Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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New Delhi: June 28, 2001

Shri Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, has called upon the leather industry to take advantage of the policy support extended by the government and raise the profile of its activities in accordance with the global imperatives. Inaugurating the 9^th Delhi International Shoe Fair, here this morning -- which was organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) -- Shri Abdullah said there have to be qualitative changes if India has to emerge as a global leader. "As such, the emphasis of the shoe industry has to be more on higher unit value realisation. In line with the creation of an India brand consciousness, Indian products need to be launched into higher market segments instead of meeting low price demands. It would also be imperative to diversify into new markets while carving out a greater niche into existing markets", the Minister added. Smt. Rathi Vinay Jha, Chairperson & Managing Director, ITPO and Shri V.K. Srivastava, Vice Chairman, Council for Leather Exports (CLE) was also present at the function.

Shri Abdullah exhorted the shoe industry to take stock of the global developments and ever changing consumer preferences, adding that the process of assessing and monitoring these changes is vital in the formulation of appropriate strategies by shoe industry to increase its global presence and to establish India as a reliable source of quality footwear. He also said that this is relevant at this juncture considering that opportunity has emerged with the phasing out of operations by many shoe majors in USA, Germany and other developed countries. The Shoe Fair is being participated by nine countries including Germany, Chech Republic and Portugal.

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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New Delhi: June 27, 2001

The 4^th Ministerial Conference of the WTO at Doha should be devoted to confidence building and consolidation, according to the statement made by the Commerce Secretary, Shri Prabir Sengupta, at the General Council Meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on 25^th June, 2001. While stressing that India is strongly committed to the multilateral trading system and that all WTO members want the Doha Ministerial Conference to be a successful one, the statement cautioned against overloading of the agenda of the WTO and urged trading partners not try to impose an agenda, the burden of which the developing countries cannot bear. India has said that the agenda for the Doha Ministerial Conference should be based on consensus among the member countries. It has been stressed in the statement that finding solution to implementation issues is the highest priority for India, and that "the Doha Conference should basically review as to whether the implementation concerns have been resolved in terms of May 2000 resolution of the General Council, give policy directions for the ongoing negotiations and reviews, and deal with major current issues like TRIPs and Public Health etc".

Setting out India's concerns and positions in the light of the experience in the last six years in implementing the Uruguay Round commitments, Shri Sengupta said that the concerns of countries like India were of three types namely, non-realisation of anticipated benefits like in the case of Agreement on Textiles and Clothing and Agreement on Agriculture; inequities and imbalances in some of the agreements like TRIPs, Subsidies, Anti-dumping etc., and non-operational & non-binding nature of special & differential treatment provisions. The WTO has already embarked upon mandated negotiations in areas like agriculture and services and also mandated reviews of agreements like Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) etc. The agriculture negotiations are bound to be complex as most of the distortions in international trade in agriculture are caused by major developed countries and many developing countries are victims of these distortions, the statement points out, while underlining that at the same time, many developing countries like India would have to take care of their food security and livelihood concerns. In respect of services, the statement expressed the hope that unlike in the Uruguay Round the developed countries would respond positively to the request of the developing countries and take commitments under mode-4 (i.e. movement of natural persons). Providing additional protection to geographical indications of products other than wines and spirits is viewed by a number of countries including India as part of the mandated negotiations. A number of issues relating to public health have already been identified in the TRIPS Council meeting held on 20^th June and there are other aspects of the TRIPS Agreement which will also come up for discussions during the review. "It is obvious that mandated negotiations in agriculture, services and for providing higher level of protection to geographical indications of products other than wines and spirits coupled with mandated reviews of agreements like TRIPS, TRIMS etc., and the work programme for the resolution of "Implementation Related concerns" of the developing countries, by themselves constitute a very big and complex agenda. Going beyond mandated negotiations and mandated reviews will place an undue burden on developing countries", the statement added.

