sent to the WTO where a total of 60 days is provided to Members for comments on draft notifications.

3.15.  I would like to invite the Indian delegation to provide an update on the process for harmonizing its food standards with international standards.

Transparency and openness

3.16.  During the last review, many Members lauded India's decision to participate as an observer to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and encouraged India to consider becoming a full Member. However, Members also noted in the last review that India restricted certain areas of government procurement to Indian goods and services.

3.17.  As a response, India began the process of formulating a comprehensive government procurement legislation that is applicable to all parts of the central Government; of which the legislation is also intended to accommodate requirements of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. In 2012, all ministries and departments of the central government use an e‑procurement system to publish all tender enquiries. However, in 2012, the Department of Telecommunications issued a notification concerning its policy for according preference to domestically-manufactured telecom products in procurement due to security considerations.  I believe this is something that Members would appreciate to know why this is the case.

3.18.  In terms of FDI, India has also adopted measures to attract investments gradually increasing the number of sectors in which FDI is permitted and reducing sectoral restrictions. Since its last review, India has continued to liberalize its investment policies, including raising foreign‑ownership limits in some sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, insurance and railway transport. I am sure Members welcomed these developments.

Anti-dumping measures

3.19.  India is one of the most active users of anti-dumping measures among WTO Members having initiated more than 82 anti-dumping investigations against 23 trading partners during the period under review. At the same time, India is a major victim of anti-dumping actions. Anti‑dumping measures nevertheless appear to be a double-edged sword since the domestic use of these measures is levied on top of tariffs that are already high thereby undoing the liberalization by previous tariff reductions.

3.20.  Nonetheless, during the same period, significant changes were made to India's anti‑dumping legislation including new rules of defining situations that are considered to represent the circumvention of anti-dumping duties, and providing for anti-dumping investigations to address such circumvention. India initiated one countervailing investigation during the period, but no definitive countervailing measure is in place.

3.21.  Once again, I believe that Members would be interested to know how the modifications on the legislation on anti-dumping addressed India's concerns.

3.22.  Overall, India had rolled impressive improvements in many areas. India is a willing reformer, but appears to be confronted sometimes by domestic challenges to change. As noted in the Secretariat's report, India's trade policy is largely driven by domestic supply considerations and also intended to attain short-term objectives, such as containing fluctuations in commodity prices. At the same time, market access remains impeded in areas of major export interest. In conclusion, I would like to invite India to expound some more on how its current regime is increasing the country's openness to trade and dedication to combat the aforementioned challenges.

3.23.  Looking back, India and its people have made a lasting impression on me. I will always remember the extraordinary places of India with its ancient cultures, religions, monuments, including the fashion and film industries of Bollywood – all things great and small that add up to what we call an "Incredible India".  

3.24.  Finally, I would like to thank Her Excellency Ambassador Anjali Prasad for the opportunity of knowing and looking at India from a new perspective, this time through the prism of "Make in India".

4  STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

MALAYSIA ON BEHALF OF ASEAN

4.1.  ASEAN and India formally became dialogue partners 20 years ago and since then, trade and investment between ASEAN and India have grown exponentially, expanding more than twenty-fold to reach US$67.86 billion in 2013. Foreign direct investment net inflows from India to ASEAN amounted to US$1.3 billion in 2013. With a combined population of 1.97 billion between ASEAN and India, as well as robust GDP growth, it is certainly a mutually beneficial partnership for both ASEAN and India.

4.2.  We therefore applaud India's commitment in pursuing a modern, comprehensive and high-quality trade agreement with ASEAN and five other Dialogue Partners in the region with its participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. We believe that the RCEP will broaden current engagement that has already been achieved through the existing ASEAN+1 FTAs.

4.3.  ASEAN also welcomes the signing of ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreement on 9 September 2014. We hope the Agreement which is expected to come into force on 15 July 2015 would create not only further market opportunity but also strengthens our position in the global value chain.

4.4.  ASEAN appreciates that India continues to be an active participant in the multilateral trading system and assumes a key role in the DDA negotiations. We look forward to working closely with India to ensure deliverables ahead of the 10^th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, which would contribute towards our efforts in concluding the DDA. ASEAN also commends India's trade facilitation measures which are being introduced to make export and import competitive and reduce transaction costs. Based on these developments, ASEAN hopes that India will submit her notification of Category A of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and thereafter expedite the ratification process.

4.5.  Some of us in ASEAN have submitted written questions to the delegation of India and would like to thank India in advance for their written responses. In conclusion, on behalf of ASEAN member States, we would like to express our appreciation to India, in particular Ambassador Anjali Prasad and her delegation for their constructive engagement with delegations in Geneva.

MALAYSIA

4.6.  We take note of India's recent initiative to become a significant participant in international trade and to raise its share of global exports to 3.5% by 2020 through the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for 2015-2020. The Trade Facilitation (TF) and ease of doing business (EODB) features and the streamlining incentives would certainly elevate India's trade performance. We also monitor with interest India's initiative to reduce the export incentive schemes and the phasing out its export subsidy commitment.

4.7.  India has traditionally been a close economic partner of Malaysia. In 2014, India was Malaysia's 11^th largest trading partner, the 8^th largest export destination and 13^th largest import source. Our bilateral trade increased by 6.9% to reach US$13.84 billion compared to US$12.88 billion in 2013. Bilateral investment flows also continue to improve. As of 2014, 120 manufacturing projects with Indian participation were implemented with total investment of US$1.2 billion.

4.8.  The Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA) as well as the ASEAN-India Agreement on Trade in Goods and Services are another milestone of Malaysia-India economic relations. The FTAs have been instrumental in boosting trade flows between the two countries and supporting our business communities. The built-in review process demonstrates our shared commitment to continually improve the quality of our bilateral FTA and adapt to changing business demands, so as to enable our companies to better benefit from market access opportunities with reduced business costs. Both countries are also negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) under the ASEAN plus 6 initiative which makes up 45% of the world population and contributes towards a third of the worlds' total GDP.

4.9.  While Malaysia welcomes the trade initiatives and further liberalization undertaken unilaterally by India over the review period, we are also concerned that a number of protectionist-like policy tools are still in place, such as customs restrictions and trade remedies that could be regarded as barriers to trade. Thus, we encourage India to review these measures holistically so as to enhance its exporters' competitiveness while synchronizing its approach towards imports from broader policy perspective.

CHINA

4.10.  India is an original Member of the WTO and has been a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system and an active participant in the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, vigorously pushing forward the development objectives, with an aim to establish a more fair and equitable international trading system. It is worth noting that despite of its own development challenges, India has been providing duty free and quota free treatment to the LDCs, which we believe is highly commendable.

4.11.  We are pleased to see that the India's economy has been growing robustly in recent years and the benefit of such growth process has been passed to the whole society and all the people. This is no easy task given the fact that since the last Review in 2011, the Indian economy has weathered quite a number of challenges amid the global economic slowdown.

4.12.  We commend India for its efforts in taking a range of reform initiatives to enhance the overall growth and trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. This is testified by the introduction of self-assessment in Customs procedures, the elimination of state-trading requirements for some agricultural products and price controls on diesel etc. China welcomes the measures taken by India to attract FDI, including recent initiatives such as "make in India" and raising foreign-ownership caps in such sectors as insurance and railway transport.

4.13.  In this regard, India's two-way merchandise trade reached US$760 billion in 2013-14, taking up 44.1% of the GDP. Trade is playing a significant role in India's economic development, with an ultimate objective to reap the benefits of international trade to meet the development needs of the country. 

4.14.  As two largest developing countries, China and India support each other's growth and development processes and have been strategic and cooperative partners. China is the largest trading partner of India and India is China's top trading partner in the South Asia. During the review period, bilateral economic and trade cooperation continued to develop in a rapid and sound manner, with rapid increase in two-way trade and investment flows. Last month, during Indian Prime Minister's visit to China, business agreements worth US$22 billion were signed between the two sides, mainly focusing on infrastructure, which will further consolidate our bilateral economic and trade cooperation. It was agreed that both sides would take necessary measures to remove impediments to bilateral trade and investment, facilitate greater market access to each other's economies, and further strengthen the trade and investment exchanges.

4.15.  With rapid growth of economic cooperation, it is also true that there are concerns from our business communities which we need to pay sufficient attention to and handle in a friendly manner. Those include frequent use of anti-dumping measures, complex import regime and strict security reviews on the importing of foreign telecommunication equipment and application in the infrastructure projects of harbour, communication and airport. We earnestly hope that India could exercise due restrains and enhance transparency and predictability in this regard.

4.16.  This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the WTO. China is looking forward to working hard with India and other WTO Members to complete the Post-Bali Working Programme on time and contribute to the conclusion of the Doha Round soonest possible.

4.17.  We thank the Indian delegation for their reply to China's written questions, which we will go through carefully.

AUSTRALIA

4.18.  India is an important economic partner for Australia. Our bilateral relationship is solid, underpinned by shared values, growing people-to-people links and the complementarity of our economies. Two-way Prime Ministerial visits last year demonstrate the commitment we share to strengthening links between our two countries.

4.19.  India is Australia's 12^th largest two-way trading partner and our seventh largest export market. Equating to nearly $15 billion in 2013-14, our trade was dominated by resources and energy, which is helping to drive India's economic growth. Services trade was also strong, particularly in education, with India now Australia's second largest source country for overseas students. We are confident our bilateral trading relationship still has enormous upside potential given it is currently around one-tenth of two-way trade between Australia and China.

4.20.  Australia is seeking a high quality, mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with India by the end of this year. As we enter a new era of two-way investment and business engagement, a high-quality and mutually beneficial CECA will lay the ground for more growth, more jobs and greater prosperity in our countries. Australia is also pleased to be working constructively with India and other to advance regional economic integration through negotiations toward the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

4.21.  Australia is paying close attention to the Indian government's economic reform agenda. We welcome the steps that have been taken to modernize India's economy, particularly in the areas of foreign investment, ease of doing business and project approvals. We encourage India to continue down the path of economic and trade policy reform, which will pave the way for benefits flowing from productivity gains, increased competitiveness and further integration. In particular, we applaud India's decision last year to implement market pricing reforms for fuel. On trade facilitation, we look forward to the timely submission of India's Category A notification and encourage India to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement as soon as is possible.

4.22.  Members will be aware Australia has raised the issue of India's provision of export subsidies on sugar in the Committee on Agriculture on a number of occasions. We remain concerned that India's sugar rules appear inconsistent with India's obligations under the Agreement on Agriculture and are distorting the international sugar market. India has advised it has not yet made any payments under the export subsidy programme. If this is the case, it should be relatively straightforward for India to terminate this programme. We would urge India to revisit this issue.

4.23.  Australia has also registered concerns regarding India's notifications on domestic support and its market price support programmes. We are concerned that the methodology used underestimates India's domestic support expenditure. Also of concern is the timeliness of notifications from India on agriculture which is in contrast to the transparent and open information the Government of India makes available online and domestically.

4.24.  India is one of the most influential Members of the WTO. It plays a crucial role as our discussions, frequently championing the cause of poorer WTO Members. At the same time, India has become a global economic power, and a major influence in global markets for a range of agricultural products. India's policy settings have the capacity to enhance and to undermine opportunities for other developing countries.

4.25.  Australia welcomes the high quality commitments India foreshadowed at the recent High‑Level Meeting on the LDC Services Waiver, which testify to India's capacity and commitment to supporting the participation of the poorest countries in global trade. Australia acknowledges India's fundamental right to work towards improving the position of its poor. At the same time, Australia would welcome an ongoing consciousness in India of the impact of its policies on other WTO Members, particularly in agriculture, which is so crucial to the prospects for developing least‑developed countries.

MÉXICO

4.26.  Mientras muchos países están lidiando con bajas tasas de crecimiento, India está caminando en dirección opuesta. Según datos del FMI, su tasa de crecimiento se situará en 7,2% y 7,5% para el próximo año, posicionándose como la economía del G-20 con el crecimiento más acelerado del mundo.

4.27.  De acuerdo con el propio FMI, en 2019, el tamaño real de su economía se habrá duplicado comparándola con 2009, esto es en tan solo 10 años. Para ese mismo año, el PIB de India superará al de Japón y Alemania juntos y su producción también será mayor a la de Rusia, Brasil e Indonesia juntos, lo que claramente refleja el peso, impacto y responsabilidad de India en la economía mundial.

4.28.  En cuanto a servicios, estos representan más de la mitad de su PIB, el 35% de sus exportaciones y más del 50% de su captación de IED. México ve con agrado las modificaciones reglamentarias implementadas en este sector, como el programa para el establecimiento de filiales bancarias, el aumento del límite de la IED a 49% en el sector de los seguros y la adopción de la Política Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, así como la reducción de barreras a la inversión extranjera directa, en telecomunicaciones, aviación civil, ferrocarriles, defensa y construcción.

4.29.  Desde el último examen, India ha implementado acertadas medidas para facilitar el comercio, entre ellas la simplificación de procedimientos administrativos, la reducción de documentos para exportar, la instauración de la autoevaluación en los procedimientos aduaneros, la implementación del portal de comercio y el proyecto "E-Biz" para atender las necesidades de inversores y empresas. En este sentido, hacemos un llamado a India para que presente a la brevedad su notificación de las medidas de categoría A bajo el Acuerdo sobre Facilitación del Comercio.

4.30.  En materia agrícola, India debe enfocarse en la baja productividad de su sector, el cual es el principal destino de sus subvenciones, las cuales se concentran en programas de sostenimiento de precios, los más distorsionadores del comercio y la producción. Sobre todo, consideramos debe prestar atención a la complejidad de su régimen de importación y a su estructura arancelaria, donde el arancel promedio aplicado a los productos agrícolas es de 33,5%, más del triple que para productos no agrícolas (10,2%).Los aranceles consolidados son a su vez el triple de los aplicados.

4.31.  Aunado a lo anterior, casi todas las importaciones están sujetas al pago de diversos gravámenes y derechos adicionales, lo que tiene como consecuencia que el promedio global de aranceles aplicados aumente del 13% al 28%. Esta variabilidad crea incertidumbre y podría representar un obstáculo al comercio.

4.32.  Además de los desafíos en el sector agrícola, India debe enfrentarse con presteza a los siguientes retos:

·             Gran parte del progreso de India se debe al crecimiento de su población ya que anualmente más de 12 millones de personas entran al mercado laboral. Se espera que en 2030 cuente con la mayor fuerza de trabajo en el mundo. Sin embargo, India cuenta con complejas leyes laborales, las que debería simplificar así como  reducir las barreras al empleo formal e invertir en el sistema educativo. 

·             Por la naturaleza propia de su geografía, las necesidades de infraestructura son cada vez más evidentes. Es crítico que la India aumente el gasto dirigido a la infraestructura para promover la actividad económica y que agilice los procedimientos para la aprobación de proyectos de inversión.

·             Sería necesario simplificar el entorno empresarial, reduciendo las cargas administrativas y regulatorias y aumentando la previsibilidad de los regímenes de comercio e inversión. En particular, debe prestar especial atención a los complejos y largos procedimientos para adquirir tierras y para la creación de empresas, los que dificultan la iniciativa empresarial, la inversión y el crecimiento.

4.33.  De acuerdo con la Secretaría de la OMC, la contribución del sector manufacturero disminuyó al 13% del PIB. Con la promoción de la inversión extranjera y la reducción de barreras, India podría impulsar su crecimiento industrial y manufacturero, algo imprescindible debido al elevado número de personas que se incorporan a la población activa cada año, a la limitada capacidad del sector de los servicios para absorber la mano de obra poco calificada y a la saturación en la capacidad de absorción de la agricultura. 

4.34.  Antes de concluir, queremos agradecer las respuestas de India a nuestras preguntas y citar un proverbio indio que dice que "la más larga caminata comienza con un paso". México está convencido que aunque aún hay un largo camino por recorrer, India está avanzando con pasos firmes y constantes en la dirección correcta.

SWITZERLAND

4.35.  The strengthening of India's economic growth in recent years is a very welcome development. We congratulate India on this success in a challenging environment.

4.36.  A range of measures have been taken by India's new Government aimed at contributing to enhanced growth. As examples, we would like to mention the introduction of an e-business portal and the liberalization of some sectors for FDI. We would like to commend such steps and encourage India to pursue on its path towards greater openness of its economy.

4.37.  Today, India is Switzerland's most important trading partner in South Asia and third largest trading partner in Asia. In 2015, our bilateral trade in goods reached 21 billion Swiss francs and bilateral economic relations continue to be expanded.

4.38.  Switzerland is also the 10th largest foreign direct investor in India. Today, some 200 joint ventures and subsidiaries of Swiss companies are operating in India in fields such as engineering and industrial equipment, services (such as tourism, finance, and logistics), precision instruments, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Swiss companies employ a workforce of roughly 100'000 persons in India.

4.39.  We are pleased to observe an increase of Indian direct investments in Switzerland in recent years. Today, more than 100 Indian companies are present in Switzerland, among which many active in ICT and life sciences sectors.

4.40.  The potential to further increase our bilateral economic exchanges remains, however, important. In this context, Switzerland, together with its EFTA partners, is engaged in free trade negotiations with India.

4.41.  On the occasion of this TPR, Switzerland has raised a range of topics in its written questions. Let me highlight the following issues:

4.42.  Switzerland welcomes recent improvements of India's Intellectual Property System. However, considerable degrees of legal uncertainty persist, notably when it comes to protect test data submitted for regulatory approval of pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals against disclosure and reliance by third parties. We would like to recall the obligation to protect test data against unfair commercial use pursuant to Article 39.3 TRIPS. Adequate protection of intellectual property and effective mechanisms for enforcement are in our view essential to attract and expand knowledge-based and innovative industries in India.

4.43.  India's subsidies reforms are promising. Switzerland in particular welcomes the reforms in fossil fuels subsidies. These changes do not only lead to a more efficient use of public funds but also support important climate change objectives. We encourage India to pursue its subsidies reforms in support of sustainable growth.

4.44.  A considerable source of uncertainty for traders are India's varying tariffs, duties, taxes and other charges. Simplifying this complex system would have positive effects on trade and investment.

4.45.  Finally, let me recall that WTO is faced with critical challenges this year. Will Members be able to implement the TF-Agreement? Will they succeed in moving the Doha round towards conclusion? We look to India, in particular as one of the key players in this house, to help making the Ministerial Conference in Nairobi a success.

CANADA

4.46.  I thank Mr. Rajeev Kher, India's Commerce Secretary, and join others in commending India for its recent economic performance as reflected in positive ratings provided by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. This fact was in evidence during Prime Minister Modi's recent visit to Canada, during which our business community expressed strong interest in mutual cooperation and expanding trade and investment.

4.47.  Noteworthy changes have included India's recent regulatory reforms to its investment policy, again as noted in the Chair's introduction.

4.48.  I would add, however, that India has also pursued a number of policies that still call into question its support for open markets and international trade. These include a relatively complex tariff structure, unpredictable rules favouring domestic supply, and – notwithstanding increased efforts to enhance infrastructure – structural bottlenecks that continue to impose limitations for importers and exporters alike. The new Foreign Trade Policy of India should highlight more that imports are crucial for the development and expansion of India's manufacturing sector and thus to overall economic development.

4.49.  Admittedly, India's continued development depends on its capacity to address challenges stemming from social and economic inequality. While India's average annual per capita income was just under US$1,200 in 2013 – placing it among the poorest of the world's middle-income countries – it varied state-by-state: from almost US$3,500 in Delhi to just under US$600 in Uttar Pradesh, a State with a population almost the same as Brazil, and more than five and a half times the population of Canada.

