| It has, however, agreed to India's proposal to begin negotiations for a social security agreement. The move is expected to particularly benefit Indian software professionals who have to pay social security taxes of around 30 per cent in France. |
| The issues were discussed at a meeting between Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and the visiting French Minister for Foreign Trade Christine Lagarde earlier this week. |
| According to government officials, France pointed out that the present standard norms for imported tyres were impacting increased sale of tyres and cars to India. |
| France has sought relaxation of the requirement to obtain Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) marking for the tyres in addition to e-marking, for tyres in Europe. |
| "Their contention is that a BIS marking on the tyre requires three additional tests including static braking strength test, bead unseating test for turbulence tyres and an endurance test. Since stringent tests are done before the e-marking in the EU, the tests in India are not required," an official said. |
| The commerce ministry said that it would discuss the matter with the ministry of surface transport. |
| Officials said that France had agreed to begin negotiations for a social security pact in the first quarter of 2007. |
| "India has already sent France a draft of the security pact, on the lines of the pact recently signed with Belgium," an official said. |
| France has also sought a separate category of visas for visiting French interns who are employed by French companies and attached temporarily to their offices in India. |
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