On Singapore issues, the Commerce Secretary pointed out that India had a fairly open and liberal foreign investment regime and there was no need for negotiating multilateral rules on this subject in the WTO which, in our assessment, could take away the policy flexibility available to the developing countries. As regards e-commerce, India can go along with a meaningful work programme so that all delegations may get exposed to the complexities of this new technology from the point of view of trade. Regarding environment, India believes that existing WTO rules are sufficient to protect all legitimate concerns relating to environment. India also feels that the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment which has a balanced agenda should deal with all the items included in the agenda and that there should not be any cherry picking. As regards non-trade issues like labour standards, India's stout opposition to any linkage of trade with social issues is well-known, Commerce Secretary said.

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a Public Notice No.22 (RE-2001)/1997-2002 dated the 25^th June, 2001 under which quantitative ceiling of 50 lakhs (fifty lakhs) metric tonnes of wheat has been released for export for the year 2001-2002. Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is the designated agency to issue Registration-Cum-Allocation Certificates (RCACs) for this purpose.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi, dated 26^th June, 2001

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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New Delhi: June 25, 2001

India has sought greater flexibility and improvement in the interpretation of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to ensure affordable access to essential medicines and life saving drugs in keeping with the public health concerns of the developing countries. The issue of TRIPs and access to medicines was discussed in a Special Session of the TRIPs Council of the WTO in Geneva on 20^th June, 2001 on the Public Health and Access to Medicines. India, the African Group of countries, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Venezuela jointly submitted a paper on TRIPs and Public Health to the TRIPs Council in which India along with other co-sponsors, has demanded that the WTO should ensure that TRIPs Agreement does not undermine the right of the WTO members to formulate their own public health policies and adopt measures for providing affordable access to medicines. Nothing in the TRIPs agreement should prevent government from taking measures for protecting public health, the paper says. It should also be clarified and reconfirmed that governments should be able to issue compulsory licences to achieve public policy objectives and ensured that nothing in the TRIPs agreement limits the grounds for governments to issue compulsory licences.

The international community has recently raised concerns on the implications of the TRIPs agreement on the affordable access to essential medicines and protection of public health. The discussion in the TRIPs Council was to bring clarity regarding the interpretation and the flexibility available in the provisions of the TRIPs agreement for countries to address their public health concerns.

While it has been recognised in the paper that the exclusive rights conferred by patents provide incentive for further investments in R&D for new and effective medicines, there is a need for a clear distinction to be made between the exclusive rights of the patent holders for medicines for life threatening diseases and say, beauty enhancing and cosmetic drugs. The TRIPs agreement can and should be interpreted in a way that it allows the members to utilise the existing flexibilities in the TRIPs agreement to protect and promote public health policies. It has been urged that Article 8 of the TRIPs agreement is an overarching provision and should be interpreted in order to ensure that nothing in the TRIPs agreement should prevent members from taking measures necessary to protect public health as well as to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development.

The TRIPs Council should explore ways to provide greater flexibility in interpreting the provisions relating to the compulsory licensing with a view to ensuring that members are able to provide affordable access to medicines including flexibility to issue compulsory licences for exports also.

The TRIPs Council should also consider further extension of transitional period as prescribed in Article 65.4 for implementation of the provisions of the TRIPs agreement for developing countries.

The developed countries should engage in all sincerity and seriousness to find ways and means to address the issues and concerns raised by India and other developing countries, by collectively confirming that the TRIPs agreement does not, should not and need not come in the way of governments dealing effectively with public health concerns. The Doha Ministerial Conference should send a powerful message to the world that WTO cares for the people and it is not an organisation, as is generally perceived, designed to serve only the business interests of big companies, India's statement at the TRIPs Council meeting said.

