India resolving bottlenecks for more imports from Sri Lanka

Friday, 13 December 2013 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam India said yesterday it was taking several measures to facilitate greater imports from Sri Lanka under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) following representations made on various bottlenecks. Issues pertaining to Customs procedures, higher quotas for garments, import licenses for processed meat products and plant quarantine for fruits were among those being addressed. “We now allow 8 million pieces of apparel to enter the Indian market from Sri Lanka, without any restrictions on fabric sourcing.

We have also extended the validity period of the licences for processed meat from six months to one year. The quarantine restrictions on Rambutan and Mangosteen have been dispensed with,” India’s High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha told a forum on the Indo Lanka FTA organised by the National Chamber of Commerce. He said some of the initiatives were following bilateral discussions during the visit to Sri Lanka by India Commerce Secretary in June. The Indian Government has also proposed measures in tackling Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and is in the midst of involving mechanisms to resolve trade disputes, Sinha said. “In a decision taken to address the concerns of Sri Lankan businesses, we decided that the Department of Commerce on both sides would be the focal points to coordinate and resolve problems arising from NTBs, by appointing suitable nodal officers from each side,” he pointed out. With regard to the recent announcement made by the Sri Lankan Government on amending the Indo-SL FTA, Sinha said: “On our part we welcome the removal of 10 items from the negative list, including corrugated sheets, pet food, tiles, and others, by Sri Lanka as announced in the latest budget. Our understanding is that this was agreed to since there was no significant local industry engaged in the production of these items.” “We need to find ways of synergising our efforts and it cannot be done one way,” he added. Sinha also dismissed the notion that FTA was unfavourable to Sri Lanka. He justified his viewpoint by stating that it is only after the Sri Lanka signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India that it was able to increase exports to that country 10 times its value since 2000, whereas India’s exports increased by 9.3 times. “It is true there is a trade gap but we are a huge economy. Over 70% of Sri Lanka exports have been undertaken under FTA preferences compared to 30% of Indian exports. Sri Lanka’s exports have grown faster,” he told audience. Since the Indo-SL FTA came into effect in the year 2000, the trade turnover between the two countries grew eight times and reached a high of nearly $ 5 billion in 2012. Bilateral trade between the two nations in the first 10 months of 2013 reached $ 2.96 billion. Sri Lanka’s exports to India in that period were $ 445 million whereas imports from that country were $ 2.5 billion. The two nations have set an ambitious target of reaching $ 10 billion in the next three years.