4.50.  Regarding India's infrastructure deficit, currently valued at almost US$1 trillion, bilateral investment treaties can help facilitate opportunities for further participation by foreign business in this area. Of note, Canada and India are currently in the final stage of negotiating process of finalizing their Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Canada is seeking an agreement which will provide greater assurance for investors, enhanced predictability and a favourable environment for further Canadian investment opportunities in India. We are concerned that India has lower ambition in this regard and is unwilling to conclude an agreement with adequate investment protection standards. Canada takes this opportunity to encourage India to resolve to conclude an ambitious outcome in the negotiations and, in so doing, send the needed positive signal to investors.

4.51.  A further area for improvement resides in better investment in health care and education for India to meet its economic and social development goals. The World Bank notes that less than 10% of India's working-age population has completed a secondary education, and the country is home to 40% of the world's malnourished children. While India has demonstrated its commitment to robust investment in this area, real incentives and the opportunity for further participation by foreign providers will be crucial.

4.52.  We recognize the importance of India in global agriculture and the continuing central role of agriculture in India's economy and society. We, of course, do not take issue with the Government's policy objectives: to promote domestic production, increase agri-investment, improve productivity and sustainable agriculture, and enhance value –added production. The Government also seeks to promote the use of modern technologies such as bulk handling, cold chain storage and efficient transportation. But as Secretary Kher noted, while almost half of India's population is engaged in agriculture, the sector only contributes 20% of the GDP. Thus, future growth is contingent on increasing agricultural productivity and efficiency to ensure reasonable returns and food security. Improved investment in this area is needed and a pragmatic approach to foreign investment in this sector could be a "win-win".

4.53.  Canada appreciates India's recent efforts to improve its notification record under the WTO Committee on Agriculture. In particular, we are grateful for India's submission in September 2014 of a domestic support notification covering the years 2004 to 2010, which has allowed Members to monitor more effectively the evolution of India's agricultural domestic support. In view of India's role as a leading global producer, importer, exporter and subsidizer of agricultural products, Canada would strongly encourage India to make further efforts to bring its notifications fully up to date as Australia has already said.

4.54.  We note that mainly due to increases in agricultural tariffs as Ambassador Conejos said, the simple average applied MFN tariff has in fact increased since the last Review. Of particular concern to Canada are increases in tariffs for cereals, and preparations thereof, oilseeds and fats. We encourage India to reconsider these tariff increases.

4.55.  Regarding India's bilateral and plurilateral trade policy agenda, India is currently negotiating FTAs with many partners. High quality trade and investment agreements can contribute to India's economic development, and improve its capacity to resolve a range of ongoing economic issues. We encourage India to further engage not only in bilateral and regional initiatives, but equally multilateral trade negotiations to further expand international opportunities for India's exporters, importers, and consumers. We look forward to India's positive engagement on concluding our work programme on the remaining Doha Round issues.

4.56.  Finally, returning to the overall business environment, notwithstanding the current Government's efforts we have seen limited improvements. Though its ranking and overall score on the corruption perception index has markedly improved, it remains an ongoing issue in the market. India's rank on the "Ease of Doing Business Index" remains low and is reflected in the relatively slow pace of Canadian firms taking advantage of the opportunities available in the country. We hope that measures such as the recent reduction in business registration fees, reforms aimed at protecting minority investors, and, in particular, the recent reduction of the time it takes to obtain construction permits signal further improvements to come. The eventual approval of the long-pending Goods and Services Tax Bill would be a positive sign that such improvements will happen. 

4.57.  We prepared a series of questions and we are studying India's responses. We wish the Indian delegation success with this trade policy review.

HONG KONG, CHINA

4.58.  Hong Kong, China (HKC)'s close relationship with India has a long history. It dates back to the 1840s, when our city started being home to many Indian families. Over the years, members of the Indian community have made significant contributions to Hong Kong's economic and social development, and have helped us establish important institutions like our first university.

4.59.  Today, India is Hong Kong's 7th largest trading partner. Our bilateral trade has grown at an average annual rate of 7% between 2010 and 2014, reaching US$24.5 billion last year. 

4.60.  India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. HKC, as a long-time friend and trading partner, looks forward to fostering even closer and more dynamic trade and economic relations between the two economies.

4.61.  India itself also has an ambitious Foreign Trade Policy. The one in April this year, for instance, aimed at making India a significant participant in world trade by 2020. We encourage India to keep its trade environment stable and transparent, and its import and export policy regime simple and predictable, as we believe these are crucial to achieving its trade policy objectives.

4.62.  We are pleased to note that since the last review, India has adopted a self-assessment system and a risk management system to improve its customs procedures. Currently, around 80% of the consignments are cleared without intervention by Customs. We commend India's efforts and initiatives in facilitating trade and encourage India to continue its efforts in this aspect. As Members look forward to the Trade Facilitation Agreement coming into force by MC10, we hope very soon India can also join us in filing its Category A notification and ratifying the Agreement.

4.63.  We note with concern, however, that India is one of the most active users of anti-dumping (AD) measures among WTO Members. Being also a target of AD actions, India would probably be well aware of the negative impact of the trade remedy measure on the exporting economy. While we respect Members' legitimate rights in this regard, we encourage India to exercise caution and due restraint, and to conduct thorough reviews to ensure that measures are taken only if they are fully justified and not used for protectionist purpose.

4.64.  Since 2011, India's average MFN tariff for non-agricultural products had increased from 8.9% to 9.5%. Those for agricultural products are substantially higher, at 36.4%. The considerable gap between applied and bound rates means that further increase is possible. Moreover, the tariff regime remains complex. Importers are required to pay an additional duty and a special additional duty. We encourage India to lower its applied tariff rates, enhance tariff predictability, and simplify its tariff regime.

4.65.  Regarding agricultural products, apart from the high tariff protection, there are also price support schemes. Indeed, most central government subsidies are for agriculture. India has also initiated a new support scheme through the National Food Security Act 2013 aiming to provide food grains procured by the Government at subsidized prices to around two-thirds of the population.

4.66.  While recognizing that the agricultural sector, which accounts for around 56% of India's total workforce, is critical for achieving India's policy objectives of food security and price stability, we encourage India to step up its efforts in liberalizing its agricultural sector. We also encourage India, as a key player in agriculture negotiations, to help advance the negotiation process and secure a fruitful outcome.

4.67.  The services sector, as the main driver of economic growth, accounts for more than half of India's GDP. To promote further liberalization, the Indian Government has undertaken regulatory changes, such as raising foreign equity limit in insurance to 49% and allowing foreign direct investment in certain railway transportation services. We welcome these initiatives, and encourage India to further review its restrictive market-access conditions, with a view to removing the limits on foreign ownership.

4.68.  Finally, I would like to thank India for its response to our written questions. I would also like to commend the very capable and dedicated Ambassador, Ms Anjali Prasad for her active participation in the WTO and her readiness to engage in constructive dialogues. We look to India to contribute to successful outcomes at MC10 in the Doha Round negotiations.

COLOMBIA

4.69.  Para el período del examen la economía de India ha tenido un acelerado crecimiento económico, alcanzando tasas del 7% de crecimiento promedio. Este ha sido impulsado principalmente por el sector servicios que entre el 2011 y el 2014 aumentó su participación en el PIB del 54,6% al 57%, destacándose especialmente las exportaciones de servicios informáticos, de telecomunicaciones y otros servicios prestados a las empresas. 

4.70.  A pesar de los buenos resultados en los indicadores económicos, así como los esfuerzos de la India para mejorar su competitividad y posicionarse como un gran exportador mundial, aun se perciben problemas estructurales, y una alta intervención gubernamental y protección de la oferta interna que generan un ambiente comercial complejo y difícil de predecir para los agentes económicos. 

4.71.  El informe recoge, entre otros factores, el uso recurrente de medidas comerciales como subvenciones, impuestos a las exportaciones, precios mínimos de exportación, licencias a la importación y ajustes en sus aranceles. Sobre este punto, es motivo de preocupación para nuestro país el anuncio reiterado del Gobierno Indio del otorgamiento de subvenciones a la exportación para el sector azucarero, que va en contravía de los compromisos adquiridos por nuestros países en la reunión Ministerial de Bali.

4.72.  En materia de comercio exterior, tal como lo indica el informe de la Secretaría General, las exportaciones crecieron en un 25% para el período del examen y han estado compuestas principalmente por petróleo y minerales, piedras y metales preciosos, textiles y productos químicos. Las importaciones por su parte crecieron un 22% y se puede apreciar una alta concentración de las compras igualmente de petróleo y minerales que alcanzan el 42,3% del total.

4.73.  La reciente caída en el precio internacional del petróleo ha ayudado a cumplir las metas de inflación. Sin embargo, hay que tener en cuenta que la inestabilidad en los precios puede traer repercusiones a futuro dado el peso significativo dentro de sus importaciones.

4.74.  En materia de atracción de inversión extranjera directa, resaltamos que India ha venido liberalizando sus políticas de inversión con resultados importantes, pues ha alcanzado promedios de inversión de 38.000 millones de dólares EE.UU. A pesar de lo anterior, los procesos de registro empresarial y de licencias son largos y complejos. Tomamos nota de programas como la ventanilla única de registro "eBiz" y "Make in India" que apuntan a corregir lo anterior.

4.75.  Estos programas, sumados a otras iniciativas como "Digital India" y "Skills India", las mejoras en la productividad agropecuaria, las formación para la creciente población laboral y la mejor orientación de la intervención económica estatal, facilitará cumplir las metas de crecimiento sostenido entre el 7%-8% para los próximos años. Se espera también que aumentará la participación del sector manufacturero dentro del PIB con una mano de obra más capacitada.

4.76.  En cuanto a procedimientos y requisitos aduaneros, notamos que India ha venido realizando importantes esfuerzos para su racionalización, mediante la adopción de la autoliquidación para facilitar el comercio y el sistema de gestión de riesgos. Dado el destacado papel de India durante las negociaciones del Acuerdo de Facilitación del Comercio, confiamos en el pronto envío de su notificación de Categoría A y de su instrumento de ratificación.

4.77.  Abonamos a su vez los esfuerzos que ha venido realizando la India en materia de propiedad intelectual mediante mejoras en la administración y observancia. Resaltamos también las mejoras normativas en materia de contratación pública para hacer un sistema más centralizado y acorde a las prescripciones del Acuerdo de Contratación Pública de la OMC del cual es observador.

4.78.  Reconocemos el papel de la India en la OMC y esperamos seguir contando con su iniciativa y contribuciones para hacer viable la culminación de las negociaciones de la Ronda Doha. Éstas requieren del liderazgo de las principales economías del mundo, buscando un sistema multilateral del comercio más robusto y el desarrollo de un mercado global más competitivo y equilibrado.

4.79.  Finalmente, le deseamos a la distinguida delegación de la India muchos éxitos en el desarrollo de éste examen de su política comercial y agradecemos la respuesta a las preguntas formuladas por nuestro país.

ARGENTINA

4.80.  La India, como Miembro fundador de la OMC, está fuertemente comprometida con el sistema multilateral de comercio. Nos complace constatar que durante el período objeto de revisión la India continuó realizando esfuerzos y reformas estructurales para liberalizar y facilitar el comercio.

4.81.  La economía india es una de las de mayor crecimiento en el mundo. El crecimiento económico se ha acelerado en los últimos años. En 2013-2014, el PBI real se incrementó 6,9% y para 2014-2015 se estima que el incremento será alrededor del 7,4%. Este crecimiento económico está impulsado por el sector de los servicios que representa más de la mitad del PBI de la India.

4.82.  El déficit de la cuenta corriente ha decrecido significativamente en los últimos años llegando a 1,7% del PBI en 2013-2014. Ello se explica por la reducción del déficit del comercio de mercancías y por el aumento del superávit del comercio de servicios que en 2013-2014 fue de 3,9% del PBI.

4.83.  Desde la última revisión, la India ha continuado liberalizando sus políticas de inversión, incrementando el número de sectores en los cuales se permite la IED, reduciendo las restricciones sectoriales y elevando los límites de participación extranjera en algunos sectores como seguros y transporte ferroviario. También ha proseguido con la simplificación de los procedimientos aduaneros.

4.84.  En cuanto a la estructura arancelaria, en el período 2014-2015, el arancel NMF promedio simple se incrementó a 13%, en tanto en 2010-2011 era del 12%. Ello se debió a un incremento en los aranceles agrícolas. El arancel promedio para productos agrícolas, que es 36,4%, es considerablemente más alto que el arancel promedio para productos no agrícolas (9,5%). Los aranceles consolidados son más altos que los aranceles aplicados, especialmente para muchos productos agrícolas. A ello hay que agregar que el sector agrícola es el destinatario de la mayoría de los subsidios gubernamentales.

4.85.  Si bien la India es un firme defensor del sistema multilateral de comercio, los acuerdos de libre comercio son un elemento importante para mejorar el acceso de sus exportaciones a otros mercados y actualmente tiene 15 acuerdos en vigor, incluido el acuerdo con Mercosur que entró en vigor en 2009.

4.86.  La relación bilateral entre la Argentina y la India se ha caracterizado por la existencia de vínculos amistosos y de objetivos convergentes en muchas esferas. El comercio bilateral ha registrado un fuerte incremento en los últimos quince años, alcanzando en 2014 los 2.618 millones de dólares EE.UU. El saldo del comercio bilateral registró un superávit para la Argentina de 1.222 millones de dólares EE.UU., totalizando exportaciones por 1.920 millones de dólares EE.UU. e importaciones por 698 millones de dólares EE.UU.

4.87.  Entre los productos exportados a la India en el año 2014, se pueden mencionar los siguientes: aceite de soja (72,6%); aceites crudos de petróleo (10,7%) y minerales de cobre y sus concentrados (5%). Estos tres productos representan el 88,3% del total de las exportaciones argentinas de ese año. Las importaciones argentinas desde la India se encuentran más diversificadas. Los cinco primeros productos son: motocicletas, productos laminados planos de hierro, cajas de cambio para vehículos, hilados texturizados de poliéster y colorantes ácidos.

4.88.  Sin duda hay margen para que el comercio bilateral siga incrementándose y ambos países trabajan para conseguirlo. En ese sentido, destacamos que en noviembre de 2014, el Gobierno indio abrió el mercado para peras, manzanas y membrillos de origen argentino y que en diciembre de 2014 otorgó la primera licencia para importar manzanas provenientes de la Argentina.

4.89.  La India y la Argentina comparten numerosos intereses en el ámbito multilateral y, en particular, en la OMC. Confiamos en seguir trabajando junto a la India en favor de un sistema multilateral abierto y basado en reglas.

4.90.  Agradecemos las respuestas de la India a nuestras preguntas.

UNITED STATES

4.91.  India is an increasingly important trading partner for the United States with two-way trade recently crossing the US$100 billion threshold and an important expansion of two-way investment. As President Obama highlighted during his visit to India in January, our bilateral relationship with India is a "defining partnership of the 21st century". We see our economic relationship, including here at the WTO, as a priority in this partnership. As evidenced by the rapid expansion of India's trade with the United States and many other WTO Members, India's role as a leader within this institution is increasingly important, with ever increasing responsibility. 

4.92.  We have seen a positive recognition from the Indian Government that it can do more to attract foreign investment, and we are encouraged by a number of reforms being pursued with respect to taxes, land acquisition, and labour. There are encouraging signs that positive trade‑specific reforms may be contemplated, including the drafting of the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy and recent public statements by Prime Minister Modi calling for a stronger IPR regime. 

4.93.  We are also pleased that in March, the Indian Parliament passed a bill increasing the limit on foreign investment in the insurance sector. And in April, India published its new 5-year foreign trade policy, announcing new programmes aimed specifically at implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. In light of India's very direct role in shaping the TFA, we look forward to hearing India's plans to complete timely ratification of the TFA and also to submit its Category A notifications.

4.94.  The United States invites India to consider how additional steps to open the country's trading regime can help India harness the benefits of trade to drive up investment and create jobs. This would include significant, long-term reductions in agricultural tariffs, and removal of unjustifiable SPS and TBT impediments on agricultural imports, both of which can help address food price inflation; opening the retail sector and the e-commerce sector to increased foreign participation, which can contribute to improving supply chains and greatly reducing food wastage; and avoiding recourse to export restrictions, minimum export prices, and other measures that tend to exacerbate the problems associated with global supply.

4.95.  Indeed, the critical role played by India's ongoing economic reforms and market-opening measures in fostering inclusive growth, including in fields such as information and communications technology, is well documented. It is therefore disappointing to see recent actions taken by certain entities in the government that appear to chart a different course. For example, India has already adopted or is considering adopting policies that require private entities to source a significant amount of their purchases from manufacturers in India, as in the case of retail policies, or that require conformity assessment to take place only in India, as in the case of information and communications technology policies. India also maintains trade-distorting export incentives on manufactured goods in sectors where India is export competitive, like textiles and apparel. Maintaining these types of initiatives tends to evoke comparisons to trade-restrictive policies pursued in previous, poorly-performing periods of India's economic development, a trajectory we believe India wants to move away from.

4.96.  The agriculture sector in India remains closed to many foreign products. Where exceedingly high tariffs do not make importation prohibitive, they foster an unpredictable trading environment inasmuch as India can change the applied tariff rates at a moment's notice. Furthermore, products often face obstacles in the form of SPS and TBT measures that appear to have no scientific or other justifiable basis under the WTO Agreements. India also provides a broad range of assistance to its agricultural sector, including credit subsidies, debt forgiveness, and subsidies for inputs. These subsidies lower the cost of production for India's producers, and have the potential to distort the market. In addition, agricultural producers of 24 products benefit from the Government programme to purchase food products from farmers at minimum support prices. These policies distort domestic market prices and incentivize the over-production of rice and wheat. Given the increasing concerns with food price inflation, and the growing needs of India's food processing industries, India's agricultural trade policy continues to do a disservice to consumers and producers in India.

4.97.  India's economic growth continues to be led by its dynamic services sector. As one of the leading benefactors among WTO Members of access to services markets around the world, India is in a unique position to lead by example by adopting polices that create an open regime for services trade and investment. Yet, key sectors of India's own services market continue to remain closed or subject to significant limitations on foreign participation. Such policies will do little to help the Government's efforts to respond to significantly declining FDI flows over the past year.

4.98.  As India's "Make in India" campaign makes clear, a strong and effective IPR regime is a critical component of attracting and retaining investment and achieving India's ambitious economic goals. Businesses in virtually all Indian industries can realize benefits through receiving strong brand and product protection, including through trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. India's current IPR policies, administration, and enforcement, unfortunately, do not yet match this ambition. We welcome the development of a National IPR Policy, and have appreciated the opportunity that the drafters afforded to public comments. As the Indian Government reviews the recommendations of the IPR Think Tank, we recommend providing a new round of solicitation of public comments before the Policy is made final.

4.99.  Finally, with regard to transparency, the United States commends recent steps taken by the Government of India towards improving the transparency and effective functioning of its policymaking institutions. Last year's guidance from the Ministry of Law and Justice prescribing at least 30 days for public comment on new legislation is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to additional information on how this guidance is being implemented across Ministries. Despite improvements, the United States continues to be concerned about the lack of transparency in many aspects of India's trade policy, including a disappointing performance in WTO notifications. This lack of transparency contributes to the difficulties of firms trying to invest in and trade with India, and is a key reason for India's low ranking in the World Bank's 2015 "Doing Business" report. Implementation of a uniform, all-of government approach to the development of regulations would help address these concerns.

4.100.  The United States appreciates the opportunity to engage in this dialogue, thanks India for responding to our questions, and looks forward to further discussing India's trade policy regime with the delegation from India.

