India challenges WTO panel ruling on ICT import duties
India and the EU have negotiated to arrive at a MAS for the past seven months, but the EU has now filed for adoption of panel report on December 7 and therefore, India has appealed against it on December 8 in the WTO.
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NEW DELHI: India has appealed against a ruling of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) trade dispute settlement panel in a case filed by the European Union against New Delhi’s import duties on nine information and technology products.
India’s move came after both regions were not able to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution (MAS).
“India and the EU have negotiated to arrive at a MAS for the past seven months, but the EU has now filed for adoption of panel report on December 7 and therefore, India has appealed against it on December 8 in the WTO,” Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Peeyush Kumar told reporters here.
As part of the MAS, the EU was seeking customs duty concessions on certain goods, which was not acceptable to India as it violates WTO rules.
These concessions can only be given in a free trade agreement, Kumar said.
In September, the two regions had asked WTO’s dispute settlement body not to adopt a ruling against New Delhi’s import duties on certain ICT products like mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments till December 18, as both sides were engaged in bilateral talks to resolve the matter.
The panel in April had ruled that import duties imposed by India on certain information and technology (ICT) products violate global trading norms.