The TRIPs Council should also take a decision to extend the moratorium on the applicability of non-violation complaints under the TRIPs agreement in the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

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 Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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GOVERNMENT CONSTITUTES SINGLE BOARD OF APPROVAL FOR SEZ/EPZ/EOUs

New Delhi: June 22, 2001

In order to facilitate single point interface for prospective investors in Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs), the government has constituted a single Board of Approval for EPZ/SEZ/EOU schemes. This is a procedural simplification which is expected to minimise the interaction levels between entrepreneurs and the government and speed up the approval process. In all cases the application will be filed with the Development Commissioner concerned who will either approve the case under the delegated powers or forward it to the Board of Approvals for clearance, as the case may be.

With a series of measures taken by the government since 1991 almost all power to approve proposals under EOU/EPZ/SEZ schemes stand fully delegated to the Development Commissioners of EPZ/SEZ. However, proposals for setting up of units in the manufacturing sector requiring industrial licence and those for setting up units in the service sector were being considered by separate Boards with the secretarial assistance being provided by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and Department of Commerce. The setting up of a Single Board of Approval for this purpose is thus major step forward in the direction of procedural simplification under the EPZ/SEZ/EOU scheme.

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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INDIA SEEKS FLEXIBILITY IN INTERPRETATION OF TRIPS AGREEMENT TO ENSURE AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO MEDICINES AND LIFE SAVING DRUGS

New Delhi: June 22, 2001

India has sought greater flexibility and clarity in the interpretation of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in order to ensure affordable access to essential medicines and life saving drugs in keeping with the public health concerns of the developing countries. The issue of TRIPs and access to medicines was discussed in a Special Session of the TRIPs Council of the WTO in Geneva on 20^th June, 2001 on the Public Health and Access to Medicines. India, the African Group of countries, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Peru, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Venezuela jointly submitted a paper on TRIPs and Public Health to the TRIPs Council in which India along with other co-sponsors, has demanded that the WTO should ensure that TRIPs Agreement does not undermine the right of the WTO members to formulate their own public health policies and adopt measures for providing affordable access to medicines. Nothing in the TRIPs agreement should prevent government from taking measures for protecting public health, the paper says. It should also be clarified and reconfirmed that governments should be able to issue compulsory licences to achieve public policy objectives and ensured that nothing in the TRIPs agreement limits the grounds for governments to issue compulsory licences.

The international community has recently raised concerns on the implications of the TRIPs agreement on the affordable access to essential medicines and protection of public health. The discussion in the TRIPs Council was to bring clarity regarding the interpretation and the flexibility available in the provisions of the TRIPs agreement for countries to address their public health concerns.

While it has been recognised in the paper that the exclusive rights conferred by patents provide incentive for further investments in R&D for new and effective medicines, there is a need for a clear distinction to be made between the exclusive rights of the patent holders for medicines for life threatening diseases and say, beauty enhancing and cosmetic drugs. The TRIPs agreement can and should be interpreted in a way that it allows the members to utilise the existing flexibilities in the TRIPs agreement to protect and promote public health policies. It has been urged that Article 8 of the TRIPs agreement is an overarching provision and should be interpreted in order to ensure that nothing in the TRIPs agreement should prevent members from taking measures necessary to protect public health as well as to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to their socio-economic and technological development.

The TRIPs Council should explore ways to provide greater flexibility in interpreting the provisions relating to the compulsory licensing with a view to ensuring that members are able to provide affordable access to medicines including flexibility to issue compulsory licences for exports also.

The TRIPs Council should also consider further extension of transitional period as prescribed in Article 65.4 for implementation of the provisions of the TRIPs agreement for developing countries.

The developed countries should engage in all sincerity and seriousness to find ways and means to address the issues and concerns raised by India and other developing countries, by collectively confirming that the TRIPs agreement does not, should not and need not come in the way of governments dealing effectively with public health concerns. The Doha Ministerial Conference should send a powerful message to the world that WTO cares for the people and it is not an organisation, as is generally perceived, designed to serve only the business interests of big companies, India's statement at the TRIPs Council meeting said.