SINGAPORE

4.101.  Singapore and India enjoy strong and longstanding bilateral relations. Our economic ties are also substantial. Since 2005, the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement has paved the way for the strengthening of economic ties between our two countries. Last year, bilateral trade totalled S$24.6 billion, making India Singapore's 12th largest trading partner. Singapore was India's 2nd largest investor, with a stock FDI of US$6.4 billion, a 7.4% increase over 2013. This business presence is reciprocated by the existence of numerous Indian companies in Singapore spanning diverse clusters from IT services to manufacturing.

4.102.  We note with interest that India's services sector, a key contributor to India's GDP, achieved an impressive double digit growth of 11% last year compared to 2013. With improved connectivity through better multi-modal transport, greater growth in goods and services trade can be achieved. In this context, air transport connectivity can serve as a catalyst. It is our hope that greater air and maritime connectivity can be achieved between Singapore and India, through our bilateral Strategic Partnership which will be signed this year. This will support greater bilateral trade, investment and people flows. Other services sectors in India, such as the aviation support services and tourism, will also benefit.

4.103.  According to the Secretariat's report, India's average MFN tariff rate has increased since its last TPR, while its complex tariff structure has persisted. We urge India to work towards simplifying and bringing down its average MFN tariff rate.

4.104.  Trade facilitation could also help to boost trade through more efficient and standardised customs procedures. We therefore welcome India's announcement of its intention to implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), including through the establishment of the National Committee on Trade Facilitation and other initiatives aimed at simplifying customs procedures. We note that India is in the process of finalizing its categorisation of commitments under the TFA and look forward to India's ratification of the TFA as soon as possible.

4.105.  On the regional front, we welcome the signing of the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements which are expected to come into force this July. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is another key regional initiative where we are working closely together. We hope that India will play a leading role in pushing for its progress, which would help to deepen economic integration in the region.

4.106.  At the WTO, we look to India to play a constructive role in advancing the multilateral trading system. As one of the major developing economies, India's leadership, for example, in the timely submission of notifications, is important. India's role would also be critical in the delivery of a post-Bali work programme, as well as a successful MC10 in Nairobi. Our delegation looks forward to continued close cooperation with Ambassador Anjali Prasad and her team.

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

4.107.  It is notable that India's economy has again experienced continued growth through the period under review, with its real GDP expanding by 6.9% in 2013-14 after a growth of 5.1% in 2012-13. Specifically, I would like to applaud India's efforts to facilitate investment, foster innovation and enhance skill development with recent initiatives such as "Make in India", "Digital India" and "Skills India".

4.108.  It is our hope, as recommended in the Secretariat report, that India will achieve sustained economic growth by pursuing further reforms, effectively addressing the challenges of improving infrastructure, and simplifying the business and the regulatory environment.

4.109.  Over the years, India and Korea have developed stable and healthy economic relations. Bilateral trade volume between the two countries was less than US$1 billion in 1991 but grew to stand at over US$17 billion in 2013. Korea's direct investment to India has increased from just US$4 million at that time to US$541 million today. In addition, India's direct investment to Korea amounted to US$99 million in 2013. To be clear, these figures demonstrate a very close economic partnership that will continue to grow and develop in the future.

4.110.  Korea has great expectations that economic cooperation between the two countries will continue to expand further, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, shipbuilding, maritime transport, aviation, electric power development and new energy industries as agreed at the summit held in May 2015. In particular, we are also committed to updating the India-Korea CEPA by June 2016 with a view to achieving both a qualitative and quantitative increase in trade.

4.111.  Let me now turn to some areas of our particular interest and concern with respect to India's economic and trade policies and measures.

4.112.  First, I would like to touch upon the concerns over the complexity of the Indian tariff system. We note that the simple average MFN tariff rate rose to 13% in 2014-15, from 12% in 2010-11. Moreover, effective tariff rates seem to remain high due to the imposition of various additional and special duties and charges.

4.113.  In particular, the special additional duty (SAD) imposed on imported goods is considered burdensome for companies operating in India. In this vein, these companies ask for the simplification of the procedures for the refund of the duty and then for the elimination of the duty itself as soon as possible.

4.114.  Second, Korea welcomes the significant changes that were made to India's anti-dumping legislation during the period under review in order to be more aligned with the WTO Agreement. Taking due note that India continues to be a major user of anti-dumping measures, Korea has concerns that Korea could become among the main targeted countries. Given the additional burdens to exporters posed even by the initiation of anti-dumping investigation, it is our sincere hope that the Indian Government take a more prudent approach when initiating such anti-dumping investigations.

4.115.  Thirdly and lastly, we commend the improvement of the transparency policies in India. We share, however, the concern that various technical regulations and standards in India may act as non-tariff barriers. It is our sincere hope that when introducing any new regulations, the Indian Government could provide a reasonable grace period in order for producers to enhance predictability and prevent unnecessary losses. One example that we collected from our companies in India is that the compulsory registration scheme introduced by the Bureau of India Standard (BIS) in 2012 was unexpected and did not provide a sufficient period for foreign suppliers to meet the requirements in the scheme. Therefore, those suppliers were unduly restricted and the importation of their products concerned.

4.116.  We are confident that India, as a key player in the WTO, will continue to play an important role in helping not only strengthen the WTO multilateral trading system as a whole, but also advance the DDA negotiations.

KENYA

4.117.  Kenya is pleased to participate in the sixth Trade Policy Review of India. We take this opportunity to acknowledge that India is a key partner of Kenya particularly in the area of trade and investments.

4.118.  We commend the Government of India for its continued efforts in liberalizing trade and implementing trade facilitation measures during the period under review. We also note that India has also taken further steps to implement structural reforms, which have contributed to accelerated economic growth in recent years. We encourage India to sustain the process of structural reforms in order to maintain the current positive trend of its economic growth and outlook.

4.119.  The multilateral and recently regional trade agreements have played an important role in enhancing India's market access for its exports. According to the Secretariat report, already 15 agreements are currently in force while others are under negotiations. This demonstrates the important role regional trade agreements can play in complimenting WTO multilateral rules in liberalizing and boosting trade and investments.

4.120.  The Report also reveals that agriculture is an important sector for India in terms of its contribution to GDP and employment. The conclusion of the DDA negotiations in agriculture in line with the Doha mandate will undoubtedly enhance the contribution of this sector to India's economic growth and development. This sector is also critical in achieving the objective of food security not only for India but also for many other developing countries like Kenya. In this connection, we look forward to working closely with India and other Members in finding a permanent solution on the issue of public stock holding for food security by MC10 in Nairobi.

4.121.  Kenya and India enjoy a strong trade relation. Currently, India is the leading source for Kenya's imports. A bilateral trade agreement which was signed in 1981 is still in force and has been an ideal framework for trade and economic expansion between our two countries.

4.122.  The 7th Session of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee was held in New Delhi in February this year during which the Committee reviewed the progress of bilateral trade, explored new areas of cooperation and discussed ways to further expand trade, industrial and technical cooperation.

4.123.  Finally we express our appreciation to India for its strong support for the multilateral trading system and for collaboration with Kenya particularly on issues of interest to developing countries in context of the current DDA negotiations. 

NEW ZEALAND

4.124.  India is an important global economy and New Zealand expects that India's influence will only continue to grow. Its ambitious economic development agenda has seen India capture considerable attention over the last year – the whole world has an interest in India's future.  

4.125.  India has benefitted from trade liberalization and structural reforms undertaken since the 1990s. In this respect, New Zealand welcomed India's recent announcements of its intentions for further economic reforms. In particular, New Zealand would like to congratulate India on the steps that the government has taken to introduce a nationwide GST. Implementing a GST is a significant undertaking, but one which should, with other co-ordinated reforms, facilitate development of a truly unified internal market and improve the business conditions for both domestic industry and foreign investment. In this context, New Zealand would see the lowering and simplifying of India's agricultural tariffs as a further necessary step on the road towards comprehensive economic reform. We would also encourage India to consider removing tariff rate quotas for milk powders, to help meet surging domestic demand for dairy.

4.126.  New Zealand welcomes India's recently released Foreign Trade Policy, which sets out a strategic vision for India's relations with its trading partners and for lifting India's export capabilities. In the modern trading context, dominated by trade in Global Value Chains, increasing openness to imports is an essential component of being able to develop more competitive exports. Efficient border procedures, liberal services regimes and openness to foreign investment are also essential for achieving the goals set out in India's new Foreign Trade Policy. The negotiation, by India, of high quality regional and bilateral trade agreements would support India's goal – as expressed in its Foreign Trade Policy - to increase its share of global trade and "assume a position of leadership in international trade discourse". New Zealand looks forward to continuing to work with India to conclude the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations, which have the potential to establish a strategic trade relationship among many Asia-Pacific economies.

4.127.  India is an important trading partner for New Zealand - our 14th largest trading partner in goods. There is also a significant and growing services relationship that has placed India as New Zealand's second largest source country of international students, a focus market for New Zealand tourism, and a significant information technology partner. The New Zealand Government's India Strategy recognizes the strategic importance of India and the great potential that exists for the relationship. There is substantial scope for our two countries to further strengthen our trade and economic relationship.

4.128.  New Zealand and India launched bilateral FTA negotiations in 2010 and we were pleased last year when the Indian Government reaffirmed the priority that it attached to concluding an FTA with New Zealand. Reaching a comprehensive and high quality agreement remains a work-in-progress, but New Zealand remains deeply committed to that endeavour as it would allow our two countries to build a strengthened economic relationship and encourage partnerships and collaboration in areas of trade and investment that are important to both sides.

4.129.  India plays an important role in the WTO as a large emerging economy and we look to India to use its influence to help build a consensus among key players on the way in which core Doha agenda issues can be successfully progressed.

4.130.  New Zealand shares India's concerns about the danger of non-tariff measures becoming increasingly prevalent and we look forward to continuing to work constructively with India's authorities, including on SPS and TBT issues. As highlighted in New Zealand's questions, we applaud India's efforts to increase the transparency of the scientific basis upon which its SPS measures are founded, and we hope that India engages constructively with members of the SPS committee who have raised concerns about import restrictions and conditions on certain products.

4.131.  India's role as an advocate for an open, rules-based, multilateral trade regime is vital to ensuring a global trading system that facilitates trade between Members and addresses prohibitive and expensive non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade. We look to India for its ongoing constructive engagement to this end, and for it to continue its advocacy of the multilateral trading system. We will watch with great interest the progress of India's programme to improve the transparency and openness of its economy.

OMAN

4.132.  Oman has long historical and friendly relations with India, which is our neighbour in the Indian Ocean and an important trading partner of Oman.

4.133.  We would like to congratulate India on its impressive economic development despite numerous challenges. The GDP growth of India in 2013-14 was 6.9%, and the growth rate for 2014-15 is estimated at around 7.4%. These are high growth rates by any standard. In fact India's growth rates are among the highest in the world. It deserves high praise for this achievement.

4.134.  A remarkable feature of India's economic growth is the performance of its services sector, which accounts for 57% of India's GDP in 2013-14. India has a surplus in its services trade, as against a deficit in goods trade.

4.135.  Oman commends India on its remarkable progress in international trade. It is the 19th biggest exporter and the 12th biggest importer in world merchandize trade. Its ranking is even better in world services trade. It is the 8th biggest exporter of services and the 10th biggest importer. India is thus a major player in world trade.

4.136.  We are pleased to note that India is taking steps to increase predictability in trade and investment regimes. This would be done through the simplification of business environment, elimination of overregulation, investment in infrastructure and education, and reducing sectoral restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment. All these are commendable initiatives.

4.137.  India is a very active Member of the WTO. It is a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system. It is also an active participant in the Doha Round trade negotiations. We hope India will continue its active participation to fulfil the worthy objectives of the WTO of liberalization and expansion of world trade.

4.138.  The Secretariat report reveals that India's import regime remains complex, especially its licensing and permits system. Also, its tariff structure is very complex with multiple exemptions which impacts predictability.

4.139.  The delegation of Oman has some concerns about licensing and customs valuation of Oman's exports of marble to India. Paragraph 3.49 of the Secretariat report and Table 3.9 thereof show that India's imports of marble are subject to import license if the c.i.f. price is less than US$60 per square meter. Could India please clarify what is the WTO justification for this restriction? Secondly, once an import license is issued, shouldn't the duty be assessed on the declared transaction value, even if it is less than US$60, unless it is found to be untrue or inaccurate? What is the WTO justification for not assessing the duty on the transaction value?

4.140.  We note that some 25% of India's tariff lines remain unbound. Further, the simple average of bound rates is the high figure of around 5%. Simple average of applied rates is a relatively low figure of 13%, but the gap between applied and bound rates is rather wide.

4.141.  We hope India would consider steps to simplify its tariff structure and its import regime, which we consider to be important steps towards ensuring predictability.

JAPAN

4.142.  Since the change of administration in 2014, the Government of India has implemented various policies in order to increase foreign direct investment to India, including launching the "Make in India" initiative and issuing the "Foreign Trade Policy 2015 – 2020" this April. In addition, the Government is seeking to make its tax regime transparent and simple, for example, announcing that it would not impose the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on foreign investors after April 2015. Some of India's municipal governments have also implemented measures to appeal to foreign enterprises, such as simplifying administrative procedures and building infrastructure. Japan commends India's improvement of business and investment environments through these efforts, and hopes for further improvement.

4.143.  However, structural bottlenecks still remain as a barrier to achieving higher growth, including delays in project approval, difficulties in land acquisition, a weak transportation network and power supply, and strict labour regulations and skill mismatches. Japan hopes that India will promote further structural reforms and will achieve sustainable economic growth.

4.144.  Now let me turn to trade policies.

4.145.  Regarding the RTAs, the report by the Secretariat mentioned that 15 RTAs are in effect so far, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and the Republic of India which entered into force just before the previous TPR of India in 2011. India also continues its negotiations regarding other bilateral and plurilateral agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which was negotiated with 15 other Members including Japan. Japan hopes that these RTAs will contribute to maintaining and strengthening the multilateral trading system.

4.146.  With regard to the WTO, since the establishment of this Organization, India has been contributing to the development of the multilateral trading system as a major Member with a large volume of trade both in goods and in services. It has been also taking a role as a core member of various negotiation groups such as the G20 and the G33. India's position in world trade is becoming increasingly more important as its population is projected to become the largest in the world in the near future.

4.147.  Considering current discussions toward the establishment of the Post-Bali Work Programme as the last chance to conclude the DDA negotiations, Japan has been pro-actively committed to this crucial process. As we have less than two months to go to the deadline, the responsibility of major Members is becoming graver than ever. Japan is looking forward to cooperating with all WTO Members, including India, to establish the Post-Bali Work Programme.

4.148.  In addition, Japan reiterates the importance of submission of Category A commitments and acceptance of the instrument in a timely manner towards the entry into force of the TF Agreement which is one of the vital elements of the Bali Package.

4.149.  Finally, regarding the ITA, India issued a notification to remove the import tariff after March 2015 applicable to digital cameras covered by the agreement. Japan welcomes the notification and is closely monitoring the enforcement of the notification by the Government of India.

4.150.  Now, let me touch upon other concrete items. These include trade remedy measures and TBT.

4.151.  First, India is one of the most active users of anti-dumping measures among WTO Members, according to the report by the Secretariat. India initiated 82 anti-dumping investigations against 23 trading partners in total from 2011 to 2014. It initiated 18 investigations on safeguard measures as well during the same period.

4.152.  Japan believes that trade remedy measures should not be abused as protectionist measures. Regarding India's measures, in previous WTO meetings including the SG Committee, Japan has raised concerns about frequent use of these measures and consistency with the WTO Agreements. Japan requests India to fully consider strict requirements stipulated by the WTO Agreements, and to ensure the consistency between India's trade remedy regimes and measures, and the WTO agreements, through its various reforms and other endeavours.

4.153.  Second, Japan raised a specific trade concern in previous TBT committee meetings on technical regulations about pneumatic tires and tubes for automotive vehicles which were introduced by the Indian government in May 2011. We requested India to explain about the bank guarantee fee per plant being required only for tire manufacturers outside India, and the Indian Standards Institute (ISI) marking fee, as well as to shorten the time needed for certification procedures. Japan hopes that India will improve this situation in a swift manner.

4.154.  In addition, Japan also hopes for further improvement of India's technical regulations about electronics and information technology goods, such as expediting testing and registration procedures.

GUATEMALA

4.155.  Guatemala e India han mantenido relaciones cordiales y amistosas a lo largo del tiempo. Nuestros países establecieron relaciones diplomáticas a finales de la década de 1970 y recientemente acordaron la apertura de misiones diplomáticas permanentes en cada una de sus capitales. De igual forma, la participación activa y el apoyo proporcionado por la India en el marco del Sistema de Integración Centroamericano (SICA) ha constituido una vía de gran importancia para estrechar nuestros lazos, tanto a nivel bilateral como regional. A la fecha, se han realizado ya varios foros India-SICA e India ha proporcionado apoyo al Banco Centroamericano de Inversión económica (BCIE) para el financiamiento de proyectos en áreas como agricultura, pequeñas y medianas empresas y energía renovable.

4.156.  Nuestra balanza comercial se ha caracterizado por el intercambio de productos manufacturados, tales como productos farmacéuticos, vehículos, hilos e hilazas y máquinas y aparatos mecánicos. Con el fin de explorar las oportunidades comerciales entre ambos países e incrementar el intercambio entre ambos mercados, una misión comercial conformada por empresarios guatemaltecos de diversos sectores, viajó a principios de este mes a India.

4.157.  En relación con la evaluación que hoy se realiza sobre la política comercial de India, consideramos muy positivas las medidas emprendidas para la liberalización de sus políticas de inversión, así como los esfuerzos por reducir el déficit fiscal en los próximos años y la implementación de nuevas medidas en materia de facilitación del comercio. Consideramos también que serán retos importantes en el futuro cercano para la India, entre otros, la implementación de medidas que permitan afrontar los estrangulamientos estructurales a los que hace referencia el informe, así como continuar fortaleciendo el sistema de contrataciones públicas.

4.158.  Guatemala reconoce los esfuerzos realizados por India durante el período estudiado en este informe. Agradecemos las respuestas a las preguntas planteadas en el marco de este examen.

PHILIPPINES

4.159.  The Philippines fully associates itself with the ASEAN statement delivered by Malaysia.

4.160.  The positive developments in India's economy bid to transform India as one of the driving forces of global economic growth. The impact is expected to be profound as there will be direct political, economic and strategic implications for India and the entire Asian region.

4.161.  By history and trade, India has been a long-time partner of the Philippines shortly after both countries gained independence. The relations between the two countries have been cordial, though the full potential is yet to be realized. The Philippines therefore welcomes greater integration with India.

4.162.  Economic relations had been relatively slow and uneven at the start but the impact of the ASEAN-India FTA in Goods is already being strongly felt. Further increase is expected with the signing of the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Protection of Investment Agreements that will come into force in July this year. The internal market demand and domestic consumption of India have a direct and positive impact to the Philippines in terms of job creation, investment and balance of trade, particularly in business process outsourcing, textile, and steel. The Philippines and India's complementarities, rather than competition, particularly in the IT sector could therefore bring forth heightened collaborations.

4.163.  The Philippines also welcomes India's initiatives in facilitating the integration of micro, small and medium enterprises in global trade. It is worth noting that during the recently concluded APEC MRT meeting in Boracay, Philippines, one of the notable outcomes was the Boracay Action Agenda for Micro Small and Medium enterprises. In the said meeting, DG Azevedo also recognized the importance and relevance of the said landmark MSME agenda thereby encouraging APEC members to brief all WTO Members on this particular work.

THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU

4.164.  Two points on India's economy that stand out in particular in the Reports are the remarkable dynamism of Indian businesses and the average annual GDP growth of 6 to 8% achieved consistently by India over recent years. We congratulate India on the benefits it has reaped from continued trade liberalization and structural reforms since the 1990s. We are convinced that it will continue on this path of impressive growth in the future. 

