World Trade Organization Organisation Mondiale du Commerce Organización Mundial del Comercio

Reply: India's 'National Innovation Policy' is under formulation.

US 93:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE: (3) Measures Directly Affecting Exports: (4) Measures Affecting Production and Trade: (vi) Intellectual property rights: Pages 123 124, paragraphs 298 300:

The Secretariat says that India has made improvements in IPR enforcement through increased border protection, and its IP offices continued to pursue promising modernization efforts. Please describe what steps have been taken to increase border protection of IPR. We would appreciate information or data on the number of seizures of IPR infringing goods made at the borders, the kind of products that are being seized and from what country, and how this has changed from previous years.

Reply: Apart from introducing a separate law on border measures, Indian Customs has focused on effective implementation of the law. A key initiative taken by Indian Customs in this regard is the facility for online registrations by the right holders. The web based IPR module known as the Automatic Recordation and Targeting for IPR Protection (ARTS) provides for online registration with the chosen Customs field formation for the enforcement of IPR rights namely copyrights, trademarks, patent, designs and geographical indications by following appropriate guidelines. The main features of the ARTS are online submission of IPR Notice, uploading images of genuine goods and trademark insignias, uploading images of infringing goods, generation of Unique Temporary Registration Number (UTRN), auto generated mail to applicant regarding the status of his application for recordation, communication of the final Unique Permanent Registration Number (UPRN), etc.

The ARTS has been Integrated to national risk management module. ARTS has been listed by the WCO Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building as one of the Regional Best Practices and circulated to the members.

Taking into consideration the relatively new IPR regime in force since May 2007, the performance of Indian Customs in checking instances of counterfeiting and piracy has been noteworthy. Cases have been booked by the Customs involving counterfeit goods infringing IPRs of brands such as Nokia, Nivea, L'Oreal, Garnier, Revlon, Dove, Axe, Sony, Adidas, Bosch Mico, etc.

US 94:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SELECTED SECTOR: (1) Overview: Page 125, paragraph 4:

As the Secretariat states, the services sector has emerged as the main driver of Indian economic growth, with increasing overseas operations by Indian companies and numerous leading global firms doing business in India. We believe that this requires world class legal services and compliance with international legal practices. The Secretariat's Report from India's 2007 Trade Policy Review noted that provision of any legal service by a foreign firm or foreign lawyer was at the time prohibited. It also noted that a discussion on liberalization had been initiated via a Department of Commerce consultation paper. What is the current status of liberalization in India's legal services sector? What was the outcome of the discussion initiated via the consultation paper referenced in the 2007 TPR Report?

Reply: At present Foreign Law Firms are not allowed to practice in India and, under the Indian Advocates Act, 1961 they are prohibited from giving any legal advice that could constitute practicing Indian Law. Currently this sector is governed by self regulatory professional body (Bar Council of India). The consultation paper hosted on the website of the Department of Commerce has initiated a debate on the subject at large and especially amongst the stake holders.

US 95:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SELECTED SECTOR: (2) Agriculture: (ii) Agricultural policy objectives: Page 129, paragraph 18:

The Secretariat report provides a brief description of India's tariff rate quota (TRQ) system and its implementation. The paragraph also states that "Imports under TRQs are allowed only through eligible entities or designated agencies." How does India determine and designate these eligible entities or agencies (identified on page 48, paragraph 37)?

Reply: Para 2.59 of the Handbook of Procedures Volume 1 gives the details of the agencies and the same is available at http://dgft.gov.in. Handling the TRQ requires a higher skill and thus the agencies notified are usually STEs from the respective sectors.

US 96:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SELECTED SECTOR: (2) Agriculture: (ii) Agricultural policy objectives: Page 133, paragraph 32:

According to the Secretariat, "India's latest notification to the WTO on domestic support commitments in 2011, covered 1998/99 to 2003/04.[2]" When will India bring its notifications up to date?

Reply: India's notification to the WTO, G/AG/N/IND/7 dated 9 June 2011, covered the backlog for the period 1998 99 to 2003 04. Work is underway on India's notifications for the subsequent years.

US 97:

Report by the Secretariat (WT/TPR/S/249): IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SELECTED SECTOR: (2) Agriculture: (ii) Agricultural policy objectives: Page 134, paragraph 36:

The Secretariat Report states that India has a Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) that covers perishables not under the minimum support prices (MSPs). These perishables are purchased at a market intervention price (MIP). Please identify the perishables that are covered by the MIS and identify which perishables in fact received intervention in the few circumstances that it did occur? Please identify how the MIPs are determined as compared to the MSPs.

Reply: All perishables, which include fruits, vegetables, oil palm, areca nut etc. are covered by the MIS. MIS operations are, however, taken up exceptionally, only to prevent distress sale by farmers.

The Market intervention price (MIP) is fixed taking into consideration estimated cost of production; whereas minimum support prices (MSP) for crops under Price Support Scheme (PSS) are announced before the crop season and are fixed after a detailed analysis of cost and other relevant factors by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).