The Hindu : Business : Talks on with industry on import of re-manufactured goods

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Wednesday, Feb 06, 2008
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Talks on with industry on import of re-manufactured goods

Special Correspondent

U.S. paper on market access circulated to the negotiating group

NEW DELHI: The Government has initiated consultations with industry stakeholders in order to formulate a policy on import of Re-manufactured Goods as well as seek clarity on the definition of such goods and the impact of their imports on the domestic industry.

[Remanufacturing is a process where a particular product is taken apart, cleaned, repaired, and then reassembled to be used again.]

Rahul Khullar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and India’s chief negotiator at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), told industry representatives at the FICCI meeting that while the issue of safety, dumping and unfair price competition were matters of concern in liberalising trade in re-manufactured goods, industry would have to ask itself whether India, which does not have big brands as yet, would have an export interest in such goods.

The developed countries, he pointed out, have big brands and they would be only too keen to have market access in large consuming countries like India for selling re-manufactured goods that were as good as new at half the cost.

Consultations

“There was need to look at re-manufacturing as a holistic and futuristic concept, address the definitional aspect and examine India’s potential in the area before the country’s position can be concretised for negotiations. Such industry consultations, he said, would greatly help the government in arriving at an informed decision for taking it up at the Doha Round”, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Amarendra Khatua, said.

Mr. Khatua said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry would also hold consultations with industry bodies of the automotive components, hardware and engineering to seek views on domestic sensitivity to re-manufactured goods, export potential to markets with low purchasing power and enforceability of standards and regulations on the goods.

Under the current Foreign Trade Policy, import of re-manufactured goods is allowed only against licences. However, the goods have not been defined in the policy.

“We would also be discussing issues such as customs valuation, IPR (intellectual property rights) and misclassification and identification of industry spread,” he said.

The issue of liberalising trade in Remanufactured Goods under Market Access for Non-Agricultural Products has come to the fore following the circulation of a U.S. paper to the Negotiating Group on Market Access.

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