Wt/tpr/M/313/Add. 1 31 July 2015
PART I: QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SECRETARIAT REPORT
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| PART I: QUESTIONS REGARDING THE SECRETARIAT REPORT
2. TRADE AND INVESTMENT REGIME Page 27 (Para 2.17) India has not yet submitted its Category A notification. Question 1: When does India intend to notify to the WTO secretariat its Category "A" commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement? Reply: India intends to notify its category A commitments and ratify the TFA shortly. The date for notification will be decided by the competent authority. Question 2: Has India started the implementation of any of the commitments of the Trade Facilitation Agreement? Reply: Trade Facilitation is an ongoing process and many of the provisions of TFA are already implemented by India. Question 3: Although India has not notified the Category "A" commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement to date, would it be possible to indicate which commitments are considered to be more challenging to implement? Reply: Commitments which require legal changes, huge human resources, administrative structure and ICT would be more challenging to implement. Page 32 (Para 2.4.1.2) According to the Secretariat report, approved non-medium and small-scale companies may also produce items reserved for the MSMs on condition they obtain an industrial license and undertake to export at least 50% of their annual production. Question 4: Could you please elaborate on the procedures for obtaining such industrial license and on how the 50% export requirement is enforced? Reply : On the recommendation of the Advisory Committee, Govt. of India through Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry's notification no. S.O. 998 (E) dated 10.04.2015, has de-reserved the remaining 20 items from the list of items reserved for exclusive manufacture in SSI (now-MSE) sector. Therefore, as on date, there is no item reserved for exclusive manufacture in SSI (now-MSE) sector. Page 35 (Para 3.1) Since its last Trade Policy Review in 2011, the main changes in India´s customs procedures have included the adoption in 2011 of self-assessment with a view to facilitating trade (..) Non compliant importers/exporters may face penal action on account of wrong self-assessment made with intent to evade duty or avoid compliance of conditions of relevant legal administrative proceeding. Question 5: Could India elaborate on how such changes have facilitated trade? Have they reduced the time of release of goods? What is the average time for the clearance of goods after the implementation of self-assessment? Are non-compliant importers/exporters subject only to penal action or would additional penalties (such as administrative fines) occur as a result of non compliance? Reply: Self-assessment in Customs had been introduced with an objective to curtail time of clearance and the associated costs by relying on the declarations filed by importers and exporters. Subjecting only those consignments that are perceived to be risky to reassessment results in faster clearance of balance consignments. Time Release Study ( TRS) conducted for the period July 2013 –December 2013 at JNCH reveals the following key finding in respect of RMS (Risk Management System) facilitated Bills of Entry (B/E) [requiring no examination and assessment by Customs):
Hence, the average total time taken by Customs is: 5 hours 2.86 minutes The non compliant importers/exporters are subject to additional penalties such as administrative fines. Page 35 (Para 3.2) With a few exceptions, importers - Indian and foreign nationals - must obtain an importer-exporter code (IEC) number by registering with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in order to be able to import commercially. Question 6: Which are the criteria for these exceptions? Who is exempt from registering? Reply: IEC is compulsory for import and /or exports. IEC is granted to those entities engaged in trade on commercial basis. Entities not engaged in commercial trade like sovereign Government or its designated agency/ one time trade for personal consumption etc. are exempted from obtaining IEC. Page 35 (Para 3.6) In order to import specific goods, in certain instances, certificates of registration and import permits issued by different agencies are required. These certificates must be submitted at the time of filing the bill of entry. Question 7: Could India list the agencies to which the above paragraph refers? Reply: Major agencies include Plant Quarantine, Animal Quarantine, Drug Controller and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ( FSSAI) . This list is not exhaustive and only illustrative. Question 8: Is it feasible for all certificates required for registration, as well as import permits, to be requested online? Reply: Application of Import authorisations can be made online Question 9: Is it necessary to pay any fee to obtain these certificates of registration or import permits? Reply: yes, for import authorisations Page 35 (Para. 3.4) Importers with a good track record and complying with qualifying criteria are entitled to be accredited for special clearance procedures under Accredited Client´s Programme (ACP). Question 10: Could India please provide further information on this programme? Which are its eligibility criteria? Does it comply with the provisions established in Article 7.7 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement? Reply: The eligibility criteria for an importer to qualify under the "Accredited Clients Program" is as follows: i.They should have imported goods valued at Rs. Ten Crores [assessable value] in the previous financial year; or paid more than Rs. One Crore of Customs duty in the previous financial year; or, in the case of importers who are also Central Excise assesses, paid Central Excise Duties over Rs. One Crore from the Personal Ledger Account in the previous financial year, or they should be recognized as "status holders" under the Foreign Trade Policy. ii.They should have filed at least 25 Bills of Entry in the previous financial year in one or more Indian Customs stations. iii.They should have no cases of Customs, Central Excise or Service Tax, as detailed below, booked against them in the previous three financial years.