4.165.  The trend in bilateral economic relations between India and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu reflects the dynamism of the Indian economy. India is currently our 19th largest trading partner in goods, with US$5.9 billion of two-way trade in 2014. As India opens up its markets, seeks to promote exports, and creates a climate for investment, we fully expect our economic and trade relationship to strengthen and grow.

4.166.  I will now turn, if I may, to areas of India's economic and trade policies where certain measures are of particular interest or concern for us. Firstly, regarding its tariff regime, the Secretariat report describes an extremely complex tariff system with regular modifications of the applied tariff, as well as additional countervailing duties, and customs and excise duties, which is quite complex and confusing for importers. We would encourage India to review and simplify its tariff structure in order to provide more stable and predictable access to its market for our businesses and producers.

4.167.  Secondly, we welcome India's continued efforts to streamline its customs procedures and implement trade facilitation measures. However, its import regime remains complex, especially the licensing and permit system. We therefore encourage India to continue its efforts to facilitate trade in this regard.

4.168.  Thirdly, we share the concerns of other Members that various TBTs and SPSs of India may be acting as non-tariff barriers, thereby unduly restricting importation of the products concerned. We would particularly draw the attention of the Indian Government to these issues.

4.169.  Fourthly, on contingency measures, we note that India is one of the most active users of anti-dumping and safeguard measures. Unjustified actions of this type can have a major negative impact on the exporting economy in question. We would therefore encourage India to take a more prudent approach when initiating anti-dumping actions or safeguard investigations, so that such measures do not constitute a systemic barrier to trade.

4.170.  Last, but not least, as we all know, transparency and predictability in a Member's trade policy regime are crucial for traders and investors. In this respect, we welcome the recent steps taken by the Government of India towards foreign direct investment. We note, however, that there are still several sectors where such investment is either limited or subject to specific caps and conditions. Hopefully, India's consolidated FDI policy will lead to greater stability and predictability for foreign investors, which are essential to attracting the foreign investment that could underpin critical infrastructure projects and continued growth in other key sectors, such as telecommunications and financial services.

4.171.  India is, of course, an important economic and trading partner for us and many others in this room. As the latest IMF global forecast predicts, India's GDP growth rate will be above that of other BRICs countries in 2016. Within the next 15 years, it will have the largest and one of the youngest workforces in the world. I am convinced that if India, like many other countries, continues to open up its economy and this economic openness is reflected within the WTO legal system, it will reap the benefits of staying on the path to a brighter future of economic growth and macroeconomic stability for years to come.

4.172.  India is certain to play a major role in the global economy policy decision-making in the future. We look forward to working constructively with India, along with other Members, in our shared commitment to the multilateral trading system.

NORWAY

4.173.  India is an original Member of and a key player in the WTO. If we are to succeed in the DDA, India's active and constructive role in the negotiations will be necessary and decisive. India is also engaged in regional trade initiatives and we look forward to progress in the negotiations with the EFTA-countries.

4.174.  Norway welcomes the Government of India's New Foreign Trade Policy, which was presented on April 1st. It is indeed encouraging to note that the World Trade Organization will continue to be India's preferred instrument for negotiating trade agreements, and we note with satisfaction the ambition for India to further open up its economy and become a leading global proponent of trade liberalization. However, as others, we note with concern the widespread use of anti-dumping measures, and would encourage fossil fuel subsidies reform.

4.175.  We also appreciate that the Government of India recognizes that the greatest obstacles to India's growth, development and competitive participation in the global economy are to be found in the country itself. Besides policy and regulatory improvements, there is a great need for large investments in physical infrastructure and human resource development. While the private sector will continue to play an important role, the fact remains that no country has successfully modernized and industrialized without significant large-scale public investments in infrastructure, primary education and basic health care services - accessible to all members of society, including the poor. To these ends, we would encourage India to contemplate how to dramatically increase public revenues, including through modernizing its tax regime. We thus look forward to the forthcoming Goods and Services Tax reform.

4.176.  We note with satisfaction that India has unilaterally reduced applied tariffs on certain commodities and would encourage this to continue, including to remedy the trade distorting effects of preferential trade agreements. In some instances, preferential trade agreements can undermine India's economic growth and development by de facto excluding suppliers of certain commodities, thus reducing competition, leading to higher prices for Indian buyers. 

4.177.  India's relatively strong performance in the services sector is well known. The services sector already accounts for more than half of India`s GDP and is the main driver of economic growth. The regulatory changes which have been introduced in financial services, telecommunications and transport are therefore of great importance. Investment and development of manufacturing and agriculture are often in vain without the support of proper and effective services.

4.178.  On relations between Norway and India, let me briefly mention that merchandise trade is still relatively meagre and constitute not much more than 1% of total Norwegian trade. There is huge potential, however, not least in the trade of seafood and services. Equally important is the fact that more than 100 Norwegian companies are established in the Indian market. They represent maritime, chemical, information technology companies, as well as oil and gas industries – and we see a trend towards diversification.

4.179.  Let me also add that the Norwegian Pension Fund Global by the end of 2014 had invested in India an amount close to about US$8.5 billon. These investments include equity investment in more than 200 Indian companies. A transparent and open investment regime in India will contribute to increased activities by the Fund.

4.180.  Let me finally refer to the questions we submitted prior to to-day's review. We will study the responses from India. In particular, we are keen to see India's follow-up on the Trade Facilitation Agreement. India was an active and hard negotiator in the TF negotiations, and has clearly welcomed the resulting text of the agreement. We have also noted that India has flagged that it would only use the two first categories of implementation for developing countries, namely A and B. However, contrary to many other countries, India has yet to submit its Category A list. We would urge that India submits its list as early as possible and joins the drive towards TFA's entry into force by January 2016.

INDONESIA

4.181.  Indonesia would like to associate itself with the statement made by Malaysia on behalf of ASEAN. We are pleased to be here today for participating in the Trade Policy Review of one of the key players in the WTO. We appreciate India's contribution in the WTO forum, and we believe that India has a strong commitment to ensure a successful Post-Bali Work Programme and conclude all the remaining DDA negotiations.

4.182.  Furthermore, we note positively that India's economic growth has been accelerating in recent years. The Government of India has also succeeded in controlling inflation and the current account deficit that could have hampered further growth. We are somewhat concerned with the structural bottlenecks that pose as a barrier to achieve greater growth. However, we have confidence in the Government's efforts to address these problems through investment in infrastructure and education, simplification of the business environment, as well as increasing predictability in trade and investment regimes. We encourage the Government of India to continue to do so.

4.183.  On the bilateral side, India is indeed a very important partner for Indonesia. In the last five years, our trade balance has grown at an average of 3.77%, reaching US$16.2 billion in 2014. We have seen a slight decline in trade between 2013 and 2014, however, we are certain that trade will bounce back once the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment enters into force on 15 July 2015. Furthermore, Indonesia and India are also currently negotiating RTAs, both bilaterally and within the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

4.184.  As such, we remain confident that our countries' economic partnership will continue to grow in the future.

4.185.  Nevertheless, Indonesia would like to note some of India's trade policies that undermine the legitimate interest of our exports to India. These, among others, include India's tariff system that is quite unpredictable. This is further exacerbated with India's complex import licensing procedures and restrictions. India's use of trade remedies is also quite excessive. All of these measures, both in tariff and non-tariff forms, are potentially more restrictive to trade than necessary.

4.186.  In this regard, Indonesia has submitted a number of specific questions to clarify individual points on these and other issues. We thank the delegation of India for answering our questions, and we will study those responses with great interest. We will seek further clarification if necessary.

EUROPEAN UNION

4.187.  India's real economic growth has been accelerating in the recent past and is expected to be around 7.4% in 2014-15. According to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, India might soon become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. These are really good results for which the government can be applauded.

4.188.  The EU welcomes and looks forward to India's implementation of its stated goal to make its policies more business and investor friendly. This is detailed in India's report and I would like to mention for example the following objectives: "to make India's foreign trade regime more open and transparent", "creating a roadmap for reform", "rationalising subsidies", creating an "investor friendly FDI policy", "creating a predictable and clean tax policy environment."

4.189.  India still faces significant challenges to achieve these ambitious and laudable goals. Allow me to mention a few: infrastructure for transportation and power supply; predictability and transparency of the legal framework and in particular of the rules governing trade and investment, taxation and public procurement; developing a business-friendly environment in general including by such measures as reducing mandatory conformity assessment requirements; proportionality of  SPS measures; avoiding local content requirements that hinder India's further integration in global value chains; substantially reducing peak tariffs and avoid increases in import duties that actually undermine the Government's objectives.

4.190.  The EU commends India for its efforts developed in the recent years. I will highlight a few examples: opening up FDI in sectors such as insurance, medical devices and defence; India's intentions to modernize its tax system by introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), an effort to speed up procedures in the investment sector. In addition, India embarked on reviewing its IPR and government procurement policy, which are important initiatives on which the EU has offered to share experience. The EU takes account of the adoption of the recent India's Foreign Trade Policy document which sets the goal to double the value of Indian exports within four years. This would certainly require rationalising the existing incentives and subsidies, shaping a coherent approach at bilateral, regional and multilateral level.

4.191.  The EU trusts that India will engage constructively in discussions on the post-Bali work programme with a view to finalising the DDA, and that India will contribute to the shared objective of ensuring the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement by MC10. In this regard, we are interested to hear about India's plans regarding the ratification of the Agreement and we continue to eagerly await India's notification of its Category A commitments.

4.192.  The EU is the first destination of India's exports and is the first source of inward stocks of foreign direct investments in India. India is the first beneficiary of EU GSP. To give you a sense of proportion, last year India was granted by the EU a preferential tariff on 41% % of its exports. However, India is far from fulfilling all its potential in terms of trade and investment with the EU. The EU continues to look forward to engage India in order to enhance our bilateral trade and investment relationship.

4.193.  In its advanced written questions, the EU has addressed several areas of concern that I already mentioned and which are reported by the Secretariat in its report such as: import procedures/import bans that are regularly raised in the Import Licensing Committee; local content requirements issues raised in the TRIMs Committee; the disproportion of certain measures compared to the objectives sought; the impact of subsidies on the fairness of competition and trade/on the fiscal deficit, the importance of notifications to the WTO and transparency of measures; and the insufficient consultation of stakeholders prior to adopting regulations.

4.194.  The EU trusts that the meeting will be useful to all of us here and wishes India a very fruitful TPR.

CHILE

4.195.  En desarrollo de este ejercicio de revisión de las políticas comerciales, el Gobierno de Chile ha formulado nueve preguntas que han sido respondidas.

4.196.  India y Chile mantienen relaciones diplomáticas desde 1947. Son casi 70 años de un enriquecedor trabajo continuo y multifacético, en el campo político, comercial y cultural.

4.197.  Chile considera a India como un socio comercial de gran importancia. Desde la última oportunidad en que se realizó el examen de las políticas comerciales de India - en el año 2011- se han profundizado las relaciones entre nuestros países que se basan en el Acuerdo de Alcance Parcial (AAP) vigente desde el 17 de agosto del 2007.

4.198.  En el año 2014, el comercio bilateral con India tuvo un alza de 14% con respecto a 2013. Esto representó un importante superávit comercial para Chile, el mayor de los últimos siete años. Las exportaciones se expandieron un 21%.

4.199.  Si bien, y tal como se menciona en el informe de la Secretaría, se trata de un Acuerdo limitado a un número reducido de productos con preferencia fija, al mismo tiempo ha permitido que aproximadamente un 90% de las exportaciones chilenas e indias obtengan una rebaja arancelaria promedio de un 20% desde el momento de su entrada en vigencia.

4.200.  Todo indica que esta relación se irá profundizando a futuro. En efecto, a fines de 2014 ambos países hemos acordado poner en marcha un proceso para la ampliación de la actual cobertura de productos con preferencias arancelarias del Acuerdo de Alcance Parcial, que también considera una profundización en materias relativas a Reglas de Origen, Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias y Obstáculos Técnicos al Comercio.

4.201.  Esta ampliación permitirá a ambos país aumentar la cobertura del acuerdo desde 474 a más de 2.800 líneas arancelarias. A diferencia del acuerdo original, el proceso de profundización contempla márgenes de preferencia arancelaria entre un 80% y 100%.

4.202.  Por lo tanto, para Chile es de gran interés concretar cuanto antes la firma de dicha ampliación. Será un primer paso que permitirá, entre otros avances, estar en condiciones para alcanzar un Tratado de Libre Comercio. 

4.203.  En éste, el sexto examen de políticas comerciales de la India, además de las preguntas formuladas, y que como hemos dicho, ya han sido respondidas, me permito hacer algunos comentarios sobre algunos aspectos que se derivan de los informes presentados a los Miembros:

·             Chile valora las perspectivas y las medidas que ha tomado la India para revitalizar su economía, con acento en acelerar el crecimiento, potenciar la inversión y hacer llegar los beneficios a la población, tal como lo menciona el informe de dicho país para este examen. 

·             Las prioridades planteadas por el Gobierno, en torno a desarrollar las infraestructuras, establecer una hoja de ruta para reformas, promover la facilidad para hacer negocios, potenciar la inversión, entre otras, nos parecen de gran importancia. Del mismo modo, valoramos la creciente función que el comercio exterior está desempeñando en el desarrollo económico de la India, que revela una creciente integración a la economía mundial.

·             Vemos positivamente que la India ha seguido esforzándose por liberalizar y facilitar el comercio, por ejemplo instaurando la autoevaluación en los procedimientos aduaneros, y eliminando las prescripciones en materia de comercio de Estado aplicables a algunos productos agropecuarios. Así como los esfuerzos en hacer reformas estructurales, como la eliminación de los controles del precio del gasóleo y la flexibilización de las restricciones a la inversión extranjera directa en algunos sectores.

·             Se destaca el gran motor que representa el sector servicios, más de la mitad del PIB de la India, y la serie de medidas que está tomando el Gobierno en la materia.

·             Deseamos que India tenga avances positivos en las reformas y desafíos que se ha planteado el Gobierno en sectores como agricultura y seguridad alimentaria, manufacturas, desarrollo de infraestructura, entre otros.

·             En agricultura entendemos la gran sensibilidad del sector, y el hecho que el aumento de su productividad sea uno de los principales objetivos de política del Gobierno. Asimismo valoramos la legitimidad de los objetivos de seguridad alimentaria. Sin embargo, nos preocupa la protección arancelaria y la considerable ayuda otorgada al sector, que puede tener un impacto sistémico.

·             Asimismo, miramos con preocupación la forma y aplicación de ciertas políticas comerciales y otras medidas mencionadas en el reporte de la Secretaría, que pueden representar restricciones al comercio, como:

o          la estructura arancelaria compleja y la gran diferencia existente entre aranceles aplicados y consolidados, sobre todo en el sector agrícola. Diferencias que reducen la previsibilidad arancelaria.

o          Las prohibiciones, licencias y restricciones a la importación.

o          Las prohibiciones y restricciones a la exportación.

4.204.  Todos reconocemos la condición de la India como "key player" en el comercio y la economía mundial. Ello significa no sólo un reconocimiento objetivo de su realidad, como una de las mayores economías a escala global, sino también de la responsabilidad sistémica que le cabe en el entorno internacional, como Miembro fundador de OMC. En particular, el rol que le corresponde jugar en las negociaciones para concluir la Ronda de Doha.

4.205.  Chile está consciente y comprende, asimismo, los desafíos que enfrenta la India en términos de desarrollo, políticas sociales, seguridad alimentaria y otros aspectos de una compleja realidad interna.

4.206.  En el contexto descrito y con visión prospectiva, esperamos que la India pueda contribuir al proceso en el que estamos comprometidos desde el lanzamiento de la Ronda Doha. Y en el marco de los acuerdos de Bali, haga un sustantivo aporte para la elaboración de un Plan de Trabajo que permita avanzar hacia la conclusión de Doha, y entrar en Nairobi en una nueva etapa para el multilateralismo comercial, abordando los temas de futuro de los que debemos hacernos cargo como organización.

4.207.  Finalmente, permítame hacer una mención particular sobre unos hechos que consideramos emblemáticos en nuestra relación, que históricamente va más allá de los importantes vínculos comerciales:

4.208.  La India ejerció una gran influencia en nuestros dos premios Nobel de Literatura, ambos poetas: Gabriela Mistral y Pablo Neruda.

4.209.  En 2012, en Nueva Delhi, se presentó la primera traducción al hindi de parte de la obra de Gabriela Mistral, incluyendo veinte poemas de la antología "Ternura" acompañados por una serie de dibujos realizados por niños indios que ilustran la publicación.

4.210.  La cultura india, en particular de autores como Rabindranath Tagore y Aurobindo, tuvieron una gran influencia sobre la obra de Gabriela Mistral, quien decía que debía mucho a la India porque había descubierto la música en la poesía de Tagore, y en Aurobindo la religión.

4.211.  Por otra parte, el año pasado, en las escuelas públicas de la capital, de Bengala y Maharashtra, se comenzó a distribuir gratuitamente el libro "Poemas de Neruda para niños", que contiene una docena de poemas de las "Odas elementales" y del "Libro de las preguntas" del premio Nobel chileno, traducidos por primera vez al hindi, bengalí y maharathi.

4.212.  Dicho lo cual, habiendo hecho esta referencia, solo me resta desearle a la India mucho éxito en este su sexto examen de política comercial.

BRAZIL

4.213.  My Delegation gives the highest importance to engaging in the sixth Trade Policy Review of India, a nation with which Brazil – despite the geographical distance between us – has forged very close ties in the international arena. The relationship between our diverse societies is firmly premised on shared core values such as democracy, rule of law, social inclusion and a strong commitment to development in all its dimensions.

4.214.  India has been one of the most active and committed Members of the WTO. Together, our two countries have worked over decades to promote the cause of developing countries and, since 2001, towards a meaningful development-oriented conclusion of the DDA. In facing the challenge of bringing needed change to and redressing unjustified imbalances in the Multilateral Trading System, Brazil has had in India a most appreciated and valuable partner.  

4.215.  As in previous TPRs, we are pleased once again to congratulate India for its consistently impressive economic performance during the period under review. If it continues to keep this pace, India will confirm forecasts that place it as the third largest GDP in the world by 2030.

4.216.  The Indian Government has given clear indication, as stated in its report, of its commitment to overcoming the country's structural bottlenecks as well as extending economic benefits across all social strata. A wide set of initiatives was already announced for financial inclusion, health, the education of girls, youth employment, tax administration, investment and job creation, increasing agricultural productivity and farm incomes, and improving the ease of doing business, just to mention a few. Brazil greatly commends and identifies itself with India on the ultimate underlying objective of these reforms: improve the quality of life for the common citizen. That is also the fundamental purpose of all of our national public policies.

4.217.  Brazil also welcomes India's initiative to develop a National Policy on Intellectual Property Rights. The comprehensiveness of the draft version recently released, as well as the decision to submit it for comments from interested stakeholders, shows the commitment of the Indian Government to reaching out to its society on all IP-related areas.

4.218.  Almost ten years ago, Brazil and India decided to upgrade their bilateral relationship to form a Strategic Partnership aimed at harnessing the significant convergence of interests and the growing international projection of both countries. The bilateral agenda has been dynamic, spanning cooperation initiatives in science and technology, defence, culture, education, energy, space and environment.

4.219.  These days, the relationship Brazil-India is intense in the political, trade and economic realms. The two countries also cooperate intensely in many international organizations such as this WTO, the UN, WIPO, ITU, UNCTAD and international groupings, such as the G20, the BRICS, the G4, IBSA and the BASIC, and the IBSA. We have actively worked together for the needed reform of global governance. In July 2014, Brazil was honoured to welcome a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the context of the 6th BRICS Summit, which created the BRICS New Development Bank and the BRICS Currency Reserve Arrangement.