The TRIPs Council should also take a decision to extend the moratorium on the applicability of non-violation complaints under the TRIPs agreement in the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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BIS REGISTRATION CONDITION ON IMPORT OF CYLINDERS EXCLUSIVELY USED FOR CNG KITS EXEMPTED

PRESS NOTE

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) vide a notification has exempted the BIS registration condition on import of cylinders to be used exclusively for CNG kits. However, this exemption shall be applicable only on such imports which have been approved by Chief Controller of Explosives, Nagpur. DGFT has also clarified that clarification regarding coverage of any product under notification No.44 (list of 133 products) dated 24 November, 2000 shall be issued by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and this clarification will be binding on all concerned.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry

New Delhi, dated 22^nd June, 2001

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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50,000 TONNES OF ONION RELEASED FOR EXPORT

New Delhi: June 22, 2001

The government has decided to release with immediate effect 50,000 metric tonnes of onion for export. This quantity will be allocated to the canalising agencies as indicated in para 2 below with the usual conditions of Minimum Export Price (MEP), payment of refundable deposit etc. The quantity will be allowed for export upto 31 July, 2001.

The following agencies are to export the quantity indicated against each either directly or through registered exporters:

1. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) -- 20,000 metric tonnes;
2. Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) -- 15,000 metric tonnes;
3. Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. (GAIC) -- 5,000 metric tonnes;
4. The Spices Trading Corporation Ltd. (STCL) -- 2,500 metric tonnes;
5. AP-State Trading Corporation -- 2,500 metric tonnes;
6. The Karnataka State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd. (KSCMF) -- 2,500 metric tonnes; and
7. The National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) -- 2,500 metric tonnes.

It has further decided to extend the shipment period of the unutilised balance quantity of the onion, if any, out of the 1,50,000 metric tonnes released for export vide Public Notice No10 (RE-2001)/1997-2002 dated the 25^th April, 2001 upto 31^st July, 2001.

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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MARAN ALLAYS FEARS OF DUTY FREE IMPORT OF NATURAL RUBBER FOR ADVANCE LICENCE HOLDERS

Allaying the fears and concerns expressed in certain quarters over the likely import of 30,000 tonnes of natural rubber (NR) under OGL (Open General Licence) by tyre manufacturers and the possibility of lifting the ban of duty-free import of rubber for the advance licence holders, Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, has stated that the ban on import of natural rubber for the advance licence holders continues. In a letter to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Shri A.K. Antony, Shri Maran has pointed out that the ban continues contrary to speculative reports in the press in this regard.

As regards import of natural rubber under OGL by tyre manufacturers, Shri Maran has clarified that the industry can import its requirements by payment of the prescribed import duty of 25 per cent. "This choice and decision is left to the industry in a situation when they would do so only if the domestic rubber prices are higher than the natural rubber from international sources even after payment of the customs duty", adding that "the current international prices do not appear to be too favourable for such duty paid imports, unless the imports are for specialised categories".

Shri Maran also urged the Chief Minister of Kerala for all steps at his end for educating rubber growers to concentrate on aspects relating to enhancement of productivity and conforming to international quality standards, etc., rather than horizontal expansion in production, so that Indian natural rubber could become competitive in the international market in the coming years.

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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INDIA'S PAPER ON FDI AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN THE WTO WELCOMED BY MEMBER COUNTRIES

New Delhi: June 21, 2001

The issue of technology transfer should be at the core of the development debate in the context of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows, India has said in a paper on "Foreign Direct Investment and Technology Transfer" which was presented at the meeting of the WTO Working Group on Trade and Investment held in Geneva on 13 & 14 June, 2001 and was welcomed by several members as a useful substantive contribution to the WTO Working Group study process in this area. Highlighting the importance of the issue of technology transfer, the paper points out that development on a self-sustaining basis has as its essential pre-condition development of technological capabilities. Transformation of developing countries from a stage of low technological development to this stage would not be possible except through transfer of technology. However, documented evidence suggest that market forces do not ensure technology transfer to, and absorption by, developing countries. The Paper, therefore, concludes that multilateral rules aimed at curtailing the rights and ability of developing countries to influence the entry and establishment of foreign investment are not desirable.

