Quality barriers to be raised for imports

The government intends to increase the use of technical barriers to trade (TBT) allowed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to curb the import of sub-standard goods to protect consumers' interest.

Consumer Affairs Secretary L. Mansingh today asked the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the designated TBT enquiry point, to play a proactive role on TBT issues. The notifications on TBT were issued by the commerce ministry. So far, India was playing only a defensive role in this field.

Addressing a seminar on WTO-TBT agreement, Mansingh said the number of items covered under the BIS mandatory certification, only 109 at present, should also be increased to save consumers from substandard items which might flood the Indian markets.

India's imports were rising fast and the country was expected to become the biggest market, next to China. As the country's TBT enquiry point, the BIS would have to match its counterparts in countries like Brazil and Thailand. Various stakeholders would need to be trained in TBT requirements.

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade director-general Prabir Sengupta referred to the growing tendency the world over to use technical barriers rather than tariff for regulating trade and said India needed to keep pace with these technical measures to be globally competitive.

Thanks to increase in competition, more and more safety, health and environment related restrictions were being imposed, he pointed out.