With the row over duties on wine and automobiles between India and the European Union (EU) under the proposed trade pact settled, both sides have now locked horns over liberalising services trade. India has insisted on equal ‘intra-corporate transfer’ (ICT) norms with the 27-member bloc to gain more market access for its professionals.
According to the ICT norms in EU, if a foreign worker is transferred from one member-state to another, he would have to first report to India before joining his new office. However, India has insisted it be treated on par with EU members on this issue.
Since ICT is a route used extensively by many Indian information technology firms to bring employees into the country, India is pushing for it under the bilateral trade agreement negotiations. This issue was raised by India in the last round of talks held in New Delhi.
| AT ODDS |
| * India is pushing for the ICT route, as it is used extensively by many information technology firms |
| * EU says the matter concerns different visa legislations of member states and it cannot negotiate this matter on their behalf |
| * India has also demanded it be recognised as a 'data-secured' country. Currently, EU doesn't recognise India as one |
| * EU has said in the absence of dedicated data protection laws, it would not be in a position to transfer personal data to India |
| * The EU has made unprecedented demands to open a few crucial sectors in India such as multi-brand retail, insurance, banking, accountancy and auditing services |
However, EU says the matter concerns different visa legislations of member states and it cannot negotiate this matter on their behalf. The matter would be taken up when Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma meets his EU counterpart, Karel De Gucht, in Brussels on June 26.
“We will insist our ICT be treated on a par with EU. Extension of EU’s ICT directive to India is critical, as intra-EU mobility for various categories of service providers is critical for India,” a senior commerce department official told Business Standard.
Under services trade negotiations, India has also demanded it be recognised as a ‘data-secured’ country. Currently, EU doesn’t recognise India as one, and due to this, Indian firms are not able to secure large-scale government contracts.
“This is critical. Without this, actual market access for our professionals cannot be meaningful. Otherwise, Mode 1 and Mode 4 will not work,” the official said. Under trade parlance, trade in services is divided into four broad categories, or Modes. Mode 1 pertains to cross-border supply of services through electronic means, while Mode 4 relates to the movement of professionals such as doctors, accountants and engineers to other countries.
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EU has said in the absence of dedicated data protection laws, it would not be in a position to recognise India as a data-secured nation and, therefore, cannot transfer personal data to India. However, India has said it has enacted the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules 2011 to implement parts of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. The EU, however, said this was inadequate.
India has asked for a written assurance from EU to recognise India as a ‘data-secured’ country’, while the EU has made unprecedented demands to open a few crucial sectors in India such as multi-brand retail, insurance, banking, accountancy and auditing services. “We have made them aware of the domestic policies on these issues and have told them clearly some of these demands cannot be made,” the official said.
India and the EU have been negotiating the bilateral pact for more than five years and have missed at least four deadlines to conclude the talks, which aim to slash duties on over 90 per cent of the tariff lines.