Jeffrey Lang To Visit India In October

Steve Seche, press attache to the US Embassy confirmed the visit but did not comment on the agenda. Lang is expected to meet commerce secretary Tejendra Khanna for consultations on October 8. He is also likely to hold meetings with the industry ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.

The visit comes at a time when the commerce and industry ministries are at odds over when it will be possible to introduce the proposed amended patents bill in Parliament.

At the recent Destination India meet, Khanna said the proposed bill would be introduced in the winter session. His statement was however quickly contested by the industry ministry which is administratively responsible for the bill. The ministry said it was holding meetings and negotiating with other parties on the proposed bill and no firm time frame could be committed for its introduction.

 

The proposed visit by the deputy USTR is being perceived as another form of pressure on the government to fall in line on pending issues like the patents bill. This visit is closely follows the visit of the assistant secretary of commerce.

At a recent meeting between US government with industry and commerce ministry officials, the Indian government made it clear that the introduction of the amended patents bill would have to wait till the November session of Parliament.

Sources in the government said the US was not too pleased with this and had in a way said that November will have to be the outer deadline.

The delay in the introduction of the bill is a clear reversal of what had earlier been promised to the United States. The Prime Minister's Office and the industry ministry had in July assured US government officials that the controversial patents bill would be passed in monsoon session of Parliament when it reconvened after a three week break.

Further, other issues related to WTO negotiations like continuation of balance of payments restrictions and telecommunications will also be discussed between the two nations. Several countries including the US, EU and Australia are keen on removal of quantitative restrictions.

The US had earlier moved the dispute settlement procedure of the WTO on India's failure to amend her patent laws in line with TRIPS obligations.

The notice on dispute settlement was served on July 2, and India was asked to furnish its reply by July 12. This was preceded by a warning to India that the Clinton administration would take action for failure to amend its Patents Act, 1970 on April 30.