4.220.  Growing trade reinforces and reflects this very positive moment in our bilateral relations. The figures are quite significant: two-way trade grew from a modest base of US$484 million in 2000 to US$11.4 billion in 2014, an increase of over 2000%. In 2014, India was ranked as the 8th destination market for Brazilian exports, which were largely composed of crude petroleum, sugar and soya oil, and totalled US$4.8 billion. India's exports to Brazil, on the other hand, amounted to US$6.6 billion comprising mostly fuels, organic chemicals, machinery, synthetic and artificial filaments and pharmaceuticals. In 2014, India registered a surplus of US$1.85 billion in its trade in goods with Brazil.

4.221.  As meaningful as these figures may be, they should be viewed with a grain of salt. Not only is our trade obviously modest in light of the size of our economies, but also between 50-60% of exchanges is concentrated in petroleum and diesel. It is evident that our two countries share the challenge of trade expansion and diversification. We need to incorporate more value-added and higher technological content products in our bilateral trade. Brazil is certain that there is ample potential to deepen and intensify investment flows and trade in goods and services with India.

4.222.  Before concluding, we thank the written replies to our questions and look forward to additional responses. They address issues such as certain aspects of agricultural trade, as well as trade facilitation and customs procedures. They will be forwarded to Brasilia for examination and follow-up as appropriate.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

4.223.  The Russian Federation and India have a long history of friendly relations which have always been featured by broad, deep, robust and progressing bilateral cooperation across vast economic, trade and investment areas. Throughout recent years, our bilateral trade turnover continues to demonstrate a certain upward trend, resulting in the volume of US$9.5 billion in 2014. We have no doubt that the two countries have a great potential to further enhance bilateral trade in goods and services and increase the flow of investments. Annual Russia-India summits are a good illustration of non-stop dialogue to enhance economic and trade interaction between the two countries.

4.224.  Russia shares a positive overall assessment of the economic policies pursued by the Indian authorities. India has managed to secure the continuous growth of its economy during five recent years, and we pay tribute to the growth forecast for 2014-2015 at around 7.4%. We are confident that this growth will contribute to the successful implementation of Indian social programmes and will stimulate further liberal reforms in different spheres of its fast-growing economy.

4.225.  Nevertheless, we would like to highlight some trade and investment measures of India, which, from our point of view, need to be clarified. Russia has submitted a number of questions regarding SPS-related standards, state trading enterprises, customs administration and credit policies in agriculture. We thank the Indian delegation for the replies provided.

4.226.  In addition, we would like to present a follow-up comment with regard to India's agriculture support measures listed in paragraph 4.16 (page 101 of the Secretariat's report). It says that the central Government supports the State Governments in their efforts to increase agricultural production, enhance productivity by providing technical support, including through certain credit schemes which comprise a number of government programmes to improve the flow of credit to agriculture and to lower the cost of borrowing for farmers (via below-market-rate loans or debt write-offs). We would appreciate if the Indian side could specify the conditions of debt write-offs for farmers, and percentage of export credits that are usually not returned?

REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA

4.227.  La República Dominicana comparte lazos de amistad con India, como miembro ambos del G33. Asimismo, agradecemos los interesantes comentarios del ponente, el Embajador Esteban Conejos de Filipinas.

4.228.  En este sexto examen de su política comercial, deseamos felicitar al Gobierno de India, ya que tal y como lo indica el informe de la Secretaría de la OMC, durante el período objeto de examen, la India ha seguido esforzándose por liberalizar y facilitar el comercio, haciendo avances en la autoevaluación en los procedimientos aduaneros y eliminando las prescripciones en materia de comercio de Estado aplicables a algunos productos agropecuarios. La India también ha seguido haciendo reformas estructurales, como la eliminación de los controles del precio del gasóleo y la flexibilización de las restricciones a la inversión extranjera directa (IED) en algunos sectores.  Asimismo, se han hecho esfuerzos para simplificar el régimen tributario, liberalizar la economía, impulsar la inversión para el mejoramiento de la infraestructura y aumento de la productividad.

4.229.  El crecimiento económico de la India se ha acelerado en los últimos años, y sigue siendo impresionante, dada la situación de crisis económica mundial en la que nos encontramos, llegando el crecimiento del PIB a 6,9% en 2013-2014 con estimaciones de que alcanzará el 7,4% en 2014‑2015. Este crecimiento económico es impulsado mayormente por el sector de los servicios.

4.230.  Para atraer inversión extranjera directa, la India ha ido aplicando diversas medidas, como aumentar gradualmente el número de sectores en los que está permitida y reducir las restricciones sectoriales. También ha seguido liberalizando sus políticas de inversión, en particular elevando los límites a la propiedad extranjera en algunos sectores, como los seguros y el transporte por ferrocarril.

4.231.  También, la India ha seguido racionalizando sus procedimientos aduaneros y aplicando medidas de facilitación del comercio. Con ese fin, en 2011 se adoptó la autoliquidación en sus procedimientos aduaneros y alrededor del 97,6% de las importaciones de la India se tramitaron mediante el sistema de gestión de riesgos.

4.232.  Asimismo, Desde el último examen, la India ha adoptado varias iniciativas para modernizar la administración de los derechos de propiedad intelectual y continuó haciendo esfuerzos para imponer su observancia. En 2012, la Ley de Derecho de Autor se modificó, entre otras cosas, para poner en aplicación el Tratado de Derecho de Autor de la OMPI de 1996 y se publicaron directrices sobre las patentes para el material biológico.

4.233.  En el sector agrícola, vemos con simpatía los programas de seguridad alimentaria en el marco de la Ley de Seguridad Alimentaria Nacional de 2013 para proporcionar cereales alimenticios, comprados por el Gobierno a precios subvencionados, a alrededor de dos tercios de la población, lo cual representa una importante ayuda tanto para los productores pequeños de bajos ingresos como para la población de escasos recursos.

4.234.  El sector de servicios representa más de la mitad del PIB de la India, y como dijimos anteriormente es el principal motor del crecimiento económico. Se han hecho modificaciones reglamentarias positivas (que afectan sobre todo a los servicios financieros, las telecomunicaciones y el transporte), como la implementación del programa para el establecimiento de filiales bancarias de propiedad total, el aumento hasta el 49% del límite a la participación de capital extranjero en el sector de los seguros, la modificación de las principales leyes relacionadas con los valores, la adopción de la Política Nacional de Telecomunicaciones de 2012 y la decisión de permitir IED en el transporte ferroviario, excepto en la explotación de los ferrocarriles.

4.235.  Todos estos progresos contribuyen al desarrollo económico y humano de la India.  

4.236.  La República Dominicana ha presentado algunas preguntas a India, en relación a las medidas tomadas para facilitar el comercio, así como a las alzas en los aranceles, entre otros; y agradecemos las respuestas presentadas las cuales vamos a estudiar con detenimiento.  Para terminar, solo nos queda exhortar a la India para que siga encaminando sus pasos por la senda del progreso, y les deseamos muchos éxitos en este sexto examen de política comercial y en el futuro.

COSTA RICA

4.237.  Costa Rica is a firm believer of the Multilateral Trading System, and as such, we see in the Trade Policy Review exercise a transparency mechanism to strengthen the role of the WTO, and through open dialogues like this, the Members can benefit from the recommendations, testimonials and best practices of others.

4.238.  We have seen how India has evolved into a more services oriented economy. We wish to congratulate India for its continuous and steady growth in the sector, which represents more than the 50% of the country's GDP and 35% of its exports. India has succeeded in the expansion of its services sector by improving the competitiveness of its skilled labour; setting an example in this area for other developing countries. Costa Rica shares with India a similar perspective on the importance of services, and considers it a key driver of economic growth. And in that sense, we believe that further liberalization and improved transparency in services could lead to expanding its already successful exporting capacity.

4.239.  Regarding investment, Costa Rica recognizes India's success in the attraction of FDI flows, especially in the telecommunications and services sector (financial, banking, insurance, business, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technical). From the Trade Policy Review, we have learned that, just like Costa Rica, India's foreign trade policy has also been focused on strengthening trade and investment relations, as well as encouraging the establishment of new enterprises that will contribute to diversify the supply of goods and services, technology transfer and global value chains. However, we take this opportunity to encourage India to continue with its efforts towards transparency and non-discrimination of foreign investors.

4.240.  For Costa Rica, the Trade Facilitation Agreement holds a pivotal place within the system and as such, we encourage India to deliver the Category A commitments in a timely manner. We also welcome the latest notifications provided by India and look forward to future updates to more recent years on issues such as tariff quotas, safeguards and domestic support which would strengthen the transparency and predictability of the notification process. We also see very positively the reforms that the Indian Government has been undertaking to tackle the structural bottlenecks that attempt to delay development and we encourage India to continue its efforts to increase growth through policies that allow for a more predictable tariff system.

4.241.  Finally, we are aware of the enormous efforts that the reviewed Member must put to attend all questions submitted, and in that sense we thank India for the answers provided and commit to look in depth to their feedback.

THAILAND

4.242.  Thailand would also like to associate itself with ASEAN's statement previously delivered by Her Excellency Ambassador Mariam MD Salleh of Malaysia. 

4.243.  India and Thailand have a long-standing relation. During the past five years, India has been Thailand's number one trading partner in South Asia, with an average trade value of US$8.2 billion per year with an annual average growth of over 12%. In 2014, our bilateral trade value stood at US$8.7 billion, a decline of 0.37% from the previous year. India also ranked as our 11th export destination and 18th import source. In contrast, Thailand is currently ranked as India's 28th export destination, and 24th import source. We do note that our bilateral trade has slowed during the past several years, but fundamentally strong relationship will certainly aid the enhancement of these statistical numbers in the near future.

4.244.  Despite the decline in trade figures, Thailand and India have actively and continuously furthered our trade and investment relations which have enabled the two countries to sustain positive bilateral trade and investment climate despite the slow-down of the global economy. Indeed, the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Her Excellency Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman, has just paid a visit to our Minister of Commerce as recent as this past Friday, to exchange views on trade and investment as well as discuss ways to further strengthen our economic relations, following the Thai Minister of Commerce's official visit to India earlier this year in February.

4.245.  In light of our cordial bilateral trade and investment relations, Thailand would like to add that it has always been appreciative of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement and the Early Harvest Scheme under the Thailand-India FTA which has been effective since January 2010 and September 2004, respectively.

4.246.  In terms of investment, India continues to increase its investment in Thailand, investing over US$60 million in 2014. While the value of investment is not quantitatively spectacular, it is my sincere belief that the pace will pick up significantly in the near future as the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreements are expected to be implemented in July this year, coupled with the two parties' continued efforts to enhance the ASEAN-India connectivity, especially through the Trilateral Highway Project that will link India, Myanmar, and Thailand.

4.247.  In the multilateral trading system, Thailand is grateful for India's contributions to the system, not only in terms of the substantial efforts that India has put into the negotiation in various forums, but also its continued endeavour to liberalize and facilitate trade, such as through the enhancement of customs procedures and the relaxation of foreign direct investment restrictions in numerous sectors. Such actions and commitments are indeed valuable to all WTO Members, and, with India's considerable influence, Thailand has no doubt that India will play a key role in providing the positivity and flexibility needed to move the WTO negotiations forward. In this connection, we do look forward to intensive and constructive negotiating work in the WTO to achieve a meaningful work programme by July and the successful tenth Ministerial Conference this year.

4.248.  The TPR reports indicated that India's economy, with its vibrant expected growth, is one of the few bright spots in the global economy. It is nevertheless my sincere belief that this would not be possible without the country's proactive approach towards liberalization and regionalism in its overall trade policy nor its determination to address various obstacles towards higher growth such as the enhancement of business environment, transparency, and predictability of trade and investment regimes. Thailand certainly supports these constructive efforts as they will without doubt contribute positively to multilateral trading system.

4.249.  In this review, Thailand has submitted several questions to India covering the policies and measures of our interests regarding among other things, India's investment policies, import prohibition, domestic support, and the price support scheme. We are thankful for the responses provided by India prior to the meeting, and Thailand will certainly study them in detail with great interest.

4.250.  In conclusion, Thailand would like to express its appreciation to the Indian delegation from New Delhi for today's presentation and responses to our questions. We are thankful for the close cooperation with India in every level, including that between our Geneva-based delegations.

TURKEY

4.251.  It is certainly not an easy task to command such a big and diverse country and one of the biggest democracy on Earth. India has its own strengths and challenges, and those unique dynamics make India one of the most important emerging powers of the 21^st century.

4.252.  Since its last trade policy review, India has recorded high growth rates, which is expected to reach 7.4% in 2015 and thus make India the fastest growing economy in the world. The 7.5%, growth figure announced last week for the first trimester of 2015 is supporting this expectation. Moreover, during the review period, incoming FDIs stood at an annual average of US$30 billion, while India's exports increased by more than 25%.

4.253.  Despite this good economic performance, growth is mostly driven domestically, and largely by services sectors, with modest contributions from investment and exports, as described by a recent World Bank Report.^[1]

4.254.  With an agricultural sector accounting for 56% of the total workforce and producing 18% of the GDP, on the one hand, and rural poverty that stands at 25.7% on the other, the main challenge before the Indian policy makers is certainly to alleviate rural poverty, promote human development in rural areas, and diversify economy towards manufacturing industries. I strongly believe that more liberalization in trade and investment promise important opportunities for this purpose.

4.255.  Likewise, some important domestic reforms are also needed, as stated in the Government Report, to overcome some very important structural bottlenecks and to benefit from big production and trade potential of India. Especially, education seems to be the most critical reform area in order to accomplish the long-term development goal of the country.

4.256.  On the other hand, medium and short term reforms require a more reliable transport and power-supply infrastructure. Cutting red tapes is also necessary for a business friendly environment to boost investments and trade in manufacturing sectors. Actually, India ranks the 179^th place among 189 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking for starting business. This position is mainly due to confusing and time-consuming investment licence procedures, which is not an encouraging environment especially for foreign investment. However, recent steps taken by the Government within the framework of the "eBiz" and "made in India" initiatives would certainly contribute to the improvement of business environment in India.

4.257.  During the review period, India has taken important steps to liberalize and facilitate trade through self-assessment in customs procedures and elimination of state-trading requirements for some agricultural products. India also eased FDI restrictions in many sectors such as pharmaceuticals, finance, telecommunication and transport.

4.258.  However, India's import regime remains complex, unpredictable and trade-distorting due to its non-automatic licence and permit system for many products, which was also pointed out by Oman. TRQ and "minimum price" application to the import of marble by India, is a special source of concern for Turkey with respect to the development of bilateral trade.

4.259.  India's tariff structure also remains complicated and reserves high spreads between applied and bound tariffs. The water between applied and bound rates together with significant changes in tariffs from one year to the other create unpredictability. Moreover, high level of tariffs in manufacturing products, standing at an average of 9.5%, goes up to prohibiting levels for some products. For instance, the average applied MFN tariff for motor vehicles stands at 100%.

4.260.  Another issue affecting the predictability of India's trade regime is domestic supply conditions of agriculture products. Food security concerns especially for poor rural population require India to use trade policy as a tool to regulate domestic supply through export restrictions. The unpredictable trade regime in agriculture is an impediment for long term production and trade planning. A balance needs to be found between supply security and a predictable trade regime. In this respect, I strongly believe that finding a permanent solution to Public Stockholdings for Food Security Purposes within the Doha Development Agenda would relieve India from the need to use trade policy as an immediate food security instrument and would provide a more predictable trade regime in agriculture.

4.261.  On the bilateral side, Turkey and India, despite some ups and downs, have a strengthening trade flow which more than doubled during the review period. However, we believe that this flow has to be further increased through more cooperation and liberalization to reflect the great bilateral potential. Despite Turkey's big trade deficit with India, India still benefits from Turkey's GSP scheme designed for developing countries. Under these conditions, we need and we are willing to further enhance our bilateral trade in a balanced and diversified way.

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

4.262.  The trade policy review reports of the Secretariat and the Government of India highlight the continuous progress of the Indian economy in the recent years in terms of GDP growth and trade expansion. Progress has been sustained even in the face of the world economic crisis, the real GDP growth was 6.9% in 2013-14 and estimated to be around 7.4% in 2014-15.

4.263.  Nevertheless, despite this impressive economic growth, India has been facing some structural challenges of an urgent nature, this includes reducing the fiscal deficit; developing the infrastructure; addressing the issues of ill-targeted subsidies, low manufacturing base and low agricultural productivity and weak transportation network and power supply. These challenges are being addressed through several domestic reforms along with investment in infrastructure and education, improvement of the business environment, trade facilitation and logistical facilitation reforms and increasing predictability in trade and investment regimes.

4.264.  Open trade is clearly vital for India as it continues its development and growth. We note in particular the Government's objective of doubling India's share of global trade over the next five years through its new Foreign Trade Policy for 2015-2020. India is to be commended for its other recent initiatives such as "make in India", "digital India" and "skills India"; promoting the diversification of India's exports; creating an architecture for India's engagement with key regions of the world and encouraging a larger flow of efficiency-seeking FDI with the aim of making India a hub in the supply chain process.

4.265.  However, as the Secretariat report pointed out, some concerns exist regarding some aspect of India's trade regime such as the high level of trade remedy usage particularly anti‑dumping measures. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia encourages India to these measures to ensure fair trade and enhance the competitive opportunities that should benefit all participants in our international trading system. We have expressed some of our concerns regarding these matters in few questions to India. We will be happy to receive India's replies to these questions.

4.266.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India are prominent trading partners, their trade relations go back several centuries in time. Today, the bilateral business ties are being steadily expanded and further strengthened by continuous interaction and cooperation. During the current year (2014-15), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the 4th largest trading partner for India. The value of two-way trade between the two countries in 2013-14 exceeded US$48.62 billion. The import of crude oil by India forms a major component of bilateral trade. Saudi Arabia is the second largest source for market for India's imports. For Saudi Arabia, India is the 5th largest market for its exports.

4.267.  The bilateral investment between the two countries is growing steadily. Since mid-2000, a number of Indian firms have taken advantage of the new Saudi laws and established joint venture projects or wholly-owned subsidiaries in the Kingdom in diverse sectors such as management and consultancy services, construction projects, telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals, designing, financial services and software development. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest investors in India.

4.268.  As an original Member of the WTO, India is an active Member of this Organization and an active supporter of the multilateral trading system. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to continuing to work with India and the rest of the membership on the implementation of the Bali Package and the Post-Bali Programme..

ECUADOR

4.269.  El Ecuador participa con gran interés en este Examen de políticas comerciales debido a que la India es un claro ejemplo de aquellos países en los que han sido evidentes los progresos obtenidos en materia de política comercial. Es así que en los últimos años los Miembros de esta Organización hemos constatado los esfuerzos que la India ha realizado en el campo de la liberalización y facilitación del comercio, así como los avances producidos en el ámbito de reformas estructurales, tan solo para mencionar un ejemplo, la flexibilización de las restricciones a la inversión extranjera directa, que permite la inversión en la mayoría de sectores a través del mecanismo de vía automática.

4.270.  El Ecuador reconoce los objetivos que han sido planteados por el Gobierno de India en materia fiscal, tendientes a reducir el déficit fiscal al 3% para el bienio 2017-2018, así como la racionalización de los impuestos sobre bienes y servicios

4.271.  De igual forma, registramos las medidas que tienen como objetivo afrontar los problemas estructurales a través de una mayor inversión en infraestructura y educación, la supresión de reglamentación excesiva, y el aumento de la previsibilidad de los regímenes de comercio e inversión.

