A delegation from Uruguay consisting of Mr. Marcos Martinez, Natural Resources of Agriculture Ministry, Uruguay and Mr.  Federico Condon, Genebank Manager, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Uruguay held discussions with the Indian delegation headed by Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India to explore the possibility of cooperation between both countries in the field of agriculture.

 

Mr. Marcos Martinez said their country grows millet species like Sorghum and Finger millets and many minor native millets like Paspalum and Panicum millets. He said Uruguay has native grasses that grow naturally and is used for animal production. He said this native grassland is considered as native wealth of Uruguay and is raised naturally as feed for bovine and sheep. 

 

Mr. Marcos Martinez said they would like to explore the possibility of cooperation between two countries on germ plasm exchange, grain processing for human food and eventually also for breeding and any other research related to grain production. He said Uruguay is considered as leader in food production. Uruguay has 3.5 million people but produces food for more than 30 million people. The production of wool and leather is enormous and there is still high potential for export.

 

Mr. Ashwani Kumar thanked Mr. Marcos Martinez for informing the potential for export from Uruguay. He said India has also lot of agricultural products which can be exported to Uruguay. He said India produces many vegetables and fruits and exports Mango, Grapes, Pineapple, Pomegranate to many countries, including the US, Canada etc. India also exports vegetables and Basmati Rice to Europe and North America, which is worth Rs. 30,000 crores. He said ten types of millets and minor millets are grown in the country.  

 

He said Uruguay may send a letter expressing their interest for cooperation and move forward in a planned way. He said both countries can also chalk out a roadmap for mutual exchange in germ plasm and can benefit from expertise in their respective countries. 

 

Joint Working Groups (JWG) are in existence between India and the US, Canada, Australia, Europe Union and like that JWG can be formed between India and Uruguay, which can meet twice a year – once in India and once in Uruguay.  

Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Monday said the Indian economy was on the path to recovery but cautioned that foreign investors may remain cautious because of geopolitical challenges. Speaking at a virtual seminar organised by Swadeshi Research Institute, he said all sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and construction are 'doing well'.

 

'The Indian economy is showing resilience and on the path to recovery. Private demand and the services sector are doing better than expected,' he said.

 

Private capital formation is taking place, while foreign direct investment (FDI) flow is keeping steady, he said.

 

However, there are challenges, and geopolitics is messy for which foreign investors are cautious, the CEA said.

 

Noting that India has a 'well-capitalised banking sector', the economist said, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) also played a big part in 'improving the health of the banking system' which had high NPAs due to the financial crisis of 2008.

 

The economy is going to see 'good capital formation for good credit growth', he said.

 

Nageswaran, an academic and former executive with Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group, also stated, 'Inflation in India is now at seven per cent. But we are worried about this rate which shows the country is becoming less tolerant to it (inflation).'

 

The Ninth Session of the Governing Body (GB9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) concluded in New Delhi today.

 

 The six-day GB9 session of ITPGRFA was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in New Delhi on September 19, 2022. More than 400 eminent scientists and resource persons from 150 member-countries participated in the deliberation during the 9th session of GB.

 

First contribution towards Benefit Sharing Fund of Treaty from India

 

In a historical first, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII) contributed Rs 20 lakhs (~USD 25,000) to the Benefit-Sharing Fund (BSF) as the first collective contribution from Indian seed sector, during the GB-9 meetings.  The BSF is the funding mechanism of the Treaty used for support of capacity building, Conservation and sustainable use projects among the Contracting Parties of the Treaty.

 

India appointed as Co-Chair of the Working Group on Enhancement of MLS

 

Dr Sunil Archak, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, India, was appointed as Co-Chair, along with Dr Michael Ryan, Department of Agriculture, Canberra, Australia, on the Working Group on ‘Enhancement of the Multilateral System (MLS)’. A fully functional user-friendly and simple MLS is crucial for the success of the ITPGFRA. Elements of enhancement would include measures for increased benefit sharing mechanism, expansion of crops and accessions available through the MLS, while also taking into cognisance changes in scientific, technical and policy environment globally.

 

Consensus on implementation of Farmers Rights reached after extensive negotiations at GB9

 

Based on meetings in the last five years of Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Farmers’ Rights (FRs), Co-Chaired by Dr R.C. Agrawal (India) and Ms Svanhild Isabelle Batta Torheim (Norway), and the working group/plenary deliberations during the GB9 meeting, a resolution on implementation of Farmers Rights under Article 9 was finally agreed upon ensuring equilibrium and justice.

