The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry is playing a proactive role in addressing the issues faced by textile and clothing players in India.
India according to CITI has fast-tracked its FTA negotiations and in the 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 the 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.
The WTO TBT Committee meeting is scheduled in Geneva on 16-18 November 2022. These meetings are an opportunity for member exporters 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, says a CITI circular addressed to its members
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 requirements 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 along with a small background to the issue and details of its impact on our exports in the below format by 21st October 2022.
