New
Delhi: The European Union (EU) is working to become more
transparent in setting technical standards for import to help
developing countries understand the regime better, said the
Netherlands minister for development cooperation Eveline Herfkens, at
an interactive session on Indo-Dutch Trade and Economic Cooperation,
organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
The minister pointed out that the European Commission is also working
to provide technical assistance to developing countries to help meet
the higher standards in the EU member countries. The existing
assistance provided at Rotterdam was small and this needs to be
strengthened, Herfkens said.
Speaking on the work programme set by the Doha Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade Organisation, the minister said the EU,
and Holland in particular, is keen on making this a development round
to help developing countries. "The negotiations beginning now
should ensure that the work programme will lead to a greater market
access and development for developing countries."
Stressing that the future relations between India and the EU will be
based on trade ties rather than aid, Herfkens also pointed out that
the impact of the enlargement of the European market should not be at
the expense of the developing countries.
All-India Food Processors Association president Gokul Patnaik, in his
presentation on issues on the India-EU trade, said preferential trade
agreements and TRQs, which sideline many developing nations, should be
reviewed. "Different standards in testing, certification
procedures, packing and labelling requirements among member countries
restrict intra-EU movement of goods and the increasing use of
non-tariff measures like anti-dumping investigations, counterveiling
measures, pesticide residue regulations and environmental standards
further hampers the trade between the EU and developing
countries."
Pointing out that agricultural products constitute only 12 per cent of
the total EU imports from India, Patnaik said all agricultural food
products, whether primary or processed, should be allowed to be
imported freely under transparent and uniform tariff rates. "Basmati
rice, sugar, peanuts, mushrooms, gherkins, cut flowers, eggs and
marine products are the common agri-products exported to the EU
markets. However, the high import duty imposed on the Basmati rice in
the EU has led to a decline in rice export from 147,000 tonnes in 1997
to 100,000 tonnes in 1999."
With regard to the export of sugar, Patnaik requested for an
additional quota of 25,000 MTs, as India is the second-largest
producer of sugar in the world. "Duty calculation on sugar should
be based on CIF values rather than representative prices." Urging
for a further tariff reduction in cut flower from 12 per cent to 10
per cent in the coming summer season, he said all major competitors
like Israel, Kenya, Columbia and Turkey enjoy duty-free status under
various bilateral and multilateral agreements.
Textile has been an area of concern for India and most products of
interest to India have been back-loaded and face technical barriers in
case of labelling and specifications, said CII (international trade)
consultant T S Vishwanath. "India and the EU should work together
for creating an effective supply-chain among Indian spinning and
weaving units, processing units and Indian apparel units."
Stressing the need for building a synergy in the manufacturing sector,
Vishwanath said auto components, textile machinery, power equipment
and machine tools are the common areas of cooperation between the two
sides.
CII National Council 2002 member and Dynamic Technologies director
Vijay Kapoor in his welcome address said both India and the
Netherlands need to identify new areas of cooperation like education, research
and development, IT and IT-enabled services. He stressed the need to
build better linkages between small and medium enterprises of both the
nations through regular exchange of information.
The EU is Indias largest-trading partner, accounting for almost 25
per cent of Indias exports and 28 per cent of the countrys
imports. Though the two-way trade stands at $20 billion, India
accounts for just 1.3 per cent of the EU imports for third world
countries and 1.4 per cent of the EU exports.
|
|