 

The Co-chairs acknowledged the contributions of the experts, stakeholders and delegates of the GB9 to arrive at the resolution which was difficult, but achieved, nonetheless. The GB called upon the Contracting Parties to update inventory of national measures, best practices and lessons learnt for national implementation of Farmers’ Rights under the Treaty, as per the national legislation. Further, the Treaty Secretariat was requested to publish the options for realization of Farmers’ Rights, including Option Category 10 (legal measures for the implementation of the Farmers’ Rights), which was noted as Co-Chairs proposal, based on India’s experience under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001 where FRs are well balanced with Plant Breeders Rights were included in the resolution as the Co-Chairs. The GB9 also called upon the Treaty Secretariat to include in its multi-year programme of work (MYPOW) for possible impact of digital sequence information (DSI) on Farmers’ Rights.

 

The GB9 welcomed the offer of Government of India to host a global symposium on Farmers’ Rights to share experiences and discuss future work on Farmers’ Rights and also for the assessment of the Implementation of the Farmers’ Rights as per the Treaty Article 9 in various countries which are Contracting Parties.

 

India flags issue regarding genebank funding

 

In a major breakthrough in the GB9 of ITPGRFA, Contracting Parties acknowledged the intervention made by India, and supported by many African nations, regarding effect due to institutional reform within the CGAIR system on funding of genebanks globally, and CIFOR-ICRAF and ICRISAT in particular. GB emphasised the need to ensure the long-term safety of the Article 15 IARC genebanks and the distribution of germplasm held ‘in trust’ by the CGIAR centres and other Article 15 genebanks, and for long-term solutions by strengthening the Treaty and the Crop Trust mechanism.

Delegates of the ninth session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) finalised a resolution here on Thursday on 'celebrating the guardians of crop diversity.' It recognises the role of communities, farmers and women as 'guardians of crop diversity'. During the discussions, India assumed a leadership role to steer the consultation on enhancement of the functioning of the multilateral system (MLS) of the ITPGRFA.

 

The session, on its third day, established a ‘contact group’ to guide a draft process for re-starting the negotiations which broke down since the last meeting of the ITPGRFA governing body held before the pandemic. 'Delegates of GB-9 held the first informal meeting of the contact group to take the agenda forward in the plenary discussion,' the Union Agriculture Ministry said in a release.

 

India also drew attention to the meeting on the funding status of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). India argued that ICRISAT is not a part of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research but continues to be a CGAIR Genebank as defined by Article 15 of the Treaty. 'India demanded that GB-9 deliberate on the issue of continued funding of ICRISAT Genebank,' the release added.

 

India also demanded deliberations on Digital Sequence Information (DSI) in Plant Treaty independent of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). India endorsed the need for continuation of technical deliberations to provide clarity of definition, scope, jurisdiction, nature of implementation and access and benefit sharing mechanisms for fulfilling the objectives of ITPGRFA.

 

The release said the DSI had been a difficult issue to resolve in all international fora. 'Since ITPGRFA deliberations are relatively ahead in content and practical in nature, India argued that DSI issue should be resolved without compromising on the discussions on multilateral system enhancement. India further reiterated that ITPGRFA should not wait for CBD to resolve DSI issue, since ITPGRFA deliberations are relatively ahead in content, delineated in scope and easy to implement,' the government said.

Make in India, the flagship program of the Government of India that aspires to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development, and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure, completes 8 years of path-breaking reforms on 25th September 2022. 

 

Launched in 2014 under the dynamic leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, ‘Make in India’ is transforming the country into a leading global manufacturing and investment destination. The initiative is an open invitation to potential investors and partners across the globe to participate in the growth story of ‘New India’.  Make In India has substantial accomplishments across 27 sectors. These include strategic sectors of manufacturing and services as well. 

 

To attract foreign investments, Government of India has put in place a liberal and transparent policy wherein most sectors are open to FDI under the automatic route. FDI inflows in India stood at US $ 45.15 billion in 2014-2015 and have since consecutively reached record FDI inflows for eight years. The year 2021-22 recorded the highest ever FDI at $83.6 billion. This FDI has come from 101 countries, and invested across 31 UTs and States and 57 sectors in the country. On the back of economic reforms and Ease of Doing Business in recent years, India is on track to attract US$ 100 Bn FDI in the current FY. 