While the last decade witnessed a veritable explosion in cross border FDI flows, the lion’s share of such flows was accounted for by Mergers and Acquisitions (M & As) as compared to the green field route. The major reason why countries, especially developing countries, seek FDI is the expectation of getting the much needed state-of- the-art technology. M & As do not always augment the stock of productive physical capital in the host country. At the same time, while Greenfield investment, by virtue of new entry, increases competition, M & As most often lead to increases in economic concentration by reducing the number of active players in the market. The effects of M & As, either directly or through linkages and spill-overs, also depend on whether the investment is natural-resource-seeking, market-seeking, efficiency–seeking or created asset seeking. The motive of MNCs behind M & A investment would have an important bearing on the type and quality of the technology transferred. The paper, therefore, urges that it is important for developing countries to not only ensure ‘whether’ technology is being transferred, but also the ‘nature’ of such transfer.

The Indian paper in the WTO highlights the fact that the growth rates recorded by FDI flows in the past few years have been more impressive than those by technology transfer payments, which tends to indicate that the recent spurt in FDI flows may not have been accompanied by technology transfer. More particularly as the share developing countries in FDI flows has started moving up, their share in technology transfers has come down.

The Indian paper refers to the distinction drawn by economists between the ‘know how’ and 'know-why’ of technology transfer and certain findings that technology transfer within MNCs are very efficient for transferring know-how, but less so for transferring know-why. Evidence indicated in the literature, especially with reference to the experience of Korea, shows that M&A type of FDI accompanying MNCs has transferred a high level of ‘operating and organisational’ technology, which is very different from a high level of ‘production technology’. Referring to the experience of South East Asian countries the paper states that low technological capability might co-exist with the capability to successfully use new technologies. The simple act of high technology production in any country does not ensure that efficient learning has occurred, and the latter depends on a host of factors other than technology transfer per se. Quoting the World Investment Report, the paper underlines the fact that developing countries attract only marginal shares of foreign affiliate research, and much of what they get relates to production, adaptation and technical support (which is in the form of know-how) rather than relating to innovation (know-why).

In the run up to the WTO Ministerial Conference at Doha scheduled in November, 2001, a group of WTO Members are pushing for multilateral rules on investment in WTO. India has been taking the position that while its own FDI policies are very open, any move for multilateral rules could curtail domestic policy options for host countries that would not be in the interests of developing countries.

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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IMPORT OF 300 SENSITIVE ITEMS SHOW NEGATIVE GROWTH DURING APRIL-MAY 2001

The total import of 300 sensitive tariff lines for the period April 1 to May 31, 2001 has been Rs. 1411 crore as against Rs. 1589 crore for the corresponding period of last year thereby showing a negative growth rate of 11%. This figure may undergo some revision after validation of commodity codes because of the inadvertent possibility of some items being misclassified by the importers. Provisional estimates of commodity group-wise imports till May 2001 as compared to April-May 2000, are enclosed. The ‘others’ group in the enclosed statement comprises wheat flour, sugar, cigarettes and salt. This group has also registered a decline.

2. At the micro level, imports indicate increase in respect of tea, coffee, spices, cotton, silk and marble and granite. All other items have shown a decline in imports.

3. On the basis of country of origin the data reveals increase in imports from Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Tanzania and Vietnam. The imports of these sensitive tariff lines from China have registered a decline of 28%. Imports of dry fruit from Pakistan have gone up from Rs. 1.67 Crore to Rs. 3.38 Crore.