iv.They should also not have any cases booked under any of the Allied Acts being implemented by Customs. v.The quality of the submissions made by the applicants to Customs should be good as measured by the number of amendments made in the bills of entry submitted by them in relation to classification of goods, valuation and claim for exemption benefits. The number of such amendments should not have exceeded 20% of the bills of entry during the previous financial year. vi.They should have no duty demands pending on account of non-fulfilment of Export obligation. vii.They should have reliable systems of record keeping and internal controls and their accounting systems should conform to recognized standards of accounting. They are required to provide the necessary certificate from their Chartered Accountants in this regard as per format given in the Application form. Procedure specified for ACP complies with provisions of Article 7.7 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) Article 7.7. of the TFA covers AEOs (Authorised Economic Operators). In India both ACP and AEO scheme are operational. Page 49 (Para 3.47) License application fees vary according to the c.i.f. value of imports. Fees are not refundable (…) Question 11: Could India please clarify if such fees are being charged as a proportion of c.i.f. value? Reply: The application fee for licenses is charged as a proportion of CIF value subject to minimum Rs.200/ and an upper ceiling of Rs. 1,00,000/-. Question 12: Does India consider this practice (i.e. fees varying in accordance with c.i.f. value imports) consistent with Article VIII:1 of the GATT? Reply: The fees are concomitant to the services being provided. Moreover, there is an upper ceiling on the fee so prescribed. Page 71 (3.2.6.3 Drawback schemes) Under the drawback system in India, exporters are entitled to a refund of: the customs duties (including additional duties) on imported goods that are exported without transformation (Section 74); or customs duties, central excise duties, and the service tax levied on materials imported or produced locally to manufacture export products (Section 75). In addition, Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duties) Rules 1995 regulate drawback on imported goods re-exported from India. Question 13: Does India maintain a drawback system that extends the benefits of the schemes to enterprises that purchase local or imported goods to produce intermediate goods to be used by another enterprise in the production of final products for export (intermediate drawback)? If so, please describe the operation of such system. Reply: Duty drawback is extended in relation to the final product exported. However, it may factor duty drawback on separately manufactured constituents of the export product. To illustrate, various components of an export product may get manufactured separately at different locations. In such cases, drawback application under brand rate would be applied for in the office having jurisdiction over the manufacturing unit wherein the final export product was manufactured or assembled and the relevant components manufactured elsewhere would be specified for which data shall be submitted for verification in the office having jurisdiction over the component manufacturing facility. The brand rate would be fixed by taking results of both verifications into account. Question 14: Does India maintain programmes similar to drawback schemes, designed to increase the competitiveness of export-oriented companies, in particular small-scale enterprises, and to boost exports? If so, please describe their operation. If so, please describe the operation of such schemes. Reply: A scheme similar to Duty Drawback Scheme is the rebate of service tax paid on the taxable services received by an exporter of goods and used for export of goods. The rebate is permitted either on the basis of average rates or on actual basis, subject to certain conditions. The operation of this scheme is governed by Notification No.41/2012-Service Tax dated 29.6.2012. Question 15: Are natural persons eligible under the drawback schemes in India? Reply: Subject to the provisions of the Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duties) Rules, 1995 and the Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995, the drawback is paid to the exporter. This would include natural persons. Question 16: Does the drawback system in India include commercial enterprises engaged in foreign trade? Reply: Subject to the provisions of the Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duties) Rules, 1995 and the Customs, Central Excise Duties and Service Tax Drawback Rules, 1995, the commercial enterprises exporting goods would be covered under the drawback scheme. Question 17: According to Indian regulations, what is the tax treatment for imported and/or local inputs that are used to produce capital goods with a long production cycle? Reply: Inputs used to produce capital goods are liable to be taxed as per the prevailing effective rates of import/domestic taxes for that specific tariff line. Lower rates are specified for certain capital goods such as those required for oil exploration or power generation. Importers can also opt for concessional duty under Project Imports for import of capital goods with long gestation period. Brazil Additional Questions