 

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across 14 key manufacturing sectors, was launched in 2020-21 as a big boost to Make in India initiative. The PLI Scheme incentivises domestic production in strategic growth sectors where India has comparative advantage. This includes strengthening domestic manufacturing, forming resilient supply chains, making Indian industries more competitive and boosting the export potential. PLI Scheme is expected to generate significant gains for production and employment, with benefits extending to the MSME eco-system.

 

Recognising the importance of semiconductors in the world economy, the Government of India has launched a USD 10 billion incentive scheme to build a semiconductor, display, design ecosystem in India.

 

To strengthen Make in India initiative, several other measures have been taken by the Government of India. The reform measures include amendments to laws, liberalization of guidelines and regulations, in order to reduce unnecessary compliance burden, bring down cost and enhance the ease of doing business in India. Burdensome compliances to rules and regulations have been reduced through simplification, rationalisation, decriminalisation, and digitisation, making it easier to do business in India. Additionally, Labour reforms have brought flexibility in hiring and retrenchment. Quality control orders have been introduced to ensure quality in local manufacturing. Steps to promote manufacturing and investments also include reduction in corporate taxes, public procurement orders and Phased Manufacturing Programme. 

 

To promote local industry by providing them preference in public procurement of Goods, Works and Services, the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017 was also issued pursuant to Rule 153 (iii) of the General Financial Rules 2017, as an enabling provision.  The policy aims at encouraging domestic manufacturer’s participation in public procurement activities over entities merely importing to trade or assemble items. The policy is applicable to all Ministries or Departments or attached or subordinate Offices or autonomous body controlled by the Government of India and includes Government companies as defined in the Companies Act.

 

Further, the National Single Window System (NSWS) has been soft-launched in September 2021 to improve the ease-of-doing-business by providing a single digital platform to investors for approvals and clearances. This portal has integrated multiple existing clearance systems of the various Ministries/Departments of Government of India and State Governments to enhance the investor experience. 

 

The Government has also launched programme for multimodal connectivity to manufacturing zones in the country, called the Prime Minister’s Gatishakti programme, which will ensure logistical efficiency in business operations through the creation of infrastructure that improves connectivity. This will enable faster movement of goods and people, enhancing access to markets, hubs, and opportunities, and reducing logistics cost. 

 

The One-District-One-Product (ODOP)initiative is another manifestation of the 'Make in India' vision for facilitating promotion and production of the indigenous products from each district of the country and providing a global platform to the artisans and manufacturers of handloom, handicrafts, textiles, agricultural and processed products, thereby further contributing to the socio-economic growth of various regions of the country. 

 

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, during his Mann ki Baat broadcast in August 2020, expressed a desire to establish India as a global toy manufacturing hub and to strengthen domestic designing and manufacturing capabilities.

 

The Toy Industry in India has historically been import dependent. Lack of raw-material, technology, design capability etc. led to huge imports of Toys and its components. In 2018-19, Toys worth USD 371 Mn (Rs. 2960 cr.) were imported into our country.  A large proportion of these toys were unsafe, substandard, counterfeit, and cheap.  

 

To address the import of low-quality and hazardous toys and to enhance domestic manufacturing of toys, several strategic interventions have been taken by government. Some key initiatives include increase of Basic Custom Duty from 20% to 60%, implementation of Quality Control Order, mandatory sample testing of imported toys, granting more than 850 BIS licenses to domestic toy manufacturers, development of toy clusters etc. Several promotional initiatives including The India Toy Fair 2021, Toycathon 2021, Toy Business League 2022 were conducted to promote indigenous toys to encourage innovation and new-age design to suit global requirements. 

 

Complimented by sincere efforts of domestic toy manufacturers, the growth of Indian Toy industry has been remarkable in less than 2 years despite Covid-19 pandemic.  The import of toys in FY21-22 have reduced by 70% to USD 110 Mn (Rs. 877.8 cr.). There has also been a distinct improvement in quality of toys in domestic market. Simultaneously, the efforts of the industry have led to an export of 326 Mn USD (Rs. 2601.5 cr.) of toys in FY21-22, which is an increase of over 61% over 202 Mn USD (Rs. 1612 cr.) of FY18-19. India’s export of toys registered tremendous growth of 636% in April-August 2022 over the same period in 2013.

 

There are several trends that mark a shift in Indian manufacturing, which includes increase in domestic value addition & local sourcing, a greater focus on R & D, innovation and sustainability measures. 