4. The over-all picture that emerges from these quick estimates is one of normal trading activity in response to demand & supply factors.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry

New Delhi, dated 21^st June, 2001

SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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MARAN WRITES TO G-77 MINISTERS FOR EVOLVING COORDINATED POSITIONS AHEAD OF   DOHA

New Delhi: June 19, 2001

"Mandated negotiations and reviews and various Working Group discussions form a large agenda for the WTO system, which stands unfinished. We should use Doha to take stock of the situation on all these issues plus the implementation concerns. Bringing multiple issues on the table just to get substantial trade-offs and swap concessions advantageous for a few countries without any benefit to developing countries does not augur well for the success of the multilateral trading system. Therefore, it is not necessary that in every Ministerial, we should talk or begin a new Round", Shri Murasoli Maran, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry has stated in a letter to the Trade Ministers of the Group of 77 (G-77) countries.

He has said that the developing countries need to coordinate their positions on various WTO-related subjects as "full stakeholders" in the multilateral trading system based on their strong commonality of interests on major issues and urged the G-77 countries to evolve a common position and strategy for the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference scheduled at Doha in November 2001.

Regretting that despite the May 2000 decision of the WTO General Council that implementation issues should be resolved before the Ministerial Conference, many developing countries were now openly stating that these implementation issues could only be resolved as part of a new round of negotiations, Shri Maran has stated that for most developing countries including India, implementation concerns are a legacy of Uruguay Round and developing countries have already paid a heavy price by way of taking onerous obligations, though not to their liking, and various Uruguay Round agreements such as TRIPS (Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights), TRIMs (Trade-related Investment Measures) etc., and these concerns should be resolved upfront without linking them to any new issues.

Outlining the priorities in this backdrop, Shri Maran has said that the WTO work should concentrate on the full implementation of the Uruguay Round results and the "built-in agenda" which foresaw new negotiations on Agriculture and Services and reviews of several multilateral trade agreements. Other matters of priority are (a) the implementation of special and differential treatment as envisaged in various WTO agreements, and (b) correction of imbalances in several WTO agreements including Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Anti-Dumping, TRIPs and TRIMs which have major implications for development policies and interests of developing countries. "We can ill afford the extension of the ‘frontiers’ of the system in the context of national governance. Implementation issues are our priority. Unless the present inequalities are removed, we do not believe in the success of any Round of Negotiations. It would be unsustainable, over-burden the system and upset the original mandate of Marrakesh Agreement", the letter says.

Shri Maran regrets "the reluctance to take account of the crisis on patents and drugs prices in the WTO and lack of interest and attendance by developed countries of a WTO initiative on technology transfer to developing countries".

Noting with concern that significant non-trade issues were being promised in the name of trade liberalisation and constituency interests of the developed countries, Shri Maran has underlined that developing countries are not in a position to take on more commitments that they cannot digest and are, therefore, reluctant for inclusion of new issues. Developing countries have long opposed the linkage of trade with labour and environmental standards on the ground that such linkages would be used as an excuse to distort competition, undermine comparative advantage and provide Trojan horses of protectionism.

Shri Murasoli Maran has reiterated that for bringing up any new issue, it should first be trade-related and it should have been thoroughly discussed and "we should be able to evaluate its likely impact on the additional rights, responsibilities and obligations and be ripe for such an inclusion. The developing countries should get convinced as to how its inclusion is going to help – or in any way hinder the realisation of their development objectives as enshrined in Marrakesh Agreement and it should not constrain their domestic policy options for taking up development activities. Only the proposals which satisfy the above criteria and have endorsement by member countries could be considered for inclusion as otherwise the sovereign Governments would not get a chance to discuss and evolve stakeholder-driven negotiating positions on such proposals if they are thrust on the membership without giving sufficient notice".

Shri Maran has also appealed that "the lessons learnt from Seattle remain relevant for Doha" and any "new risks and cost of failure at Doha would greatly hurt the multilateral trading system".

