India to send proposal on trade facilitation pact in services to WTO: Sitharaman

The services agreement proposes to expedite the global trade in services by allowing for easier movement of skilled workers between countries

India will make a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a comprehensive trade facilitation agreement (TFA) on services, said commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Based on the similar TFA on merchandise goods, this proposes to expedite the global trade in services by allowing for easier movement of skilled workers between countries, among others.

Sitharman recently met trade ministers from 25 WTO member countries on the sidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ministerial council meeting in Paris.

“There needs to be a consensus on recognising services as a tradeable commodity globally.” the minister said. Saying specific bilateral agreements on services' trade had picked up globally, she added a fixed track for this was still absent.

While developing countries have been pushing for a TFA on services, developed countries are cautious, experts said. It had been mooted by India during the WTO’s ministerial conference in Nairobi last year.

However, 23 WTO members, including the European Union, are also negotiating a Trade in Services Agreement.

Together, the participating countries account for 70 per cent of world trade in services. The WTO agreement on goods was approved by the Union Cabinet on February 17. It primarily focuses on easing customs norms. To implement the agreement, two-thirds of all members, or 107 countries, have to approve.

Till now, 81 countries have done so. WTO says full implementation could increase global merchandise exports by up to $1 trillion annually. The overall boost to world export growth has been estimated at 2.7 per cent per annum.

The EU says it will be the negotiating authority for bilateral treaties on investment with its constituent countries, Sitharaman said. The EU has asked India to talk to it directly on the matter, after the finance ministry sent a letter to EU countries of a new model bilateral treaty (BIT), a template for individually negotiated agreements that govern private investments from a firm in one country into another. The BIT template is a step up from the erstwhile bilateral investment promotion agreements India has signed with 83 countries.

Countries use BITs to market themselves as stable and transparent investment destinations, providing a certain level of protection for foreign investments, such as promising fair and equitable treatment, non-discrimination and protection from expropriation.