4.272.  En cuanto se refiere a los objetivos de política comercial, según la información que consta en el informe, mi delegación reconoce la nueva política para el quinquenio 2015-2020, que persigue elevar la cuota de exportaciones mundiales de la India al 3,5% a través de un sistema normativo duradero y estable para el comercio exterior de mercancías y servicios. 

4.273.  El informe de la Secretaría hace referencia a ciertas preocupaciones expresadas en la política comercial de la India. De manera específica, se habla de la contención de las fluctuaciones de los precios de los productos básicos, lo que conlleva a un ajuste constante de sus políticas, con el consiguiente efecto en la falta de previsibilidad del régimen comercial y generación de costos adicionales.

4.274.  Esperamos que esas medidas permitan alcanzar ese objetivo de corto plazo a fin de subsanar las preocupaciones expresadas sobre el régimen comercial de India.

4.275.  Otra de las preocupaciones que se manifiestan en el informe se relaciona con el régimen de importación de la India, sobre todo por la complejidad en el sistema de concesión de licencias, permisos y estructura arancelaria. Alentamos al Gobierno indio a continuar racionalizando sus procedimientos aduaneros y arancelarios incluso mediante la aplicación de medidas tendientes a facilitar el comercio.

4.276.  De igual forma, el Ecuador desea expresar su reconocimiento a la India por la adopción de varias iniciativas tendientes a modernizar por un lado, la administración de los derechos de propiedad intelectual y vigilar la observancia de los mismos; y, por otro, medidas cuyo objetivo es aumentar de la productividad en el sector agropecuario, la estabilidad de precios y la seguridad alimentaria No obstante, se espera que la concesión de determinadas subvenciones, en el marco de esas iniciativas, sean notificadas de conformidad a las disposiciones multilaterales de la OMC.

4.277.  Por último, y no menos importante, deseo referirme al sector de servicios, que constituye en la actualidad el principal factor del crecimiento económico de la India, pues representa más de la mitad del PIB de ese país. Digno de destacar son las reformas producidas en el sector de servicios financieros, telecomunicaciones, transporte y seguros. 

4.278.  Para concluir, deseamos anticipar nuestro agradecimiento a la delegación de la India por sus respuestas a las preguntas que hemos planteado sobre algunos aspectos de su política comercial y que han sido enviadas a la Secretaría, lo que proveerá de insumos importantes para el fortalecimiento de las relaciones bilaterales en materia de comercio exterior.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

4.279.  Trinidad and Tobago views India as a formidable force in the global economy and the Indian economy is an important trading partner for Trinidad and Tobago, which is reflected in the plethora of bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding between our two countries. Politically, Trinidad and Tobago has an intimate relationship with India and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and several Cabinet Ministers have paid official visits to India in order to solidify and bolster our countries relations. We see India as a market with potential for further development on a multi-dimensional basis, given that Trinidad and Tobago is among the most lucrative markets for Indian goods in the Caribbean. In 2013, Trinidad and Tobago exported to India TT$ 11.8 million worth of goods, namely chemicals, liquefied natural gas, and iron and steel products. On the other hand, we imported light and heavy vehicles, car parts, pharmaceuticals, textiles and spices totalling TT$ 1.2 billion in that year.

4.280.  With the balance of trade so disproportionately in India's favour and growing, my Government is eager to broaden the level and scope of economic cooperation with India and, in that context, to move beyond bilateral trade to encompass and strengthen our investment links in the near future. In November 2011, Trinidad and Tobago and Indian convened the inaugural session of a Joint Commission established to promote economic, political and other spheres of cooperation. Please allow my delegation the opportunity of this forum to reiterate to our Indian colleagues the strong interest of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to cement the understandings reached recently in our Joint Commission Meeting.

4.281.  India is no stranger to the Caribbean region. The CARICOM-Indian Joint Commission on Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination was first established in 2003 in order to create a framework for enhancing CARICOM-India relations in various fora. This was quickly realised in 2005, when Foreign Ministers of India and CARICOM held an official meeting in Suriname to discuss matters of common interest including promotion of trade in goods, services and investments, greater participation by India in Caribbean infrastructure development and regional investment, the possibility of India's contribution to the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) to support economic activities with the CARICOM region and the prospect of India's membership of the Caribbean Development Bank that would engage India as a partner to co-finance development and integration projects in the region. Since that Ministerial meeting many positive inroads have been made between CARICOM and India, which will be assessed shortly at the second CARICOM‑India Joint Commission meeting this year, 2015.

4.282.  Like Trinidad and Tobago, India is a very open economy with a high degree of dependence on international trade and thus susceptible to the volatility of the multilateral trading environment. Since its last review in 2011, the Indian economy has steadily developed to robust levels thanks to the consistent performance of the services sector that has contributed more than 52% to the Indian economy's GDP. My delegation notes the smaller and declining role of the agriculture sector on the country's GDP, but is very mindful of that sector's critical responsibility as the largest employer in the Indian economy, and any decline in prospects of the agriculture sector would have a deleterious chain-effect on India's most vulnerable population living on the poverty line. Similarly, the declining share of the industry sector in its contribution to GDP is likewise noted with the concomitant negative employment and household income effects that can well be acknowledged. Nonetheless, my delegation was heartened to observe and compliment India on refraining from introducing new trade barriers in order to shelter its domestic manufacturing and agriculture sectors and to protect its export trade.

4.283.  India's projected positive growth for 2014-15 confirms the competitiveness of the economy's services sector and trade in goods, which was brought about thanks to the steady liberalization and structural reforms, and as a consequence strengthened, accelerated and pushed the Indian economy forward. However, we agree with the WTO Secretariat that the complex tariff structure needs to be simplified. My delegation also urges for a relaxation of the non-tariff barriers currently in place. We believe India understands all too well the dangers, both short and long term, of continued trade restrictions on imports and urge for more predictability in trade policy as reflected in the effective applied tariff rate.

4.284.  Permit me to thank the delegation of India for their responses provided to Trinidad and Tobago's questions.

NEPAL

4.285.  As a founding Member of the WTO, India has been a staunch supporter of multilateral trading system, and committed to uphold its fundamental values and principles. Being one of the largest and emerging economies in the present world, India has a profound role to play in strengthening and further promoting multilateral trading system. The delegation of Nepal wishes to extend its appreciation to India for its consistent, constructive and solution-oriented engagement at the various forums in the WTO. In this regard, my delegation appreciates the constructive role being played by Ambassador Anjali Prasad as head of India's WTO delegation in Geneva. India's role as an active member of the G33 and as an individual member State, in pursuing negotiation on agriculture, NAMA and services, among other DDA issues, has been perceived by Members with a great deal of interest and curiosity.

4.286.  The circulated reports reveal that India continued pursuing its efforts in liberalization and facilitation of trade for accelerating and sustaining its economic growth. India achieved real GDP growth of 6.9% in fiscal year 2013-14 and it is estimated to be around 7.4% in the fiscal year 2014-15. As highlighted in the report, international trade is an important pillar of India's economic development with merchandise trade constituting around 44% of the country's GDP in 2013-14. During the four-year period under review (2010-11 to 2013-14), exports grew at a compound annual growth rate of 8%, while imports grew by 6.8%. India's share in global exports registered increase from 1.5% in 2010 to 1.7% in 2013. Its share in world imports increased from 2.3% in 2010 to 2.5% in 2013. India's share in world services exports stands at 3.3% in 2013 and it is increasing faster than its share in world merchandise export. Due to robust and continuous reforms and increasing integration with both regional and global economies, India's total trade transaction, including both merchandise and services trade reached almost US$1 trillion in fiscal year 2013/14. This achievement, in the face of global contraction, is a clear evidence of India's growing share and influence in the global trade.

4.287.  India has embarked on an ambitious reform agenda to meet the challenges of spurring growth, creating jobs and improving the quality of life. The introduction of self-assessment in customs procedures, elimination of state-trading requirements for some agricultural products, eliminating price controls on diesel and relaxing foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions in some selected sectors, among others, are some noteworthy initiatives put forth by India during the review period to give further boost to its economy and trade. India's new five-year trade policy covering the year 2015 to 2020 encompasses various reform initiatives with an objective of raising its share of global exports by 2020. To achieve this end, India is streamlining its policy and rules both in merchandise and services trade, linking them with other recent initiatives such as "make in India", "digital India" and "skills India" and other trade diversification and competitiveness enhancement programmes. In this connection, the proposed new Goods and Services Tax (GST) is supposed to facilitate India's growth and international trade further through streamlining its various tax structures and ensuring more stability, predictability and comfort in the business community.

4.288.  India has always been supportive to LDCs trade and development efforts considering LDCs' low integration into the world market. In line with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, India introduced Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme in August 2008, and has been improving its coverage under it over the years. In this connection, effective from 1 April 2014, India's DFTP scheme has been providing duty-free market access to LDCs on about 96% of its tariff lines and preferential duties on 2.2% of the lines. At present, 31 out of 48 LDCs are benefiting from this preferential scheme. We appreciate this and encourage India to take initiative to simplify the procedural matters including the Rules of Origin provisions of the DFTP Scheme in line with the Bali decisions in order to facilitate LDCs' export further.

4.289.  During a high-level meeting convened in February this year, India announced an attractive package of waiver ranging from waiving visa fee to improving market access, targeting LDCs services and services suppliers. In this regard, LDCs are waiting India's notification together with other preference-granting members by end July. We are optimistic that India's notification will offer LDCs commercially meaningful preferences and set a good standard to be followed by other members.

4.290.  A close neighbour, friend and longstanding development partner, India has been one of the strong supporters of Nepal's development endeavours. It is the largest source of FDI inflows in Nepal, which has helped in promoting industrialization and creating employment opportunities. Business and trade opportunities between the two countries are expected to grow following the recent signing of a power trade agreement which aims at effectively harnessing and utilizing the rich hydropower potentials available in Nepal.

4.291.  India is Nepal's largest trading partner accounting for about two third share of its foreign trade. The value and volume of both merchandise and services trade has been expanding over the years. India is the major export market for Nepalese products occupying 65% share in the fiscal year 2013/14. The share of India in Nepal's total import accounted for 66.7% in the same year. Despite preferential trade arrangement, Nepal suffers a huge trade deficit with India due to structural weakness, low productivity and low competitiveness on one hand, as well as some procedural matters on the other, which can be improved, through diversification of activities, among others.

4.292.  India is not only Nepal's major trading partner, but also a major transit providing country through the territory of which a very significant portion country's significant portion of third country trade occurs. The trade and transit relations are regulated by separate agreements and understandings concluded between the two countries. In order to further promote trade and investment, Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) have been signed between the two nations in the recent years. Through these important measures, Nepal is endeavouring to further integrate its economy and trade with India as well as the rest of the world.

4.293.  Finally, we expect that India will continue and further expand its trade liberalization process putting LDCs' concern and interest at the centre. Let's hope that LDCs will have more flexibility in accessing Indian market both in trade in goods and services front with simplified rules of origin, reduced non-tariff measures and with enhanced technical assistance and capacity building support in the future.

NIGERIA

4.294.  Nigeria wishes to congratulate India for its impressive economic performance since its last trade policy review in 2011 largely due to unilateral trade and structural reforms. We acknowledge the Indian leadership role in the multilateral trading system, anchored by the indefatigable and resourceful Ambassador Anjali Prasad and her dedicated staff, particularly its strong commitments and support towards early conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations through constructive and analytical contributions. We also wish to commend India for providing trade-related technical assistance and capacity building for African countries. We note with encouragement the growth in information technology, which is one of the fastest growing industries in the economy, especially software development and IT enable services, outsourcing and hardware manufacturing.

4.295.  We note from the Secretariat report that India had accepted the fourth and fifth protocols of the GATS as a strong advocate of the multilateral trading system and being historically a party to few regional trade agreements. Despites its reservations, regionalism has been increasingly becoming an element of its overall policy objective of enhanced market access for its exports. Given the observations from the Secretariat report, India has been a party to few regional trade agreements. Does the Government of India have any plan to improve both its regional and bilateral agreements? If India is to adopt an efficient approach relating to such scenarios, what approach would that be? 

4.296.  As indicated in the Secretariat report, India's economic performance during the period under review is still below 10% rate achievement in fiscal year 2010-2011. We also note that under the newly-revised series of India's national accounts released in January 2015, in spite of the below 10% rate achieved in fiscal year 2010-2011, India's real GDP growth was 6.9% in 2013‑2014 and estimated to be around 7.4% in 2014-2015 which shows a more positive trend and outlook than the previous series and it is expected to continue to grow at healthy rates in the years to come. 

4.297.  As observed from the Secretariat report, in terms of customs procedures, India continued its efforts to liberalize and facilitate trade, such as through the introduction of self-assessment in customs procedures and the elimination of state-trading requirements for some agricultural products. It is also mentioned that the Government of India also proceeded with other structural reforms, including the elimination of price controls on diesel and relaxing foreign direct investment (FDI) restrictions in some of its economic sectors although Indian tariff restructure remains complex and the simple average MFN tariff rate have increased during the review period. Nigeria would like to encourage India to further reform its complex tariff system in such a way that it will enhance the predictability of its trade regime.

4.298.  As mentioned in the Government report, services sector continued to be the major economic driver for Indian economy, both in terms of GDP and employment. Indian GDP is heavily reliant on services in financing, insurance, real estate and business services under the revised series of national accounts issued in January 2015 which contributed more than 50% of its GDP, 35% to exports and it also accounts for more than 50% of FDI into the country. We also recognize that India's export services continued on its successful growth path during the period 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, respectively. 

4.299.  Nigeria and India have similar socio-cultural background because of the multi-ethnic setting of both countries. It is not a coincidence that both countries belong to G20 and G33, respectively. Nigeria is proud of the excellent political and economic ties with India. Indian companies have sizeable investments in textiles, ICT, chemicals, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, plastics, fishing among others in Nigeria. India has assisted Nigeria through transfer of technology, machinery and expertise in the form of joint ventures and consultancy services. Nigeria also imports more India pharmaceuticals than any other country in the African continent. Trade turnover continues to grow, including in computer components and software services, with large potential for project exports in railways, power generation and electricity transmission, telecommunications, defence and machine tools. On outsourcing, where India has gradually carved a niche for itself across the globe, some information communication technology firms in India have already started outsourcing some of their jobs to Nigerian companies.

4.300.  The Nigerian top exports to India in recent years were petrol and crude oil which amounted to US$14,860,480,370; natural gas US$640,307,594; fruits/nuts, fresh/dried US$25,230,592; leather US$20,523,955 and oil seeds US$17,762,548 among others. While Nigeria's imports from India in the same years include medicaments US$312,250,363; motorcycles/cycles US$273,685,133; passenger cars US$203,466,191; rice US$154,313,478; plastic sheets US$57,463,256. Nevertheless, there are huge trade and investment opportunities between Nigeria and India which include spices, aluminium, lead, cocoa, and cool equipment among others.

4.301.  However, Nigeria is concerned by discriminatory regulation and control of drugs meant for export as against those for internal use. This practice has resulted in drugs labelled ''for export only'' not being subjected to the same strict regulations as those for internal use in the country of manufacture. Poor regulations of exports from India expose countries like ours with weak regulation to dumping of fake drugs. Although the counterfeiting of pharmaceutical is a global phenomenon, some countries, including Nigeria, are more affected than others. In this regard, we would be grateful if appropriate remedial action is taken by the relevant authorities to address our specific concerns for the sake of existing cordial relationship between our beloved countries.  

4.302.  Finally, my delegation believes that increased openness in India would reaffirm its leadership role, which is crucial in advancing the objectives of the multilateral trading system, while concluding the DDA would also enhance market access security for Indian exporters and other exporters. We commend the effort of India for promoting trade and economic growth in developing countries and LDCs through a wide range of trade capacity building activities. We wish to congratulate the delegation of India on this historic occasion and also to wish them a successful conclusion of their trade policy review. We assure India of our continued support and collaboration.

BÉNIN

4.303.  L'Inde a connu au cours des dernières décennies un développement économique qui la classe au nombre des puissances émergentes et fait d'elle un modèle pour les autres pays en développement, notamment les Pays les Moins Avancés (PMA), dans leurs efforts pour édifier des nations prospères.

4.304.  En effet, les quatre années que couvre la période du présent examen ont été caractérisées, en Inde, par un environnement économique viable dont témoignent les indicateurs macroéconomiques qui situent la croissance du Produit Intérieur Brut (PIB) à 5,1% en 2012-2013 et à 6,9% en 2013-2014. Les prévisions consolident cette embellie pour 2014-2015, exercice au titre duquel une croissance de 7,4% est attendue.

4.305.  Ces indicateurs macroéconomiques, ainsi que les prévisions qui en découlent, sont la résultante des mesures hardies prises par le Gouvernement indien pour redynamiser l'économie, encourager et favoriser les investissements, et faire bénéficier à l'ensemble de la nation d'une prospérité partagée.

4.306.  Pour atteindre ces objectifs, des réformes ont été menées sur les plans structurel, économique et financier, technologique et social. Ces réformes ont, notamment, trait à:

·             la mise en place une administration fiscale efficiente;

·             l'inclusion financière de tous les acteurs économiques;

·             l'amélioration de la facilité de faire des affaires avec la simplification des procédures liées à la création d'entreprises, au foncier, à la fourniture de services de base;

·             la création d'emplois, notamment pour les jeunes, et l'amélioration de la qualité de vie par des mesures dans les domaines de la santé et de l'assainissement de base;

·             la formation de la jeunesse, avec un accent particulier pour l'éducation des jeunes filles;

·             l'appui à l'accroissement de la productivité agricole et à l'augmentation des revenus des exploitations agricoles;

·             l'amélioration de la connectivité numérique;

·             le lancement d'un portail unifié sur le marché du travail permettant l'enregistrement en ligne d'entreprises, etc.

4.307.  En outre, pour faciliter l'investissement, favoriser l'innovation, et améliorer le développement des compétences, le Gouvernement indien a mis en œuvre le programme "Make in India", de même qu'il a lancé l'initiative "Invest India" qui consacre la création d'une unité de facilitation chargée de guider, d'aider et d'accompagner les investisseurs.

4.308.  Par ailleurs, la politique en matière d'Investissements Étrangers Directs (IED) a été libéralisée et rationnalisée.

4.309.  S'agissant du secteur de l'agriculture, la délégation du Bénin prend note des mesures adoptées par le Gouvernement indien, notamment dans les domaines de la recherche, de l'éducation, de l'irrigation, du meilleur accès aux intrants.

4.310.  Elle note également que ces mesures visent essentiellement à soutenir les moyens de subsistance des petits producteurs et producteurs marginaux, et encourage la Partie indienne à poursuivre ces politiques agricoles pour peu qu'elles soient compatibles avec le droit de l'OMC.

4.311.  Toutes ces mesures ont impacté positivement les flux commerciaux de l'Inde puisqu'au titre de la période sous examen, les exportations se sont accrues à raison d'un taux annuel moyen de 8%, tandis que les importations ont augmenté de 6,8% conférant au pays une légère hausse de sa part dans les exportations et importations mondiales.

4.312.  Il est à noter qu'en termes de répartition géographique du commerce des marchandises, les PMA ne figurent pas encore parmi les principaux partenaires commerciaux de l'Inde.

4.313.  Mais, dans le même temps, l'on peut se réjouir que l'Inde œuvre activement à faciliter leur meilleur accès à son marché en ayant été l'un des premiers pays en développement à offrir aux PMA l'accès en franchise de droits et sans contingent par le biais du Système de préférences tarifaires en franchise de droits (PTFD) initié en août 2008 et rendu entièrement opérationnel en octobre 2012, avec un total de 85% des lignes tarifaires en franchise de droits, 9% bénéficiant d'une marge de préférence comprise entre 10 et 100%, et 6% seulement demeurant sur la liste des exclusions.

