Goyal: No compromises, only benefits in trade deal with UK | India News
NEW DELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal Saturday said that India managed to get extensive benefits without making any compromises under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the UK.“We have protected many of our sensitive items like rice and sugar. Dairy has not been opened, so is ethanol. India has kept itself safe in the areas that are sensitive. No duty concession has been given (in these areas). This FTA carries a very big message for the future economy of India. We will all see the benefits that India will get under it in the coming years,” he said told the media.Goyal said Indian seafood will be able to compete more favourably with produce from Vietnam and Singapore in the UK market.The minister said that govt managed to lower the duties on automobiles and scotch – areas where talks had been held up for years – but ensured that the volumes were not significant to affect the domestic industry.Similarly, he argued there was no compromise on intellectual property rights. “We will not allow any evergreening of patents. Yet, we have managed to get a very strong chapter on intellectual property not just in the UK agreement, but also with EFTA countries,” he said. Switzerland, which is part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the UK have for long demanded easier rules around patents as both are home to large pharma companies.Citing the recent controversy over Prada launching footwear that was a rip-off of Kolhapuri chappals, Goyal said with the implementation of CETA, India will get the credit for products that enjoy Geographical Indication (GI). “Someone used the design of our Kolhapuri sandal. Commerce ministry immediately took action on it. In future, when Kolhapuri sandals are exported, India will get the credit. It will be exported as India’s GI product,” he said.While being critical of the review of trade agreements with Japan, South Korea and Asean countries, which were signed by UPA, Goyal said the UK treaty provided for a review every five years, but both countries needed to agree.Separately, the commerce department said the UK treaty safeguards to temporarily raise tariffs or suspend concessions in case of a sudden surge in British imports, which harms domestic industry. The duration of a bilateral safeguard measure under this pact is initially up to two years and can be extended for an additional two years if investigations show that the safeguard measure is needed to prevent serious injury to domestic industry.
