India needs capacity to deal with non-trade issues in FTA talks: Barthwal

Centre is aiming to create dedicated pool of legal experts who could provide technical inputs for enhancing India's participation in international trade and investment negotiations, Barthawal added

India needs to develop capacity to deal with non-trade issues during free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said.

He said that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations.

Barthawal was speaking at a function of the Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) last week.

"The secretary observed that non-trade issues have increasingly been emerging in trade negotiations, raising the need for cross-disciplinary capacity building in FTA negotiations for India and other developing countries," the commerce ministry said.

It added that the Centre is aiming to create a dedicated pool of legal experts who could provide technical inputs for enhancing India's participation in international trade and investment negotiations and dispute settlement.

It is also aiming to become a thought leader in the various domains of international economic law such as WTO (World Trade Organisation) law, international investment law and legal issues relating to economic integration.

The CTIL was established in the year 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).

Its primary objective is to provide analysis of legal issues pertaining to international trade and investment law to the Government of India and other governmental agencies. Most non-tariff measures (NTMs) are domestic rules created by countries to protect human, animal or plant health and the environment.

These measures may be technical measures like regulations, standards, testing, certification, pre-shipment inspection or non-technical measures like quotas, import licensing, subsidies, and government procurement restrictions.

When NTMs become arbitrary, beyond scientific justification, they create hurdles for trade and are called NTBs (non-tariff barriers).