India Hosts USTR at Bilateral Trade Policy Forum
The U.S. agreed to a timely review of India’s proposal to export grapes to the U.S., and India will quickly review a U.S. request to export cherries and alfalfa hay to that country after it receives more information, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said in a joint statement Oct. 20 during the 10th ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum in Delhi (here). The U.S. also agreed to ramp up efforts to facilitate Indian rice and honey exports, and India will quickly review a U.S. proposal for a certificate to export pork products to India, according to the statement. The two sides will continue in 2017 to discuss Indian mandatory package size requirements for some pre-packaged foods.
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Froman and Sitharaman exchanged views on bilateral trade in agriculture, goods and services, and intellectual property, and trade officials from both countries agreed on work on plans to pursue in these areas through 2017, the statement says. The officials also discussed “the status of” Indian and U.S. trade agreements with other countries and ways to ensure bilateral trade and investment between the two nations continues to grow, according to the statement. Representatives from the countries also discussed regulation for end-use information for boric acid used for non-insecticidal purposes, and the sides “agreed to discuss” U.S. concerns about India’s market access for dairy products, according to the statement. India also “noted” U.S. concerns on genetically modified organisms and licensing issues, the statement said.
The U.S. encouraged India to consider relaxing local sourcing requirements for single-brand retail trade, but India pointed to recent foreign direct investment reforms to relax “local sourcing norms” in certain cases, the statement says. Market access and trade costs for pharmaceuticals and medical devices were also discussed during the forum. The U.S. and India have improved intellectual property rights (IPR) engagement through their High Level Working Group on Intellectual Property, and reaffirmed commitments to use it to make progress on IP issues, the statement says. “They praised the engagement on intellectual property (IP) and reviewed the results of the dialogues on copyrights, trade secrets, patents, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), standard essential patents and IP policies that took place in 2016,” the statement says. Froman urged a transparent public notice and comment process to implement and examine India’s National IPR Policy. Sitharaman said her country has taken steps to simplify patent procedures, according to the statement.