 

The Make in India initiative has been striving to ensure that the business ecosystem in the nation is conducive for investors doing business in India and contributing to growth and development of the Nation. This has been done through a range of reforms that has led to increased investment inflows as well as economic growth. 

 

With this initiative at the forefront, the businesses in India are aiming that the products that are 'Made in India' are also ‘Made for the World,’ adhering to global standards of quality.

The government is set to launch an oilseed mission to boost domestic production of oilseeds and reduce import dependence, said NITI Aayog member, agriculture, Ramesh Chand.

 

India currently makes around ?1 trillion worth of edible oil imports every year or nearly half of its demand.

 

The proposed scheme was devised after the NITI Aayog governing council led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils. At its meeting last month, Modi stressed on the need for diversification in the agriculture sector and to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils, Mint reported on 8 August.

 

The scheme is expected to have elements like subsidy to farmers for buying good quality seeds, intervention by the government in the market to support prices when needed, and involvement of the private sector in making available quality seeds.

 

The move is significant given that the government had to lower the import duty on edible oils several times in recent months to tame food inflation.

 

The proposed mission will cover oilseeds including mustard, groundnut, sunflower, safflower and coconut, and will focus on improving the yield of oilseeds, ensuring good quality seeds and improving the area under oilseed cultivation, said Chand in an interview.

 

'There could be some subsidy on seeds. There could be involvement of private sector to ensure that the farmer gets good seeds. Some experts are also arguing that we should import good quality germplasm for high yield. The second aspect is price assurance. In the last two-three years, when we had better price for mustard, the area of land under mustard production has also seen an increase. Price is a good incentive. Remunerative price for oil seed is important,' said Chand.

 

The idea is that when prices of oilseeds go below a level, the government could intervene. Also, putting the land under rice cultivation, which remains unused for eight-nine months in a year after paddy harvesting, can be used to grow oilseeds. In eastern India, on ten million hectares of land, nothing else is sowed after rice is harvested and this land can be used for growing oilseeds, Chand said.

 

Various ministries are coordinating with the federal policy think tank NITI Aayog in framing the oilseed mission.

 

A surge in global edible oil prices earlier this year had forced key exporter Indonesia to resort to export curbs while high prices forced India to cut the basic customs duty and cess on select oils.

 

Higher edible oil output could also help in taming inflation. As per official data, food inflation in August remained at 7.62%, up from 3.11% a year ago.

 

The Centre currently has schemes such as horticulture mission and mission on edible oils aimed at developing these sectors.

The free trade agreement (FTA) talks between India and the UK are now in their final phase and despite some outstanding issues to be resolved, there is optimism on both sides that the Diwali deadline for a draft will be met, according to the Lord Mayor of London.

 

Vincent Keaveny, the 693rd Lord Mayor who represents the financial hub of the City of London globally, has just returned from a four-day visit to India following meetings with leading Indian businesses and investors and finance chiefs at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

 

As London's ambassador for financial and professional services, the Lord Mayor's visit was aimed at strengthening India-UK financial services links, building strong and sustainable two-way capital flows.

 

'It was a really good time to be in India with the FTA negotiations entering into their final phase,' Keaveny told PTI.

 

'Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that he wants to sign the FTA by Diwali. There are some outstanding issues to be resolved but I think there's a lot of optimism on both sides that we will get that done. Whatever the content of the agreement, it will be a real positive for the relationship between India and the UK across the board in the coming years,' he said.

 

His visit comes amid reports that Modi may be planning a visit to the UK to sign the FTA around Diwali, which falls on October 24. The timeline had been set during former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India in April and there had been some speculation whether the change of leadership in the UK might impact that deadline.

 

Asked about the prospect, the Lord Mayor expressed optimism: 'It is a tight deadline but there is optimism.

 

'Prime Minister Liz Truss is deeply engaged in international trade, she's served as trade secretary and had a trade focus to her time as foreign secretary... we have a Prime Minister very conscious of trade issues and will be well placed to take this to the final leg.'

 

Keaveny, who also addressed the Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai earlier this week, highlighted the huge demand for digital services in India as a sign of the growing India-UK exchanges in the field.

 

'London is Europe's top fintech hub. And we can all see that India is on the way to becoming Asia's top fintech hub - with the highest fintech adoption rates in the entire world and the emergence of many unicorns,' he said.

