Commerce Ministry To Launch Platform For Tackling Non-Tariff Barriers

The Commerce Ministry is in the process of creating a platform to register non-tariff barriers encountered by exporters and engage with the relevant countries for resolution, a senior official told PTI. Currently, there is a lack of information regarding these barriers, especially for smaller items.

"We are creating a portal to prioritise all Non-Tariff Barriers. Traders will be able to register their complaints, and the ministry will follow up on them," the official said.

Cases where the barrier affects a significant volume of goods will receive priority for redressal and action.

Economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative has reported that India must adopt a fast-track approach to eliminate non-tariff barriers encountered by domestic exporters in various countries, including the US, China, and Japan, to meet the export goal of $1 trillion for goods by 2030.

The Global Trade Research Initiative recommends a dual strategy to reduce the impact of NTBs on exports.

It asked for upgrading domestic systems, in cases where Indian products are rejected due to quality issues and retaliating if unreasonable standards or rules continue to obstruct exports from New Delhi.

"Many of India's exports suffer due to time taking prior registration requirements and unreasonable domestic standards/rules in many countries."

"India must talk to partner countries for reasonable solutions," GTRI Co-founder Ajay Srivastava said.

Many of India's food and agriculture products face problems due to higher pesticide levels, presence of pests and contaminations due to foot and mouth disease.

India's exports are far below potential as they face NTBs in the European Union, the US, China, Japan, Korea and many other countries.

Key Indian exports that routinely face high barriers include chillies, tea, basmati rice, milk, poultry, bovine meat, fish, chemical products to the EU; sesame seed, black tiger shrimps, medicines, apparel to Japan; food, meat, fish, dairy, industrial products to China; shrimps to the US; and bovine meat to South Korea.

According to the report, the other products which face these barriers include ceramic tiles in Egypt; chilli in Mexico; medicines in Argentina; microbiological regents in Saudi Arabia; electrical, medical devices, and household appliances in Brazil; veterinary pharmaceuticals, feed additives, and machinery in Russia.

Most non-tariff measures are domestic rules created by countries with an aim to protect human, animal or plant health and environment. NTM may be technical measures like regulations, standards, testing, certification, pre-shipment inspection or non-technical measures like quotas, import licencing, subsidies, and government procurement restrictions.

When NTMs become arbitrary, beyond scientific justification, they create hurdles for trade and are called NTBs (non-tariff barriers).

India's exports of basmati rice, chillies, tea and many other agricultural products face difficulty in foreign markets due to the higher use of pesticides and fungicides.

The remnants of pesticides found in treated products are known as 'residues' and the maximum residue level represents the highest amount of a pesticide residue that is legally permissible in food or feed.

(With inputs from PTI.)