Cir(132)/2022                                                                               October 07, 2022

Committee:

Dear Sirs/ Madam,

Sub: Non-tariff measures (TBT) issue being faced by exporters to be raised in the forthcoming WTO TBT committee meetings – reg.

Greetings from Confederation of Indian Textile Industry!

This is to inform you that recently, India has fast-tracked its FTA negotiations and in year 2022 alone, India signed two important trade agreements with UAE and Australia and negotiations with major Textile & Apparel Markets like EU-27, UK, Canada, and other GCC countries are going on in full swing. However, India is unable to reap the benefits of its trade agreement to its full capacity. Government is also continuously monitoring the impact of trade agreements which are either signed or in negotiation phase and is continuously asking the stakeholders to share any type of policy issue/NTB which is affecting their export performance in these markets.

Now DOC has informed that the upcoming WTO TBT Committee meeting is to be held in Geneva on 16-18 November, 2022. These meetings are an opportunity to member countries to raise their concerns in respect of the non-tariff measures relating to SPS/ TBT taken by any other member country. With limited scope for further tariff reduction, resolving these NTBs can help in further improving India’s access to these markets

Any policy or procedural issues of any country that impact ease or cost of trading with that country, including any additional paperwork, high port charges, specific testing requirement in specified labs, etc. can be raised. Members are requested to identify such issues relating to non-tariff barriers and share the same which could be raised as Specific Trade Concerns (STCs) during the forthcoming meetings of TBT Committee alongwith a small background to the issue and details of its impact on our exports in the below format by 21^st October 2022:

Country		Product		NTB description

Such concerns will also be used for improving market access under the bilateral agreements that India have.

This is for your information and further necessary action.

 Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Chandrima Chatterjee

Secretary General