The European Union (EU) came in for much criticism in its recent Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Even as a WTO secretariat report stated that ?long-standing barriers to market access and other measures that distort international competition remain in place?, over 40 countries expressed their frustration at the trade barriers and submitted over 1,000 written questions to the EU on its practices.
At the review, while most delegations were hard-hitting in their statements, India was unusually low-key. Its ambassador, Jayant Dasgupta, however highlighted some of the country’s concerns to the EU.
India took up with EU customs officials the incidents of seizure of Indian pharmaceutical consignments for Latin American and African countries during their transit through Europe in 2008 and 2009. Reminding the EU of its assurance that such seizures would not recur and the relevant regulation would be amended and made explicit, India asked it about the ?timeframe within which this amendment process is likely to be completed?. India also complained about the anti-dumping duties imposed on PET film exports from India, without following the procedures for review under the EU law. It also informed the EU that it had banned imports of Indian honey without providing adequate scientific justification.
India stated that its small and medium exporters have been affected by the EU’s Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) effective May 1, 2011, which imposes several requirements for the import of herbal medicines, including submission of onerous and burdensome test reports. These reports are costly, and the registration conditions difficult to meet for small and medium exporters.
India attacked the EU on its harmonisation of its pesticide residue level framework under its rule 396 of 2005 on Maximum Residue Level (MRL). The EU has applied a default level of 0.01 on many chemicals because it has not made a specific determination on the safety for various products. According to India, no scientific justification for setting the MRLs for pesticides has been provided.
India criticised the EU provisions for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH), which became effective in June 2007. These regulations have been found to be discriminatory to non-EU countries. Also, they involve huge costs and enormous data on chemicals to be provided to the EU, affecting most of India’s exporters in the small sector.
The EU requirement of 3-6 years of professional experience for contractual suppliers and independent professionals in Mode 4 trade in services is of concern to India. Besides, there is no uniformity in the regulations imposed by EU member states in the professional qualification standards. India is highly concerned over the EU subsidies for agricultural products, which it feels distort trade when world prices are low. They also severely affect the livelihood of the poorest economies, including hundreds of millions of milk producers in India.