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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The End Product Development and Testing (EPDT) Centre of the Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association (IRMRA) was inaugurated on 15^th June, 2001 by Dr. Raman Singh, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, at Thane. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Raman Singh said the new Centre would be a guiding light to the rubber industry in manufacturing quality products at economic prices and thereby play a major role in providing an edge to stay in competition in the post - globalisation period.

Observing that Rubber technology is very complex, the Minister stressed that one has to develop technology, whereby the cost of the product is minimum. At the same time, it should satisfy the specified performance standards. Owing to these, the industry, particularly in the small-scale sector, is finding it difficult to produce and provide standard quality products. He added that standard quality products, at competitive prices, is the need of the day. Industry must rise to the occasion and take up the challenge, he said.

The new centre at Thane is equipped with state of the art equipments which will provide effective service to the industry. The Minister requested the industry to come forward in utilising these advanced equipments on a collaborative basis. He also released the Newsletter of IRMRA on the occasion. The other speakers were Shri K.M. Phillip, President of IRMRA, Dr. M. S. Banerji, Director IRMRA, Shri W. G. Desai, Technical Advisor to IRMRA and Shri Satish Pradhan, Member, Rajya Sabha. They highlighted the current scenario in the rubber and allied industries.

SB/PKT/SA

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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COMMERCE SECRETARY CALLS FOR STRATEGIC ALLIANCES AMONG INDIAN COMPANIES TO BOOST
CHEMICAL EXPORTS DELHI OFFICE OF CHEMEXCIL OPENED

New Delhi: June 15, 2001

The Commerce Secretary, Shri Prabir Sengupta, has called for strategic alliances among the major Indian pharmaceutical industries so as step up exports in this important sector by maximising cost advantages and avoiding cutthroat competition detrimental to interests of the industry. Opening the Regional Office of Basic Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Cosmetics Export Promotion Council (CHEMEXCIL) here today, Shri Sengupta said such alliances should foster better understanding and consolidation among Indian companies to equip them well to face increasing global competition. Shri Sengupta assured all help and guidance by the government in making Indian companies to step up exports. He cited the example of Japan and Korea, where strategic alliances among companies had helped to increase exports.

Shri Sengupta urged the industry to evolve a package of products which will better attract customers in the major export markets like the United States, Hong Kong and the Latin American Countries. The industry should also focus on the manufacture of affordable medicines, he said, while clarifying that one of the major plus points of Indian medicines is their affordability. He said that the country's traditional capability combined with the modern facilities were making our medicines cheaper. Commending the export performance of the chemical industry, the Secretary said it could even exceed the target of 28 per cent for the financial year 2000-2001. Fourteen per cent of the total export earnings of the country is from drugs and pharmaceuticals and the amount comes upto 3.5 billion dollars, he said.

Shri Kishore Chokhani, Chairman, CHEMEXCIL, earlier in his welcome address in the meeting which was attended among others by Shri S. Ramasundaram and Shri D.K. Mittal, Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, said that the organisation which came into existence in 1963 had pedastalled its position as the biggest Council with a sound membership base of 7500 members all over India. Its members are broadly divided into five panels: drugs & pharmaceuticals; dyes & dyes intermediates; inorganic & organic chemicals; cosmetics & toiletries and aggarbattis. He stated that the Indian pharma industry was one of the most dynamic industries and its products comparable with international products in terms of safety, efficacy and quality with 400 different drugs and 2000 formulations. "CHEMEXCIL has a highly interactive Web presence facilitating virtual trade fairs and on the site interchange of data and interactions and bridging the international conglomerates with its Indian stalwarts. Establishment of CHEMEXCIL offices all over is a step towards extending its hands to support all its esteemed members. Specially in Delhi, it is to act as an interface between the government and the exporting community", he said.