 

'As well as talent, we have the opportunity to enhance the connectivity between the UK and India fintech ecosystems - both business-to-business connections, but also connections through hubs and accelerators. Underscored by the UK-India relationship being at an all-time high. The free trade agreement negotiations will pave the way for significantly stronger trade flows between our nations significantly,' he said.

 

With reference to his discussions with RBI and SEBI, the Lord Mayor described very 'positive engagements' on sustainable finance as an area of 'tremendous opportunity'.

 

'India has a very large infrastructure investment requirement, running into trillions of dollars. There is an opportunity here, which we in the City of London would be keen to support - to bring the capital that is there in the international markets into projects in India that need that capital for investment in infrastructure. That is a tremendous opportunity,' he said.

 

However, he also pointed to some areas where there is less of a 'meeting of minds', such as Indian companies being able to list their shares directly on the international stock exchanges.

 

'Proposals to allow that to happen are currently on hold. We continue to advocate for that to happen. I think it will be beneficial to Indian corporates and the Indian corporate community to tell its story much more directly in the international markets,' he said.

A delegation from Uruguay consisting of Mr. Marcos Martinez, Natural Resources of Agriculture Ministry, Uruguay and Mr.  Federico Condon, Genebank Manager, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Uruguay held discussions with the Indian delegation headed by Shri Ashwani Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India along with Dr. R.C. Agarwal, DDG (Education), ICAR, Dr. Ashok Kumar, Director, NBPGR and Dr. Sunil Archak, Principal Scientist, NBPGR in New Delhi today to explore the possibility of cooperation between both countries in the field of agriculture.

 

Mr. Marcos Martinez said their country grows millet species like Sorghum and Finger millets and many minor native millets like Paspalum and Panicum millets.  He said Uruguay has native grasses that grow naturally and is used for animal production.  He said this native grassland is considered as native wealth of Uruguay and is raised naturally as feed for bovine and sheep.

 

Mr. Marcos Martinez said they would like to explore the possibility of cooperation between two countries on germ plasm exchange, grain processing for human food and eventually also for breeding and any other research related to grain production. He said Uruguay is considered as leader in food production. Uruguay has 3.5 million people but produces food for more than 30 million people. He said they export Soyabean and its components like oil, which are mostly GM crops, long grain rice. He said they export meat, milk, oranges, lemon, wool and locally produced wine.  The production of wool and leather is enormous and there is still high potential for export.

 

Shri Ashwani Kumar thanked Mr. Marcos Martinez for informing the potential for export from Uruguay. He said India has also lot of agricultural products which can be exported to Uruguay. He said India produces many vegetables and fruits and exports Mango, Grapes, Pineapple, Pomegranate to many countries, including the US, Canada etc. He said India also exports vegetables and Basmati Rice to Europe and North America, which is worth Rs. 30,000 crores. He said ten types of millets are grown in the country.  He further said minor millets are also produced in very large area.  He said there can be a technical bilateral group consisting of Department of Agriculture, Department of Animal Husbandry and ICAR from India, who can meet annually and move further in the field of millets and any other crop or export.  He said Uruguay may send a letter expressing their interest for cooperation and move forward in a planned way.  He said both countries can also chalk out a roadmap for mutual exchange in germ plasm.  He said both countries can benefit from expertise in their respective countries. He said, in the field of agriculture, Joint Working Groups (JWG) are in existence between India and the US, Canada, Australia, Europe Union and like that JWG can be formed between India and Uruguay, which can meet twice a year - once in India and once in Uruguay.  He said there can also be technical cooperation between universities of both countries.  He said India has 74 agricultural universities and our country is very strong in this field.  Bilateral student exchange programme is also one of the areas where both countries can cooperate. Admission of students from Uruguay for research and post-graduate programmes can also be done here.  The Uruguayan delegation said it is a wonderful idea as it makes relationships to grow.  Shri Ashwani Kumar said both countries can work on farmers’ rights and plant variety.  India has an Authority for plant variety called PPVFRA.  Capacity building can also be done by both countries.

 

Shri Ashwani Kumar said a letter may be sent from Uruguayan Embassy expressing their interest for a bilateral agreement so that we can move forward.

The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which came into effect on the 1st of May 2022 is already creating a significant positive impact on India-UAE trade. Indian exports to the UAE,excluding petroleum productsgrew from US$ 5.17 billion during June-August 2021 to US$ 5.92 billion during June-August 2022, which denotes an increase of 14%.

