Trade facilitation panel soon

The body is in line with Centre’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiatives

The government has started the process to set up a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) in the country to coordinate and implement the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) aimed at easing customs norms to expedite global trade flows, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The NCTF, which is in line with the government’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiatives, is meant to institutionalise co-ordination on trade facilitation between the 35-plus central government departments, private players and state governments.

India had ratified the TFA in April. For the TFA to be operational, two-thirds (or 108) of the 162 WTO members will have to ratify it. So far, 77 countries have ratified it.

Addressing the Consultative Committee Meeting attached to her Ministry on ‘Implementation of TFA’, Sitharaman said, the TFA will help in the world’s best trade practices being shared among the WTO member countries ratifying the pact. She said while India has have made rapid strides in streamlining its processes on the lines of international best practices, the country needs to ensure speedy legislation so that there are visible beneficial outcomes. Industry and its various associations would be consulted while implementing the different provisions of the TFA.

The agreement is supposed to enable domestic manufacturers connect more easily to regional and Global Value Chains, she said. Ajay Sancheti, MP and Member of the Consultative Committee, said while implementing the TFA adequate measures must be taken to protect India’s domestic industries.

Sitharaman also unveiled a user-friendly analytics dashboard to provide easy access to the public on export and import trends of India, including commodities, export destinations, ports of export, countries of import, ports of import, as well as balance of trade for different regions, countries and ports.

Analytics dash board

Commenting on the analytics dashboard on India’s export and import trends, Sanjay Budhia, Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on International Trade Policy and Exports said proper access to trade data and information was very critical to frame strategy in international business. This initiative of the commerce ministry will be beneficial to small and mid-sized exporters in particular.

The dashboard on export and import will enable small businesses to foray into global trade based on reliable information.