4.314.  Depuis le 1er avril 2014, ce régime préférentiel accorde l'accès aux marchés en franchise de droits pour 96% environ des lignes tarifaires de l'Inde, tandis que 2,2% des lignes bénéficient de droits préférentiels, et seulement 1,8% des lignes tarifaires ont été maintenues sur la liste des exclusions.

4.315.  Ces mesures ont été assorties d'une initiative visant à simplifier les règles d'origine au bénéfice de trente et un (31) PMA sur quarante et huit (48).

4.316.  Dans le domaine des services, la délégation béninoise salue l'annonce faite par l'Inde, en février 2015, d'accorder un traitement préférentiel aux PMA dans des domaines comme: l'accès aux marchés, les questions consulaires et l'assistance technique et le renforcement des capacités

4.317.  La délégation du Bénin forme le vœu que les mesures annoncées portent sur des domaines qui ont une valeur commerciale avérée pour les PMA d'une part, et fasse l'objet de notifications formelles à l'OMC dans les meilleurs délais possibles, d'autre part.

4.318.  Toujours au titre des actions en faveur des PMA et d'un point de vue plus spécifique, la délégation du Bénin salue la contribution active de l'Inde à la recherche d'une solution à l'Initiative Sectorielle en faveur du Coton et en attendant une telle solution, apprécie à leur juste valeur les activités d'assistance technique et de renforcement des capacités productives et d'exportation menées en direction de nombreux pays africains au titre du volet "développement" de la question du coton et de la coopération Sud-Sud.

4.319.  La délégation du Bénin félicite l'Inde pour les résultats enregistrés au cours de la période sous examen, et l'encourage à poursuivre ses efforts afin de surmonter les difficultés qui persistent au plan national dans des domaines comme: l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire, le secteur manufacturier, le développement des infrastructures, le maintien de la discipline budgétaire, etc.

4.320.  Sur le plan multilatéral, la délégation du Bénin exhorte l'Inde, qui a toujours fait preuve de son attachement au multilatéralisme et au Programme de Doha pour le développement, à continuer à œuvrer, de concert avec les autres Membres de l'OMC, aux fins de la conclusion du cycle de Doha dans le strict respect de son mandat en faveur du développement.

MONTENEGRO

4.321.  Montenegro has symbolic trade relations with India. However, both our countries have recently stepped up their interests to improve bilateral economic cooperation including presentation of the investments opportunities of Montenegro in Mumbai and then in Ahmedabad/state of Gujarat. Montenegro is looking forward to further supporting cooperation with the business communities and the Institute of entrepreneurship of India. In addition, I would like to use this opportunity to extend my delegation's appreciation to the Centre for WTO studies in New Deli (supported by the Government of India) for its dedicated and excellent work in providing expert technical assistance to the Members of the WTO, particularly newly acceded countries, small and vulnerable economies and LDCs.

4.322.  Let me now comment on the documents under review: Montenegro welcomes the Government of India's continued commitment to deliver strong economic growth, address economic challenges such as high inflation and to take steps to ensure that structural problems such as India's infrastructure deficit are properly addressed. Although India has been unable to achieve growth at the level of 2010-2011, Montenegro notes the positive direction in which India's economic growth has taken during challenging economic times. With necessary reforms, Montenegro is confident that India will continue to enjoy strong economic growth for many years and to remain an important trading partner for the European markets.

4.323.  In agreement with the Secretariat, Montenegro also welcomes the Government of India's commitment to the liberalization of its investment policies, including increases in the number of sectors in which FDI is permitted, as well as overall reductions in sectorial restrictions. Montenegro notes with interest the Government of India's "Make in India" initiative, as well as its commitment to improve the country's ranking on the ease of doing business. We are pleased to see that the Government of India is taking clear and positive steps to introduce necessary regulatory changes in service sector which accounts for more than half of India's GDP. Finally, we would like to emphasize the importance of India's renew commitment to address the poverty elevation that remains a major challenge by the range of measures that would not directly affect its trade and related policies.

4.324.  Montenegro is looking forward to continuing constructive engagement with the delegation of India in Geneva on the matters of mutual interest.

MYANMAR

4.325.  Since ancient time, Myanmar and India have enjoyed close and relations along with historical and cultural links. India is not only a major trading partner of Myanmar but also a neighbouring country sharing over 1300 Kilometres of borderline. Furthermore, our two countries are fellow members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

4.326.  Myanmar-India bilateral trade volume can be observed in an upward trend, increasing year after year. In 2010-2011, the bilateral trade volume of Myanmar and India was US$1.067 billion, but it increased to US$1.636 billion in 2013-2014. In terms of Foreign Direct Investment inflow to Myanmar, India stood at 11th position, investing about US$400 million by the fifteen companies.

4.327.  In the regional context, Myanmar welcomes the ASEAN-India Trade in Services and Investment Agreement which will enter into force on 15 July 2015. Myanmar would also like to express its appreciation for India's participation in the ongoing negotiation of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (R-CEP)

4.328.  We commend India for making concerted efforts and taking necessary measures to facilitate and promote trade and investment since its last review. We are also glad to note that India continues to actively participate in regional economic forums and work with partners to advance multilateral trade liberalization. We are confident that India's efforts in multi-lateral trading system will bring benefits for all.

4.329.  In conclusion, we would like to express our appreciation to the Permanent Representative of India, Ambassador Anjali Prasad and her competent team for their tireless efforts and constructive engagement with delegations here in Geneva.

URUGUAY

4.330.  Uruguay desea resaltar los esfuerzos llevados a cabo por la India a los efectos de optimizar su organización estructural y por liberalizar y facilitar el comercio. Asimismo, sus mejoras en la captación de la IED a través de la eliminación de las restricciones ha permitido captar capitales extranjeros que contribuyen al desarrollo del país en su conjunto.

4.331.  El mercado de la India resulta particularmente atractivo para los cítricos uruguayos como las mandarinas.

4.332.  En este sentido, Uruguay ha comenzado las gestiones para la apertura de la comercialización de cítricos en el año 2012, enviando toda la documentación requerida para el inicio del análisis de riesgo. Desde entonces, y en reiteradas oportunidades, Uruguay ha solicitado información sobre el estado en el que se encuentra este proceso, lamentablemente, sin obtener respuesta.

4.333.  Asimismo, es de interés exportar peras y manzanas, por lo que Uruguay aún aguarda el envío de información sobre requisitos ya solicitado oportunamente.

4.334.  Las exportaciones uruguayas a la India se han incrementado a más del doble en el período 2010-14, exportando principalmente lana y madera. De todas formas, y con ánimos de redoblar los esfuerzos en materia de comercio entre ambos países, Uruguay desea incrementar aún más los flujos comerciales tanto de bienes como de servicios con India.

4.335.  Existen muchos emprendimientos de empresas indias en el Uruguay, siendo el más importante, Tata Consultancy Services, que inició sus operaciones en 2002 como el primer centro de la compañía en América Latina. En la actualidad, cuenta con tres centros de desarrollo, uno en el centro de Montevideo, y dos en el parque tecnológico y de negocios "Zonamerica".

4.336.  Es de interés de Uruguay continuar estrechando los vínculos anteriormente mencionados en el plano comercial y en la promoción de inversiones.

HONDURAS

4.337.  En lo que concierne al informe presentado, notamos con gran interés que la India ha continuado esforzándose por liberalizar y facilitar el comercio.

4.338.  Hemos podido observar que el sector de servicios es el principal motor del crecimiento económico de la India, representando más de la mitad del PIB, lo que ha conllevado a realizar modificaciones reglamentarias de las principales leyes relacionadas con los servicios financieros, las telecomunicaciones y el transporte, así como la implementación de programas que permitan alcanzar los objetivos de política pública trazados.

4.339.  India es un exportador neto de servicios, lo que representa que el superávit del comercio de servicios, en porcentaje del PIB haya aumentado del 2,6% en 2010-2011 al 3,9% en 2013‑2014, debido principalmente al crecimiento de las exportaciones de servicios de informática, información, telecomunicaciones y de otros servicios prestados a las empresas.

4.340.  Al mismo tiempo, del informe se desprende que las autoridades manifiestan que el sector de la agricultura es el que más personas emplea en la India, siendo el principal soporte de la mayoría de la población, ya que da empleo al 56% de la fuerza laboral total, representando cerca del 17% del PIB

4.341.  Resaltamos las modificaciones adoptadas en materia de Política de Competencia de la India, particularmente en el tema de fusiones, cobro de sanciones monetarias y la publicación de las directrices sobre las fusiones y adquisiciones en el sector de las telecomunicaciones, estando estas en sintonía con las mejores prácticas internacionales. Al mismo tiempo, destacamos el reconocimiento que se le otorga a los memorandos de entendimiento y la inclusión de capítulos sobre política de competencia en los ACR firmados por la India.

4.342.  En lo que respecta a nuestro comercio bilateral, este ha presentado un sostenido incremento en promedio y para el año 2014, importamos alrededor de 115,000,000 dólares EE.UU. en motores y generadores eléctricos, glándulas, tractores y caucho. Al mismo tiempo, exportamos 23,000,000 dólares EE.UU. en café, fundición en bruto, mantas y aluminio, entre otros.

4.343.  Destacamos que en abril de 2015, se llevó a cabo la Reunión de Consultas Políticas entre la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores y Cooperación Internacional de la República de Honduras y el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de la República de la India donde se confirmó la "amistad profunda" que une a ambos países y que data desde 1994 cuando se establecieron relaciones diplomáticas bilaterales, las cuales han solidificado los fuertes lazos de cooperación en áreas de desarrollo agrícola, comunicación, administración, finanzas, tecnología, energía, asistencia técnica y aprendizaje del idioma inglés, entre otras.

4.344.  Destacamos la voluntad de nuestro Gobierno de aperturar la Embajada de Honduras en la India y agradecemos las becas otorgadas en el marco de ITEC, así como la relación estratégica de cooperación que la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras mediante el Proyecto de Actualización del Centro de Excelencia para la Educación en Tecnologías de la información (CEETI).

4.345.  No podemos dejar de mencionar los proyectos financiados con las líneas de crédito otorgadas por el Gobierno de la India, particularmente con el Proyecto de Bajo Riego valle de Jamastran Fase I, el cual permitirá modernizar y aumentar la eficiencia de la agricultura en la zona para lograr el mejoramiento de los ingresos de los productores y contribuir a la seguridad alimentaria.

4.346.  En el seno del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), esperamos poder continuar analizando temas importantes como la posibilidad de suscribir un instrumento que permita el incremento de las relaciones comerciales entre los países miembros de SICA y la India, así como la eventualidad de su incorporación como socio extra regional del BCIE.

EL SALVADOR

4.347.  Del informe de la Secretaría observamos que la economía de la India ha experimentado un crecimiento económico, que si bien no ha alcanzado la tasa del 10% lograda en 2010-2011, se ha venido acelerando en los últimos años. 

4.348.  Hemos observado también los esfuerzos que el Gobierno de la India ha venido realizando para liberalizar y facilitar el comercio, así como para una mayor integración en la economía mundial, y que ha venido haciendo reformas estructurales para superar situaciones que aún le impiden lograr un mayor crecimiento económico y mejorar la calidad de vida de su población. Creemos que la claridad de sus objetivos de política comercial, recogidos en su Política quinquenal de Comercio Exterior, le permite enfocar y tomar las medidas adecuadas que le acercarán cada vez más a la consecución de tales objetivos, así como sus iniciativas para impulsar e incentivar el comercio como "Make in India", "Digital India" y "Skills India".

4.349.  Aunque aún presenta algunas limitantes, como complejidad y cierta falta de previsibilidad, se destacan los esfuerzos para racionalizar el régimen arancelario, lo cual vemos como un factor muy positivo. Sin embargo, es importante que la India ponga atención en los obstáculos no arancelarios que todavía pueden afectar a algunas importaciones.  

4.350.  Otro aspecto a señalar es el esfuerzo para modernizar su administración de los derechos de propiedad intelectual e imponer su observancia, fortaleciendo el marco legal de protección y aplicando las flexibilidades del mismo a través de la primera y única licencia obligatoria para determinados medicamentos contra el cáncer.

4.351.  En el plano bilateral, El Salvador estableció relaciones diplomáticas con la India en febrero de 1979. Se resalta la cooperación que brinda la India a El Salvador en diversas áreas, destacándose los programas de becas para capacitación en informática, micro-empresas, desarrollo rural, planificación educativa, normas de calidad, idioma inglés y otras vinculadas al tema del desarrollo, así como asistencia humanitaria recibida en desastres naturales, la suscripción del Memorándum de Entendimiento en Pesca y Acuicultura, entre otras iniciativas. 

4.352.  En cuanto al comercio bilateral, la India se ubica en el cuarto destino de exportación hacia el continente asiático. En cuanto a las importaciones, la India ocupa un lugar destacado en el ranking de proveedores de bienes de El Salvador, totalizando 95 millones de dólares EE.UU. en 2014, lo cual refleja la importancia comercial de India para la cadena productiva del país.

4.353.  Dicho comercio es bastante complementario, ya que de conformidad con la información del Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador, para el período 2012-2014, las exportaciones de El Salvador hacia la India se concentraron en maderas tropicales, productos de hierro y acero y aluminio, nueces, productos a base de bálsamo, entre otros, mientras que las exportaciones de la India a El Salvador se concentraron en materiales colorantes sintéticos, medicamentos, vehículos y motocicletas, partes de calderas de vapor, aleaciones de aluminio, entre otros.

4.354.  Adicionalmente, alentamos a la India a profundizar las relaciones comerciales y mejorar el nivel de inversión en la región latinoamericana, tal como lo manifestó la Ministra de Economía de la India en un encuentro en Nueva Delhi con países de América Latina y el Caribe en octubre del año pasado.

4.355.  En el plano multilateral, tal como lo recoge el informe de la Secretaría, la India es Miembro fundador de la OMC y ha sido firme defensora del sistema multilateral de comercio. El Salvador aplaude los esfuerzos de la India en el marco de esta Organización para velar por los intereses de los países en desarrollo y agradece el apoyo que da a las pequeñas economías, agrupación a la que El Salvador pertenece.

4.356.  Destacamos la activa participación de la India en la Ronda de Negociaciones de Doha y en general, su participación en el G33, agrupación en que ambos países participamos para impulsar nuestros intereses comunes en materia agrícola.

MAURITIUS

4.357.  Let me start by welcoming the Indian delegation to this Trade Policy Review. I avail of this opportunity to underline the strong, close and historical bilateral relations that exist between Mauritius and India.

4.358.  India has made significant progress since the last review in 2011 and major prospects are opening up for it. The Indian Government's efforts and initiatives at bilateral, regional and multilateral level to facilitate trade and investment and further the country's integration in the world economy have been the engines of its economic development.

4.359.  My delegation wishes to commend India on its economic performance. To have achieved real GDP growth of 6.9% in 2013-14 at this particular juncture in the global economy is remarkable. During the period under review, India has continued to play an important role in international trade and as a driving force in the global economy.

4.360.  We wish to laud the vibrant economic diplomacy spearheaded by Prime Minister Modi. We are encouraged by the steps India has taken to further amplify its attractiveness as a trade and investment destination. On FDI, we note that India has introduced a number of incentives to encourage investment, opening up more sectors for foreign investment and the "Make in India" programme to promote further investment in industry and services.

4.361.  We also note that several actions have been taken to re-energize the economy with a focus on accelerating growth, enhancing investment and passing on the benefits of growth to the common people in India.

4.362.   We welcome the efforts of the Government of India for its ambitious reform agenda aiming at creating jobs and improving the quality of life of its people. In that respect, we wish to commend the launched in 2014 of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, a programme for financial inclusion which envisages universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every household and designed to address social security schemes so that every Indian citizen is provided suitable cover during illness, accidents, or in old age.

4.363.  On the multilateral front, India is a strong defender of the multilateral trading system. We share India's approach for an inclusive, transparent and balanced outcome in the Doha Round Negotiations. We commend India's continued support for the sustainable economic development of developing and least-developed countries including SIDS and NFIDCs like Mauritius.

4.364.  Given the pro-active nature of the India's reform agenda and restructuring efforts, India is likely to continue to perform well. We are very encouraged by the tangible and positive results and achievements.

ZIMBABWE

4.365.  It is interesting to note that India has taken bold steps to revitalize its economy through a set of reforms which have resulted in high GDP growth rates during the review period. India's economy has thus been resilient despite global contraction.

4.366.  During the period under review, India continued to make efforts to liberalize its trade, and foreign trade plays now a significant role in the country's economic development. India two-way merchandise crossed the US$760 billion mark in 2013, and this translated to 44% of GDP. India's share of global trade, however, remains relatively low.

4.367.  We commend India for its valuable role in the multilateral trading system and for its stern efforts to address the imbalances in the global trade rules for the benefit of developing countries, especially in the area of food security.

4.368.  Zimbabwe and India enjoy a long history of mutually beneficial economic bilateral relations. Trade between the two countries is under the MFN trade agreement of 1981 and has been progressively increasing in favour of India. India has also become a key South-South cooperating partner.

4.369.  Regarding foreign direct investment, Indian investors continue to increase their presence in Zimbabwe, mainly in the pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, textiles manufacturing and production of steel products.

4.370.  India has also availed lines of credit for infrastructural development projects and business activities, as well as provision of trade and business related capacity building to Zimbabwe officials.

4.371.  Regarding technology transfer, the Indian Government has provided equipment for SMEs incubators, and US$5 million worth of State of the art equipment for the establishment of SMEs technology centres. We greatly appreciate the support that we continue to receive from the Indian Government and this has had a positive impact on our economy.

4.372.  Prospects for greater economic cooperation between Zimbabwe and India are certain.

5  REPLIES BY THE REPRESENTATIVE OF INDIA AND ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

5.1.  I would like to begin by thanking all the distinguished Members for having actively participated in the sixth Trade Policy Review of India. Let me also express my sincere appreciation to the distinguished Permanent Representative of Philippines, Ambassador Esteban Conejos, for being the Discussant for India's TPR. His insightful analysis of India's trade policy regime coupled with his personal understanding of India provided an excellent backdrop for constructive deliberations at this Trade Policy Review of India. I would also like to convey our gratitude to the Chairman, TPRB, Ambassador Paparizov for very smooth conduct of the proceedings.

5.2.  My delegation and I deeply appreciate written contributions and thoughtful interventions made by the Members during this session which gave us an opportunity to understand various perspectives on India's trade policies and practices. We are encouraged by the positive assessment of India's policies and potential and the desire expressed by Members for deeper bilateral trade and economic engagement with India. We see the critical analysis of our trade policies in a spirit of understanding. It is important to recognize that economic reform process is an ongoing activity.

5.3.  Although we have made progress on ease of doing business in India, the Government of India is committed to pursue greater reforms with an objective to liberalize trade and attract investments. It is also our endeavour to ensure that while our reform process is dynamic and forward looking, it essentially remains centred on an inclusive economic growth to address our developmental challenges, in particular, poverty alleviation.

5.4.  I am pleased to report that we have provided written answers to over 700 questions posed to us before the deadline, as well as for most of the questions received thereafter (about 13 questions still remain unanswered and since them involve statistical information, we will provide them much earlier than stipulated for the purpose). I hope Members have had time to review these responses.

5.5.  My delegation and I have attentively listened to all the interventions made by Members and have also taken note of areas of concerns highlighted by them. Mr. Chairman, you would appreciate that since most issues raised by the Members are common, I would like to address these issue-wise rather than country-wise. Should there be any specific query by any Member, these can be taken up through our Mission in due course.