 

It is pertinent to note that India’s global non-petroleum exports during the same period (Jun-Aug 2022) grew by 3% on an annual basis. This implies the growth rate of India’s non-petroleum exports to the UAE is almost 5 times as that of India’s non-petroleum exports to the world.

Top 10 Products – On Absolute Change Basis, excluding petroleum products

Chapter	Chapter Description	Jun-Aug 2021	Jun-Aug 2022	Y-o-y Change (%)
85	Electrical machinery and equipment	549.1	916.53	67%
71	Gems & jewellery	1053.33	1404.73	33%
10	Cereals	107.93	281.36	161%
17	Sugars and sugar confectionery	33.04	111.49	237%
28	Inorganic chemicals	90.3	156.92	74%
84	Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof	211.34	267.89	27%
87	Vehicles and accessories thereof	122.06	169.03	38%
9	Coffee, tea, mate and spices	58.37	95.7	64%
7	Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers	40.75	74.16	82%
33	Essential oils and resinoids; perfumery, cosmetic or toilet preparations	48.79	72.39	48%

Excluding petroleum related imports, Indian imports from the UAE during the same three-month period grew from US$ 5.56billion (June-August 2021) to US$ 5.61 billion (June-August 2022) or an increase of 1% in percentage terms.

 

It may be noted that India’s non-oil export growth of around 14% on year-on-year basis comes in the context of significant macroeconomic headwinds such as conflict in Ukraine, COVID-19 related lockdowns in China, rising inflationary pressures, expected Policy tightening in advanced economies, global growth slowdown and consequent reduced demand, reduction in global merchandize trade (growth slowed down to 3.2% in Q1 2022 vis-a-vis 5.7% in Q4 2021)etc.

 

WTO’s global trade growth forecast for the entire year 2022 was at 3% in April 2022. This forecast is expected to be revised downwards as the macroeconomic headwinds had worsened since April 2022.

 

Indian exports are likely to increase further in the coming months with increasing use of the CEPA by the exporters and with dedicated efforts from Department of Commerce, in association with Indian Mission in the UAE, through organization of a series of trade promotion events in the UAE during the current Financial Year.

 

The analysis of the India-UAE CEPA was carried out from the period of June-August 2022, excluding statistics of oil trade. The month of May has not been included for the purpose of the analysis as it is considered as a transitory period.Oil trade has not been considered as import increase in oil/petroleum products is largely on account of the rise in global prices and to a certain extent on an increase offtake in volumes. Further, it is pertinent to mention that bulk of the oil imports from the UAE are of Crude Petroleum, the demand for which is inelastic and the customs duty for which is very low.

India has defended its decision to ban export of wheat and rice at a WTO meeting even as some member countries have flagged concerns over the country’s stand, an official said.

 

At a meeting last week in Geneva, Senegal, the U.S. and the European Union raised questions over this decision, stating it could have adverse implications on global markets.

 

In May, India restricted export of wheat to enhance domestic availability. This month, it also banned export of broken rice and imposed a 20% export duty on non-Basmati rice except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under paddy crop in the current kharif season.

 

Defending its decision, India clarified that the ban on export of broken rice, which is used in poultry feed, follows a rise in the grain’s exports in recent months which put pressure on the domestic market.

 

In the case of wheat, food security concerns necessitated export curbs.

 

'India has also stated that the measures are temporary in nature and under continuous monitoring,' the official said.

 

Senegal, a major importer of India’s broken rice and other rice products, urged India to keep trade open in these difficult times to ensure food sufficiency, the official added.

 

At the meeting, Thailand, Australia, Uruguay, the U.S., Australia, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Paraguay, and Japan requested for consultations with India regarding the use of the peace clause to protect its food programmes against action from trade disputes.

 

In April, India invoked the peace clause, for the third time, for exceeding the 10% ceiling on support it offers to rice farmers. It informed the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that it has used the peace clause of the WTO to provide excess support measures to rice farmers for marketing year 2020-21 in order to meet the domestic food security needs of its poor population.

 

Under the peace clause, WTO member countries refrain from challenging any breach in the prescribed subsidy ceiling given by a developing nation at the dispute settlement forum of WTO. Subsidies over and above the prescribed ceiling are seen as trade distortion. The limit is fixed at 10% of the value of food production for developing countries like India.

 

India has strongly pitched for finding a permanent solution to the issue but there has been no progress so far.

 

The 164-member Geneva-based multilateral body WTO deals with global exports and import-related norms. Besides, it adjudicates trade disputes between the member countries.