India-Asean pact’s negative list covers mostly farm goods...

India’s negative lists from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) under which no tariff concessions would be exchanged cover mostly agricultural products, processed food and fruit juices, natural rubber, textile and textile products, chemical and petro-chemical products and auto products.

Imports under these negative lists would not exceed five per cent of total bilateral imports by India with any one of the ten members. The products so covered include honey, cut flower, vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, quail-flower, carrot, cucumber, peas, beans, coconut and cashew nut.

Fruits like bananas, pineapple, guava, mango, orange, lemon, grapes, water melon, papaya, apple cherries, grains like wheat, maize, rice, millet, groundnut, copra, oilseeds such as soyabean, cotton, sunflower, castor oil, sesamum and mustard seeds, beverages like beer, wine, whisky, rum, gin, vodka, tobacco and tobacco products, bamboo rattans, milk and milk products, fish and fish products, including tuna, shrimp, lobster and poultry and poultry products also come under the list.

All 10 members plus India would maintain negative list of a maximum of 489 tariff lines, officials in the Commerce Ministry said here.

Addressing a news conference here after attending the meeting of the trade ministers of Asean in Singapore on Thursday, the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, said that all parties have agreed to reduce/ eliminate tariffs no more than 90 per cent of tariff lines, which corresponds to about 96 per cent of total trade by various timelines.

He said a majority of trade would be by and large liberalised by 2012 with the implementation of concessions beginning in 2009. However, depending on the party and track, some concessions would end between 2012 and 2023, he said.

Officials said that beginning 2009 through 2018, on India’s highly sensitive list comprising five commodities, the import duty on palm oil would come down to 37.5 per cent from the extant bound level of 80 per cent and in the case of refined palm oil, this would come down to 45 per cent from 90 per cent bound level now. Similarly, black tea, pepper and coffee, the duty would come down from 100 per cent to 40 per cent. Six Asian member countries would also maintain highly sensitive list where duty concessions would be staggered over a timeline.

The Minister said India-Asian trade, which was $38.7 billion in 2007-08 with a compounded annual growth rate of 27 per cent since 2000, is projected to reach $48 billion this year. Mr Nath said a notable feature is “our efforts towards pan-Asian economic integration are the setting up of an Economic Research Institute for Asian and East Asia at Jakarta.

Source: Business Line