5.6.  Like several WTO Members, India too has been undertaking continuous autonomous tariff liberalization, which has generated a gap between India's bound and applied tariff rates, especially for non-agricultural goods. However, the assertion that there is unpredictability in India's tariff structure is misplaced because in the last eight years the structure of our customs tariff has remained virtually unchanged. The "peak applied rate" for non-agricultural products has been maintained at 10%.

5.7.  Another assertion that India's tariff structure is complex because of imposition of a number of "Other Duties and Charges" over and above the applied tariffs is also inaccurate. These duties are imposed to equalize internal taxes such as Central and State VAT and other taxes leviable on domestic production, consumption or sale of goods which are not only WTO compatible but are also commonly followed in most Member countries. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is likely to reduce the number of such levies and further simplify our tax structure.

5.8.  We have put in place an online "Duty Calculator" which facilitates free access to information on the current rates of duty applicable to any goods.

5.9.  Today, India's agriculture sector is facing several challenges in terms of small land holdings and fragmentation of land, inadequate irrigation facilities, low productivity, and high input costs. Therefore, in countries such as ours it is imperative that we maintain agricultural domestic policies that provide sustainable livelihood to large part of our population dependant on agriculture. The domestic support rendered to agriculture is well within the WTO rules as brought out in our notifications. Our support is less than US$200 per active person in agriculture which is miniscule compared to extremely high support, as high as up to 250 times, being provided by many developed countries.

5.10.  We re-affirm our commitment to work towards removing those asymmetries that are distorting the present agriculture trade rules and putting farmers and agriculture producers in developing countries at high disadvantage.

5.11.  A few Members commented on the import licensing regime in India. Mr. Chairman, let me underline that India's import licensing regime is open and transparent. Licences are granted on a non-discriminatory basis. The relevant regulations are available in the public domain. Import licensing affects only a few restricted items primarily on grounds of the need to protect human, animal and plant life, and the environment.

5.12.  Many Members expressed concern about frequent use of trade remedy measures by India. I would like to reiterate that trade remedy investigations are conducted in a transparent manner and in accordance with the provisions of the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement. They are initiated and conducted strictly in accordance with relevant rules and regulations to overcome unfair trade practices causing injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping investigations are initiated by the investigating authority only when the evidence provided by the domestic industry is credible, establishing beyond doubt that there is a causal link between the dumped imports and the injury caused to the domestic industry. Reasonable and adequate opportunities are provided to the interested parties at every stage of the investigation. Further, we invariably use the lesser duty rule so that the anti-dumping duty is no more than required to offset the injury. Having said this, let me underline that during the period of review, the number of initiations of antidumping investigation was significantly less than in the previous review period. Some Members sought to know about the changes made in the domestic regulations on antidumping provisions. This has been done to clarify certain provisions in accordance with the Anti-Dumping Agreement and to lay down transparent procedures.

5.13.  Some Members referred to the lack of transparency in respect of TBT and SPS measures. I would like to reiterate that India adheres to the transparency provisions in the development and implementation of SPS and TBT measures and remains committed to following these in conformity with the respective agreements of the WTO. I would like to underline that most of India's standards are aligned with international standards. As of December 2014, out of 5862 BIS Standards that have corresponding international standards, 5238, that is approximately 90%, are harmonized with the international standards, much above the 84% achieved in March 2010. Further, through an annual Standards Conclave, our stakeholders are being regularly sensitized on the need to align domestic standards with international standards to the extent possible. To take this process forward, suitable amendments in the BIS Act are being contemplated. Similarly, the standards that are now being formulated by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India are increasingly harmonized with international standards. This policy is absolutely transparent with opportunity to offer comments available to stakeholders.

5.14.  We appreciate the recognition of recent reform measures taken by the Government to steadily liberalize and rationalize our foreign investment regime with a view to enhancing investor confidence. Today, FDI up to 100% is permitted under the automatic route in most sectors of the economy. FDI limits have been enhanced/liberalized recently in key sectors such as defence production, medical devices, construction, railway infrastructure and insurance. This is being reviewed regularly with the aim of further improving the investment environment in consultation with stakeholders. 

5.15.  We are pleased to hear that the "Make in India" programme has generated significant interest among Members. This initiative, introduced in 2014, aims to make India a manufacturing hub, with the additional objective of generating millions of jobs for the youth of India. As part of this initiative, information on 25 sectors has been provided on a web portal along with details of the Foreign Direct Investment policy, National Manufacturing Policy, intellectual property rights. Large infrastructure projects with opportunities for investment like various industrial corridor projects have also been showcased. In order to enhance the ease of doing business, an Investor Facilitation Cell "Invest India" has also been set up to guide, assist, and handhold investors. We are encouraged by the enthusiastic response this initiative has evoked internationally.

5.16.  Similarly, the E-Biz Project, which was referred to by some Members, is yet another important significant initiative of the Government of India in the area of trade facilitation. This is a customer-centric portal, which aims to provide services to business community in a seamless manner. Through this portal, one would be able to apply and manage all the licenses, clearances, registrations and regulatory filings on a 24X7 basis. We are endeavouring to constantly improve this services portal in order to cut down red tape and improve on the time lines.

5.17.  Several Members inquired about India's notification of its category A commitments and ratification of the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement. We are working on the notification of category A commitments under the TFA.

5.18.  I am happy to hear positive assessment from the LDC members about India's Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for LDCs as well as preferential measures, including waiver of visa fee, announced by India pursuant to the Bali decision for Services Waiver for LDCs. A few Members referred to making rules of origin simpler for accessing the DFTP preferences. In March this year, we have also liberalized the rules of origin and simplified other procedural requirements. We do hope that other Members too will take similar action to provide better market access opportunities for LDC members.

5.19.  Lastly, I am happy to note that Members remain actively engaged to develop the post-Bali Work Programme by end-July and prepare for the MC10 in Nairobi. India is a strong votary of an equitable, fair and rules based multilateral trading system. We believe that we have a unique opportunity, indeed an obligation to restore balance in international trade, by providing a level playing field to the developing countries, particularly in agriculture. The development dimension must remain central to the Doha Round and Members should strive to work towards concluding it with balanced outcomes for all. India is committed to playing its part in close consultation with other Members as we advance our work in the weeks ahead in the run up to the MC10 in Nairobi.

5.20.  In conclusion, I would like to thank all WTO Members for their interest and participation in the sixth Trade Policy Review of India. It has been an extremely productive and useful exercise for us. Active participation of Members demonstrates abiding interest in India's trade policy and desire to further deepen trade and economic relations with India. I hope we have been able to satisfactorily respond to most of your observations and concerns. We will be responding to any outstanding questions in writing within the stipulated timeline. 

DISCUSSANT

5.21.  First of all I would like to start by thanking the Honourable Commerce Secretary and the members of the Indian delegation for their patience in listening to the more than 44 interventions that were given from the floor since our meeting last Tuesday and, more importantly, for the specific answers that you have provided to the areas of main concern that were raised during these interventions. I also would like to commend them for their hard work in responding to more than 700 questions from 30 countries. I know that it's a difficult task but you must realize India is an important player in the multilateral trading system. This is a feeling that you can take home with you when you return to New Delhi.

5.22.  Over the last two days, Members have approached the issues that we have identified from different perspectives. For example, while Members welcome the streamlining of India's customs procedures and the implementation of trade facilitation measures such as the use of self‑assessment and the application of risk management to almost 97.6% of imports, at the same time, Members have also expressed continuing concern on the import regime which, Members say, remains complex at this time, especially with reference to licensing and permit system. We, of course, take note of what the Honourable Secretary has just mentioned with respect to this issue of import regime being complex and tariff regime being likewise complex. I am sure many of us would like the opportunity to study this statement in greater length at a more leisurely pace but we take note Mr Secretary of the comments you just made on these two important issues of import regime as well as tariff structure.

5.23.  There were also calls from Members on when India would work on their category A commitments and we are glad to know that the Secretary has assured as that this work is ongoing as we speak.

5.24.  On tariffs, many of the delegations welcomed the introduction during the next fiscal year of the Goods and Services Tax which would remove the multiple layers of taxation. And the Secretary also mentioned in his statement that this would really make a major contribution in alleviating concerns raised by Members on the complexity of the tariff structure in India especially with respect to agricultural products. So, we welcome this very important development Mr Secretary.

5.25.  There were also concerns about subsidies, specially aimed at supporting agriculture, food, fertilizers and there were specific mentions of areas in sugar and confectionary, but the Secretary said that on bilateral issues, the mission in Geneva would be prepared to respond to all these specific concerns. There were also concerns raised about price controls in some commodities including liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, kerosene and agricultural products.

5.26.  On the FDI front, there was universal acclaim on India's continuing effort to liberalize its investment policies including raising foreign ownership limits in some sectors such as pharmaceuticals, insurance and railway transport. And we welcome this Mr Secretary. And along with the improvements in FDI, there is also greater impetus for more effective enforcement of IP rules and regulations.

5.27.  There were also concerns about SPS and TBT and some expressions of support in trying to align these more with international standards and we heard from the Honourable Secretary likewise that this is a programme that they are completely dedicated on pursuing.

5.28.  On India, as a major user of anti-dumping measure, there were some interventions from the floor asking India to exercise more caution and due restraint in conducting a thorough review to insure that measures taken only if they are fully justified and not used for protectionist purpose. We heard the Secretary this morning saying that they will only apply these anti-dumping measures when they are justified under existing WTO agreements.

5.29.  We have seen this dichotomy from the Indian perspective. We heard the Secretary just deliver his concluding statement, which as I said, responded very specifically to these concerns and we thank him again for that and you would recall also that based on his opening statement on Tuesday and the Government report submitted by India that while enormous progress and strides and gains have been achieved in terms of moving forward the Indian economy, India continues to face major challenges identified in the report of the Government as: (1) agriculture and food security, where many of the subsidies and the SPS concerns that were raised by Members actually are present; (2) they also mentioned about the huge manufacturing challenge they are trying to address specially with the new programme that they just rolled out last April 15; and (3) of course, the challenge to address the major infrastructure deficit that they have identified.

5.30.  This is India. They have an enormous goal yet at the same time they are realistic to recognize that they also face huge challenges and roadblocks along the way. So, different perspectives, both from Members and, of course. from the Indian perspective, but I think different perspectives are understandable and, at this point, the best I can do is to quote from the Honourable Secretary's statement on Tuesday when he said that "I would like to say that through focus efforts aimed at overcoming the challenges of poverty, unemployment and income equality, we are confident that India will play an increasingly an important role in global trade. A lot has been achieved but we are conscious that more needs to be done. India is a work in progress. An idea whose time has come."

5.31.  And, I like very much what I have heard from the Secretary just a while ago when he said that "the reform process of India is going to be a positive and a forward looking endeavour". The aim of the process will always be to achieve inclusive growth in terms of reduction of poverty. All of these policies have to be looked at from that perspective to give us an idea where India will be going in the next four to five years.

5.32.  I mentioned those concerns which I felt there were some varying perspectives, but Mr Secretary I must say that, based on the discussions we had in the last two days, there are two areas where I think there was universal acclaim and there were no ifs and buts here. First, was the amount of assistance that India has provided to the LDCs and, here, we are referring to the duty‑free, quota-free privileges that India has extended to LDCs that covers almost 96% of tariff lines. We appreciate that gesture in behalf of our LDC colleagues. And the second one, of course, was the preferential treatment that India has provided to LDCs in services and especially in the provision of technical assistance and capacity building. This was universally acclaimed and we thank India for this very important initiative. The second area where I think there are no ifs and buts, which is quiet obvious to all of us. It's so obvious that there's easily no point in demonstrating the fact that India is a powerful force for good in the WTO. Many developing countries look up to India for leadership and for inspiration and it is our hope that India will continue to discharge this huge responsibility with firmness, with brilliance, with fidelity, and in the spirit of constructive engagement for the benefit of all.

5.33.  My overall conclusion is that we have had a rich and fruitful discussion which augurs very well for the future of India and the WTO. I can almost foresee that the 7th TPR will be focusing on how this new initiative of the Foreign Trade Policy which was rolled out last April will eventually be implemented in the course of the years. We have our sights set on that, we are all excited about on how this will work out and we look forward to a very successful implementation of this ambitious but very realistic work programme for your country.

5.34.  I think I will stop here, but before I will relinquish this role, I would like to conclude the way I concluded my first day statement on Tuesday and it is to thank Ambassador Anjali for making me a part of India's sixth Trade Policy Review.

EUROPEAN UNION

5.35.  The EU would like to thank India for having provided many comprehensive replies to our advance questions.

5.36.  However, the EU somehow regrets India did not adopt the so called alternative timeframe for this review, which allows Members to receive the reviewed Member's replies in advance of the meeting and we do hope that next time this will be the case.

5.37.  Regarding some of the replies provided, the EU still considers that there is room for further improvement in terms of facilitation of doing business and reviewing existing regulations that may be too burdensome on operators, without achieving their basic legitimate purpose sometimes and may not contribute to enabling India to achieve its ambitious and legitimate goals.

5.38.  EU has raised a few follow-up questions that we have submitted to the WTO Secretariat in advance of the meeting. Please allow me to highlight some of the issues.

5.39.  Regarding FDI, the EU is interested to know whether India to renegotiate its past BITs using the model or whether the model will only be used for new investment agreements.

5.40.  Regarding SPS issues, we urge India to strive for embracing international standards, such as accepting animal disease regionalization principle and practice and alternatives to methyl-bromide fumigation for plant products and approaches, and use less trade restrictive measures to achieve its legitimate policy objectives of protecting animal and plant health and food safety.

5.41.  Regarding TBT issues, let me take an example of India's reply to the EU question 38 on food labelling and the use of additional stickers. We do not agree with the reply by India as we consider that Codex provides that the labelling requirement can be met through sticker(s). In fact, this is the wide-spread practice among WTO Members, confirming the fact that they can be means to provide reliable information to consumers.

5.42.  Regarding TBT notifications, we are of the view that the situation could be further improved and we have asked a few follow-up questions on the policy in place, for example on certification.

5.43.  Regarding financial services, we are interested in pursuing the discussion with India as to what are exactly the criteria that allow India to assess reciprocity and the share of political considerations that are mentioned as a criterion in India's reply.

5.44.  While the EU did not submit specific follow-up question on subsidies on textiles, we are encouraged by the press interview Minister Sitharaman gave (to Mint, and Indian paper) acknowledging that India will comply with WTO obligations and will phase out subsidies for textiles as India passes the prescribed threshold.

5.45.  In conclusion, the EU would like to reiterate again the importance of increased transparency of trade and investment related regulatory processes in India. We recognize the many positive developments in this area, and encourage India to strive for more, as it would foremost benefit its own companies, the Indian exporters and Indian manufacturers who are becoming part of the global value chains and rely on inputs from foreign partners.

5.46.  Finally, please let me convey the appreciation of the EU to Secretary Rajeev Kher. Mr Kher's professional knowledge and high personal standing is well known in the EU and is highly appreciated.

UNITED STATES

5.47.  I would like to thank the Indian delegation for their efforts in this TPR, we know that it required a great deal of efforts to prepare and provide all the responses to the numerous questions that India received.

5.48.  We submitted some additional questions and we look forward to the written replies to those. We would like to congratulate India for its successful TPR.

6  CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON

6.1.  The sixth Trade Policy Review of India has offered us an excellent opportunity to learn about the development of the trade, economic, and investment policies of India since its previous Review in 2011, and the challenges it faces. Our discussion was greatly facilitated by the statement from the head of the delegation of India, Mr Rajeev Kher, Commerce Secretary, and by the insightful comments from the Discussant, the Ambassador of the Philippines to the WTO, Mr Esteban Conejos. India's prompt response to more than 700 advanced written questions has been greatly appreciated by Members, and we look forward to answers to any outstanding questions no later than one month after this meeting.

6.2.  Members commended India's accelerating economic growth during the review period, particularly in the services sector, and the milder inflation in recent years. Members recognized India's need and willingness to overcome its structural bottlenecks, including fiscal deficit, shortfalls in infrastructure such as education, health care, transportation, power supply, delays in project approval, difficulties in land acquisition, low manufacturing base and agricultural productivity, and cumbersome labour market regulations. In this respect, Members urged India in particular to pursue further tax reforms, which may increase government revenues, as well as to increase investment in infrastructure. They welcomed its steps to introduce a nationwide Goods and Services Tax. Members commended India's measures to improve business and investment environment, including "make in India" initiatives, and the establishment of an e-business portal. While appreciating India's efforts at raising foreign equity limits in some sectors such as insurance and railway transport, and speeding up investment procedures, they asked for further improvement in these areas.

6.3.  Members recognized that India is playing a more important role in the global economy as one of the largest developing countries. Members commended India's active participation in the multilateral trading system and the key role it assumes in the DDA negotiations. Members appreciated India's trade facilitation measures, such as the adoption of self-assessment in customs procedures, and encouraged India to submit its Category A notification under the Agreement on Trade Facilitation and to expedite the ratification process. Some Members looked forward to India's implementation of the Information Technology Agreement. Members noted India's increased involvement in regional trade agreements, and hoped that these agreements will contribute to maintaining and strengthening the multilateral trading system. While some Members commended India's recent initiatives to improve the transparency and predictability of its trade and related policies, such as inviting public comments on new legislation, Members urged India to provide timely public consultations on draft regulations, submit notifications on a regular basis to the WTO, and provide a reasonable period between the announcement of new regulations and their entering into force. Members appreciated that India has been providing duty free and quota free access for LDC exports; in this regard, some Members encouraged India to simplify rules of origin requirements.

6.4.  Members welcomed India's various economic and trade policy reforms. However, they voiced concerns with respect to tariff increases, the complexity and uncertainty in tariffs and other charges including an additional duty and a special additional duty, and the large difference between applied and bound rates. Some Members raised concerns about customs valuation and import licensing requirements on particular products. Recent changes to anti-dumping regulations were noted. However, concerns were raised on the frequent use of contingency measures as well as the complexity of import licensing measures. Some Members asked questions regarding India's technical regulations and SPS measures, including how they are related to international standards. Questions were also raised about the technical regulations and certification procedures concerning certain specific products. Some Members urged India to avoid recourse to export restrictions and minimum export prices.

6.5.  Members welcomed the removal of some subsidies and price controls on fossil fuels (such as diesel). Concerns were expressed by some Members regarding subsidies, in particular those pertaining to agriculture and food (for example, on sugar), and fertilizers. Other issues raised by Members include local content requirements and India's intellectual property regime, in particular regarding the protection of trade secrets and test data.

6.6.  Members commended India for not introducing new trade barriers in order to protect agriculture and manufacturing sectors, and also for eliminating state trading requirements for some agricultural products. Nonetheless, concerns were raised on its high agricultural tariffs and some uncertainties concerning domestic supply conditions for agricultural products. Members called for a balance between food security and a predictable trade regime, and urged India to step up its efforts to liberalize its agriculture sector notably by lowering and simplifying its tariffs.

6.7.  Members recognized services as the main pillar of India's economy. This sector has contributed substantially to the recent economic growth. Members urged further liberalization of services, including distribution and e-commerce.

6.8.  The Indian authorities provided detailed answers to Members' questions and comments expressed at this meeting. The sixth Review of India's trade policies was successfully concluded to the benefit of all the Membership. The large number of advance written questions submitted before the meeting and the number of delegations that took the floor during our two days of discussions highlight the importance attached to India's trade and related policies and its role in the multilateral trading system. In closing, I would like to thank Secretary Kher and the rest of the Indian delegation, all the other delegations, the Discussant and the Secretariat for the very positive and active contribution to the sixth Trade Policy Review of India.

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