India and Spain have
agreed that further initiatives and better market access are necessary
conditions to expand bilateral trade flows between the two countries
which are at present well below their potential. This is indicated
in the Agreed Minutes of the 7th Meeting of the Indo-Spanish
Joint Commission which was held in Madrid recently (January 20-21,
2003). The Indian delegation to the Meeting was led by the Commerce
Secretary, Shri Dipak Chatterjee and the Spanish delegation by
their Secretary General of Trade, Mr. Francisco Ultera Mora. The
two sides exchanged views on bilateral trade which is currently
to a large extent in favour of India, the growth in Spanish imports
from India during the last few years and the market advantages
and entrepreneurial initiatives in both the countries. While congratulating
the Indian government for steps taken in the liberalisation of
the Indian economy, such as foreign investment policy reforms,
elimination of quantitative restrictions, simplification of procedures
etc., the Spanish side hoped that the reforms would result in
increased opportunities for Spanish exports to the Indian market
as well.
With regard to EU-India
commercial relations, the Spanish side noted the Indian dissatisfaction
with the GSP in force for India, when compared to those for Pakistan.
The Indian delegation also expressed concern at the adverse impact
on India’s trade of clothing and made-up products covered under
Chapter 61 to 63 of the Customs tariff due to certain discriminatory
concessions extended to Pakistan under the "drug-regime" under
the revised GSP Scheme. This discriminatory concession made the
exports of clothing and made-up products originating from Pakistan
cheaper by 10% making the Indian imports uncompetitive and resulting
in a trade loss of about US $ 250 million annually. However, the
Spanish side clarified that the case was a consequence of the
special inclusion of Pakistan in the GSP for combating drugs trafficking.
The Spanish side remarked that for textile items (chapters 50
to 60 of the Customs Tariff) the custom treatment in the GSP is
the same for India and Pakistan.
The Indian delegation
drew attention to the repeated recourse to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
investigations by the EU against the import of textiles from India
and expressed its disappointment with the slow pace of integration
of textile items so far undertaken by the EU under the WTO’s Agreement
on Textiles and Clothing as also the considerable time taken to
process India’s request for the use of exceptional flexibilities.
Both sides expressed concerns regarding anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
investigations initiated against products of their respective
countries and agreed to study carefully requests made by either
side and accommodate them, if possible. Both sides further noted
the importance of the current WTO negotiations and the need to
clarify many aspects of the actual anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
agreements with a view to avoiding the current abuses.
On the issue of market
access for Indian products in Spain, the Indian side suggested
that an MOU could be entered into between the Export Inspection
Council of India and its counterpart to tackle difficulties faced
by Indian products (including fish and fish products) in Spain
and to improve market access, especially for Indian marine products.
Both sides agreed
to constitute Joint Working Groups in tourism and food processing
industries under the aegis of Joint Business Council which will
include a representative of their respective Ministries along
with members of their business communities. Both sides have also
agreed to expedite decisions on the proposal for Techno Economic
Feasibility Study for Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor
and to identify products to be funded by the US $ 400 million
credit line offered by Spain. Recognising India’s strength in
the Information Technology (IT) sector, the Spanish side indicated
IT as a highly promising area of bilateral cooperation. Both sides
expressed the hope that the proposed MOU in this sector would
be signed at the earliest.
Noting that FDI from
Spain in India was still below its potential, both sides agreed
to work towards facilitating greater investment by Spanish companies
in India.