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SB/PKT/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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INPUT-OUTPUT NORMS FOR SEVEN NEW ITEMS NOTIFIED

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have issued Public Notice No.20 dated 11/06/2001 notifying Input-Output Norms for seven new items belonging to Petroleum and Petro-chemical sector. Of these seven new norms, three norms viz., Paraxylene, Orthoxylene and Benzene are valid upto 31/12/2001. Petroleum and Petro-chemical sector is emerging as a fast growing export product group. The publication of these norms will give a fillip to this sector.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi, dated 13^th June, 2001

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SB/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India

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INDIA, ITALY TO COOPERATE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

New Delhi: June 13, 2001

India and Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual cooperation in Information Technology (IT) and Services, which will go a long way in strengthening and deepening bilateral cooperation in these sectors. Addressing a Seminar on "Attracting foreign investment in Italy in the ICT Sector" being jointly organised by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), here today, Shri Omar Abdullah, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, indicated that Italy today was the fourth largest trading partner of India in Europe with an annual bilateral trade turnover of US $ 2 billion. Total FDI approvals of Italy into India during 1991-2000 were about US $ 1.3 billion while 811 foreign collaborations have been approved between Indian and Italian companies.

Stressing the scope for Indo-Italian cooperation in IT, Shri Abdullah underlined the fact that by the year 2008 the Indian IT industry was expected to be worth about US $ 140 billion and that the IT sector was likely to become the largest exporter accounting for more than 30 per cent of India's total exports, covering electronic hardware, computer software, telecom services and project exports and video films/software exports. More than 150 of Fortune 500 companies are outsourcing their software requirements from India, which is not surprising considering that India has the second largest reservoir of highly skilled software professionals in the world. Shri Abdullah said that with the slowdown of the US economy especially in the ICT sector, the focus of Indian companies were slowly shifting to Europe and therefore, the Seminar organised by the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and FICCI was particularly well timed for optimising Indo-Italian cooperation based on the mutual strengths and future potential of the two countries in the ICT sector.

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SB/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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AMENDMENTS/CORRECTIONS FOR STANDARD INPUT-OUTPUT NORMS NOTIFIED

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) have issued Public Notice No.15 dated 01/06/2001 notifying the amendments/corrections in the existing norms for 38 export items and standard input-output norms for 33 new export items. Of these 33 new norms, 18 new norms relate to the chemicals & allied products, 11 norms to engineering products, one norm to food products and 3 norms to plastic product groups.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi, dated 7^th June, 2001

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SB/MRS

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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LAST DATE OF SHIPMENT EXTENDED UPTO JUNE 30, 2001

PRESS NOTE

The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued Public Notice No.17 (RE-2001)/1997-2002 dated 7^th June, 2001 under which the quantitative ceiling for export of wheat, for the year 2000-2001, has been raised from 20 lakh metric tonnes to 50 lakh metric tonnes. The last date of shipment/export in respect of above has also been extended upto 30/06/2001. These exports can be effected by specified agencies namely:

STC

MMTC

PEC

National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF)

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED)

The Punjab State Cooperative Supply & Marketing Federation Limited (MARKFED), Chandigarh

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi, dated 8^th June, 2001

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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INDIA'S FOREIGN TRADE: APRIL 2001

New Delhi: June 01, 2001

India's exports during April 2001 are valued at US $ 3492.18 million which is 5.51% higher than the level of US $ 3309.94 million in April 2000. In rupee terms, the exports were Rs.16,337.66 crore which is 13.11% higher than the value of exports during April, 2000.

India's imports during April 2001 are valued at US $ 3965.81 million representing a decline of 9.88% over the level of imports valued at US $ 4400.76 million in April 2000.

Oil imports during April 2001 are valued at US $ 1196.83 million which is 7.60% lower than oil imports valued at US $ 1295.29 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during April 2001 are estimated at US $ 2768.98 million which is 10.84% lower than the level of such imports valued at US $ 3105.47 million in April 2000.

The trade deficit for April 2001 is estimated at US $ 473.63 million which is lower than the deficit at US $ 1090.82 million during April 2000.