4.12. India's last notification of export subsidies, made to the WTO in 2012, covered 2004 to 2010. Based on the Sugar Development Fund (Amendment) Rules 2014, on 12 February 2014 the Government approved a subsidy at the rate of Rs 3,300 per tonne towards marketing and promotion services of raw sugar production for February-March 2014. The scheme is now to be reviewed for the current sugar season 2014-15. Questions 1: Regarding the subsidy for raw sugar production, what was the motivation to implement this measure? Reply: The model of the Indian sugar industry is quite different from the models in many other parts of the globe. The sugar mills in the country neither own the sugarcane fields nor undertake contractual cultivation. The raw material for the sugar industry viz sugarcane, is cultivated by an estimated 5 million farmer families who are low income and resource poor on individual land holdings which are extremely small and scattered and in general range from 0.5 to 2 hectares. The interventions by the aim to facilitate payment of arrears of cane payments to farmers by the sugar mills. Question 2: In February 2014, the Indian Government instituted a raw sugar export subsidy, which would be available for a quantity of 4 million MT of sugar exported during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 sugar marketing years. The actual amount of the subsidy was to be determined every two months, and the incentive was to be reviewed before the commencement of the 2014 15 sugar year. In this case, subsequent to the February 2014 notification, India revised the amount of the subsidy several times, to INR 2,277 (approximately USD 37.95) for April-May 2014, INR 3,300 (approximately USD 55) for June-July 2014 and INR 3,371 (approximately USD 56.18) for August-September 2014. In January 2015, the Food Ministry of the Government of India, therefore, proposed that the subsidy be enhanced to INR 4,000 (approximately USD 66.66) per MT, and that the quantity of exports eligible for the subsidy be reduced from 4 million MT to 1.4 million MT. On 19 February 2015, India`s Cabinet approved the proposal, and announced that 1.4 million MT of raw sugar exported during the current sugar year would receive the subsidy at the enhanced rate of INR 4000 per MT. At the May 2014 meeting of the WTO Committee on Agriculture, India answered questions regarding its sugar export subsidies posed by Brazil, Australia, Colombia and the European Union. In its answers, India stated that no payments had been made under the export subsidy program as of the time of the May 2014 meeting. Has the status for this measure changed? Has the Indian Government started paying the subsidies for raw sugar exports stated under the measure? Reply: No, the status has not changed. No payments have been made till date. Canada REPORT BY THE SECRETARIAT (WT/TPR/S/313) Summary, Paragraph 21, page 10: It is noted that in 2012, new price controls on drugs were introduced with a view to ensuring availability of "essential medicines". Question 1: Could India explain whether the national competent authority in charge of the pricing of essential medicines conduct international price comparisons (IPCs)? Reply: No, it does not carry out any IPCs. Question 2: Could India explain the IPC methodology, if any. (i.e., number of reference countries, exchange rate conversion methodology, etc.)? Reply: Since IPCs are not conducted, there is no methodology prescribed. Question 3: Could India explain whether the prices of "essential medicines" are reviewed in subsequent years? Reply: As per the existing Drugs Price Control Order, prices of medicines are/can be revised as per Wholesale Price Index (WPI) annually (an indicator of inflation compiled by Government). Question 4: Could India explain whether the prices of "essential medicine" are subject to confidential price-volume agreements between the manufacturers and the national pricing competent authority? Reply: No Part I. Economic Environment: (2) Fiscal Policy, paragraph 6, page 15: According to the Secretariat Report, "the authorities consider that certain subsidies, e.g. the food subsidies, have huge overhead costs, and not all the budget allocated to the subsidy reaches the poor; in other cases, e.g. subsidies on fertilizers, the expenditures generate a distorted resource allocation to the detriment of productivity. Expenditures on subsidies can be streamlined in various ways, such as approving a new direct tax code that would entail streamlined and smaller tax deductions, reforming untargeted subsidies on fuel and fertilizer, and strengthening governance and transparency in the allocation of subsidized food and making use of direct cash transfers instead. Question 5: Could India please elaborate on prospective reforms to subsidies related to fertilizers? Reply: The Department of Fertilizers in consultation with DBT is examining a pilot project in the states of Odisha and Gujarat for direct transfer of fertilizer subsidy to farmers. Part II. Trade and Investment Regime: (2) Trade Policy Formulation and Objectives; (ii) Trade policy goals: paragraphs 14 & 15, pages 26-27: Paragraphs 2.14 and 2.15 of the Secretariat Report provide several examples of temporary, unpredictable and disruptive export and import trade policies that are meant to address short-term and disparate domestic objectives. Question 6: How is India proposing Reply: India's trade policy balances the need for trade liberalization, global economic integration and domestic growth objectives. The Indian economy is liberalized and deeply integrated with global economy. This is evident from India's increasing trade vs. GDP ratio. India's total merchandise trade as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 29.0 per cent in 2004-05 to 41.8 per cent in 2013-14. India's merchandise exports as a proportion of GDP increased from 12.1 per cent to 17.0 per cent during the same period
b.Guidelines have been issued to streamline the processing of applications for grant of extension of validity of Industrial License. c.The advanced version of NIC Code (NIC 2008) has been adopted, which is a highly contemporary industrial classification. d.Restriction of annual capacity in the Industrial License for Defence Sector has been removed. e.Application Forms for Industrial License & Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum have been simplified. f.Mapping of Sector specific FDI policy with NIC 2008 code bas been completed and released. g.The list of items covered under compulsory licensing under the I(D&R) Act,1951 is reviewed on an on-going basis. At present only five industries are under compulsory licensing regime: i.Electronic Aerospace and Defense equipment: all types ii.Industrial explosives including detonating fuses, safety fuses, gun powder nitrocellulose and matches iii.Distillation and brewing of alcoholic drinks. iv.Cigars and cigarettes of tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes v.Specified Hazardous chemicals i.e. (a) Hydrocyanic acid and its derivatives, (b) Phosgene and its derivatives and(c) Isocyanates & diisocyanates of hydrocarbon, not elsewhere specified (example Methyl isocyanate). Question 8: Has consideration been given to coverage for large municipal corporations? Reply: The measures taken by the Government for promoting ease of doing business cover the entire country including Municipal Corporations. However, Municipal Corporations also have rules, regulations regarding land use, zoning policy and licencing requirements for starting a business/ industry etc. within the Municipal limits. Part II. Trade and Investment Regime: (4) Investment Regime; (2) Foreign Investment; (1) Policy: paragraph 2.38, page 33: It is noted that for FDI in India, the non-automatic route requires approval from the Government through an application to the FIPB. Question 9: In sectors subject to Government approval, through an application to the FIPB, can India explain what criteria are used to consider approval? Reply: Criteria for approving proposals in FIPB are based on the conditionalities as provided under the relevant activity in the Consolidated FDI Policy subject to applicable laws/regulations; security and other conditionalities. The applicant is required to submit a detailed application as provided in the official website i.e., www.fipb.gov.in on the basis of which FIPB considers a proposal in consultation with relevant Administrative Ministries/Departments. Part II. Trade and Investment Regime: (4) Investment Regime; (ii) Foreign Investment; (1) Policy: paragraph 2.41, pages 33-34. Paragraph 2.41 of the Secretariat Report concerning India's foreign investment policies states that "up to 100% FDI will be permitted in defence industries for 'modern state-of-the-art technology' on a case-by-case basis". Question 10: Could I please explain the criteria for evaluating the FDI limit permitted on "modern state-of-the-art technology" in defence industries? How will I ensure consistency and fairness in this process? Reply: As per Para 6.2.6.2, Clause (xvii) of the Consolidated FDI Policy "Based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defence and FIPB, approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will be sought by the Ministry of Defence in respect of cases seeking permission of the Government for FDI beyond 49% which are likely to result in access to modern and "state of art" technology in the country. Question 11: Moreover, could I provide a definition of a defence technology? Does it include any technology with defence application? Reply: Press Note 3 of 2014 of this Department elaborates the list of defence items requiring industrial I/prior government approval. The same is available on the official website of this Department i.e., http://www.dipp.nic.in. Yüklə 1,57 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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