India and
United States Joint Statement on the Trade Policy Forum
Minister of
Commerce and Industry of India Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Mr. Michael Froman met in New
Delhi on November 25, 2014 for the eighth ministerial-level meeting of the
India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF). The two governments signaled their readiness to enhance bilateral trade and
investment ties in a manner that promotes economic growth and job creation in
both India and the United States.
Work Sessions
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
discussed and exchanged views on a range of trade and investment issues, in
particular, (i) Agriculture, (ii) Services, (iii) Promoting Investment in
Manufacturing, and (iv) Intellectual Property. The co-chairs of the
respective Work Sessions briefed Minister Sitharaman
and Ambassador Froman on the outcomes of their
discussions and presented agreed upon work plans for continued engagement in
these areas in 2015. Both countries noted the importance attached to the Trade
Policy Forum by Prime Minister Modi and President
Obama to further stimulate bilateral trade and investment.
Agriculture
Both countries
recognized the important role of agricultural and food trade in feeding their
populations, providing consumer choice and supporting the livelihood of their
farmers. India and the United States agreed to establish a new technical dialogue
that will promote cooperation on plant health, animal health, and food safety
issues in a manner that facilitates the movement of agricultural goods between
the two countries. They agreed to work towards facilitating agricultural trade
between the two countries by engaging with each other closely with the intent
of establishing science- and risk-based regulations and procedures that conform
to international standards and guidelines set by CODEX Alimentarius,
the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the International Plant
Protection Convention (IPPC), to the extent possible. Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
also acknowledged the benefits that could accrue to Indian and U.S. farmers and
agri-businesses from these engagements.
Both countries
noted each others' requests and agreed to follow up
on exploring the possibility of enhanced market access on identified
agricultural products. They also noted the potential reconciliation of the
definition of wholesale pack between Departments, forthcoming rules to allow stickering of maximum retail price at the port, and timely
implementation efforts concerning these issues.
Services and
Investment
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
highlighted the important role of the services sector in India and the United
States, and the significant potential for increasing bilateral services trade
and investment. To advance this goal, India and the United States agreed
to increase engagement on services and investment issues. The United States
took note of India’s interest in engaging on social security totalization, and agreed to review any information provided
by India about developments in its social security regime. They decided
to continue their engagement on visa issues, and the United States took note of
India's interest in ensuring easier access for Indian professionals in the
United States.
Minister Sitharaman highlighted India’s efforts to promote foreign
participation in key services sectors, including those of interest to the
United States, and urged U.S. investors to take advantage of these
opportunities. Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman recognized the benefits that can accrue from
services liberalization in the information and communications technology
sector.
Promoting Investment
in Manufacturing
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
discussed efforts that each country is undertaking to promote a business
friendly environment for attracting investment in manufacturing, moving forward
on a commitment made by Prime Minister Modi and
President Obama in September 2014 to address this issue that is critical to each others’ economy.
Affirming their
shared goal of using trade and investment as a vehicle for stimulating economic
growth and job creation, Minister Sitharaman and
Ambassador Froman agreed to deepen bilateral
engagement aimed at promoting bilateral investment across sectors. Both
countries stressed the importance of providing a transparent and predictable
policy environment to help attract investments in manufacturing. In this
regard, Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman agreed to exchange information on stakeholder
participation in the framing of trade and investment policies and procedures,
and to discuss best practices. Further, they highlighted their efforts to
increase supply chain connectivity and implement “single window” clearance
systems that will benefit all manufacturing activities in both countries.
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman also agreed to exchange information on international
standards and systems of acceptance of conformity assessment procedures with
specific focus on understanding each governments’
procedures for testing, packaging, and labeling
requirements.
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
discussed the “Make in India” campaign launched by Prime Minister Modi to promote India as a manufacturing destination,
highlighting the pro-investment domestic reforms envisioned to
facilitate the ease of doing business and create a climate that will attract
investment.
Intellectual Property
and related issues
Recognizing the
shared interest of our creative industries, India and the United States agreed
to deepen cooperation to build capacity and generate awareness in the field of
copyright.
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
also acknowledged the paramount goal of ensuring the poorest populations in
India and the United States have access to quality healthcare,
and committed to identifying ways in which trade and innovation policies can
enhance access to quality health and affordable medicines.
India highlighted
the benefits of traditional Indian medicine in view of its potential to enhance
access to affordable healthcare; and the importance of traditional knowledge in
contributing to cultural, economic, and social development. The United States
agreed to facilitate further engagement in this field between the experts of
both countries.
Minister Sitharaman highlighted India’s work on a new intellectual
property rights (IPR) policy which would stimulate innovation across sectors in
the country. The United States agreed to share information on this subject to
support India’s on-going efforts.
Both countries
recognize the importance of providing a transparent and predictable policy
environment for fostering innovation.
India and the
United States recognize the importance of trade secrets protection to
attracting investment and agree to exchange information on best legal practices
in this area.
World Trade
Organization
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
expressed satisfaction at the recent understanding between India and the United
States on the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes and the
Trade Facilitation Agreement as a follow-up to the discussions between Prime
Minister Modi and President Obama. They committed to
working with other WTO Members to ensure that the WTO General Council takes
this understanding forward towards a satisfactory outcome.
Private Sector
Advisory Group
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman
encouraged the continued work of the United States-India Private Sector
Advisory Group (PSAG), which had been created under the TPF to provide
strategic advice. Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman expect that the work of TPF will benefit from the
depth, breadth, and diversity of expertise of the PSAG in trade and
international affairs in advance of the 2015 TPF meeting to be held in
Washington, DC.
In conclusion,
Minister Sitharaman and Ambassador Froman expressed satisfaction with the discussions held
during the eighth round of the TPF and reiterated their mutual commitment to
strengthening bilateral cooperation in trade and investment. Ambassador Froman thanked Minister Sitharaman
for hosting the eighth round of the TPF in New Delhi. They agreed to convene
the ninth round of the TPF in the United States in 2015.