India on the Mat in WTO TPR with Over 1000 Questions from 44 Members

Ø India Opposes inclusion of Plurilaterals in Annex IV of WTO

[ABS News Service/25.07.2026]

Geneva – Many members of the World Trade Organization yesterday expressed sharp concerns over the conduct of Indian trade policy on issues such as “predictability and transparency,” “abrupt tariff changes,” “unexpected export restrictions,” “complex licensing requirements,” and “lengthy investment approvals,” as well as “regulatory certainty” during India’s eighth trade policy review meeting.

At the end of India’s trade policy review meeting that concluded yesterday, Trade Policy Review Body Chair Ambassador Nella Pepta-Tavita-Levy of Samoa, noted that “foremost among Members' concerns, both expressed in prior questions and made in statements in the last two days, were predictability and transparency.”

The chair said, “Members raised points about abrupt tariff changes, unexpected export restrictions, complex licensing requirements, lengthy investment approvals and a lack of regulatory certainty more generally.”

According to the chair, “Many Members requested greater outreach by the authorities to trading partners and the private sector on proposed measures before their entry into force,” while “India's WTO notification record was highlighted as an area where further progress could be made.” Notwithstanding the above concerns raised by several industrialized countries, some of whom concluded free trade agreements with India in the recent past, the chair praised India’s overall conduct of its trade policy, noting the high-level participation. India was subjected to over 1,090 written questions from 44 members, with India having answered 700 questions ahead of the meeting. Around 68 members raised several oral questions during the first day of the meeting, the chair noted.

Many advanced countries demanded more market access from the Indian government. “Members encouraged India in its efforts to achieve the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision of a Developed India by 2047 and recognized the extraordinary scale of this undertaking.”

Members urged “India to continue its wide-ranging reform agenda and sought further information on the implementation, transparency, and effectiveness of a broad range of trade-related measures.”

Welcoming “India's deposit of its instrument of acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies,” members “looked forward to India's constructive engagement in the ongoing negotiations.”

With India having blocked the entry of the controversial Joint Statement Initiative on “Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement” into Annex 4 of the Marrakesh Agreement on

seemingly procedural and systemic grounds at the WTO’s 14th ministerial conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, early this year, “various members suggested that India reconsider its position on joining existing plurilateral agreements.”

According to the chair’s report, “various developed and developing Members encourage(d) India to consider participating in other nascent plurilateral arrangements (notably the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and interim arrangement for Electronic Commerce).”

Plurilaterals

At the meeting, “a large number of Members also encouraged India to lift its objections to the incorporation of new plurilateral arrangements into WTO legal texts through Annex 4, in particular as regards the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement.”

The chair mentioned that “various Members also encouraged India to re-evaluate its participation in joint initiatives, including the Joint Statement Initiatives on MSMEs and E-Commerce, as well as ongoing discussions under the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions, including those on plastics pollution and fossil fuel subsidies.”

The chair pointed out that “some Members also pointed to some concerns in respect of India's compliance with its obligations under the Information Technology Agreement.” India has lost trade disputes for failing to implement the ITA agreement.

“Another prominent area that attracted numerous questions and statements,” according to the chair, concerned “standards, technical regulations, and Quality Control Orders.”

Agriculture

On agriculture, according to the chair, “Members focused their comments on India's minimum support prices, input subsidies, public stockholding programmes, tariff and tariff rate quota administration, import licensing, and export restrictions on products such as wheat, rice, sugar and onions.”

In fact, a cursory glance at the questions suggests that many questions were about India’s agricultural policies. “Questions were directed at the transparency, predictability, WTO consistency and notification of these measures, as well as their potential trade-distorting effects.”

Members raised concerns about “sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, including relating to the availability of underlying risk assessments and related methodologies, food safety standards, pesticide maximum residue limits, and procedures for judging equivalence for SPS measures.”

According to the chair, “Members welcomed India's rapid progress in digital economy and trade,” mentioning “the swift rollout of its digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar digital identities, Unified Payments Interface, India Stack, Open Network for Digital Commerce, the Government e-Marketplace, BharatNet, and other digital platforms.”

Members sought further information on how these digital initiatives “contribute to e-commerce development, financial inclusion, digital payments, trade facilitation, public procurement, MSMEparticipation in domestic and international markets, and consumer confidence.”

Several questions “focused on interoperability, governance arrangements, and the extent to which platforms enable participation by external actors in regional and global value chains.” “India's digital regulatory framework also drew interest with questions concerning data governance, cross-border data flows, digital regulation and emerging technologies,” the chair pointed out.

In this context, members also “sought clarification on the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the treatment of cross-border data transfers, the scope of data localization requirements, sector-specific regulatory measures, and the implications of these policies for businesses, investors and service suppliers.”

While noting “India's principles-based and innovation-oriented approach to Artificial Intelligence, supported by voluntary guidance,” many members requested information “on emerging governance arrangements, regulatory principles, innovation policies and the treatment of AI-related intellectual property and data.”

Members apparently underscored “the importance of maintaining transparent, predictable and innovation-friendly regulatory frameworks that facilitate digital trade and investment.” Members noted “India's active industrial policies, including Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, Make in India initiatives, semiconductor and electronics manufacturing support, renewable energy and solar manufacturing incentives, critical minerals policies, and other measures aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply-chain resilience.”

Further, they asked India to clarify “on the objectives, eligibility criteria and operation of these programmes, their consistency with WTO subsidy disciplines, the role of local content requirements, and their effects on investment, trade and participation in global value chains.”

The meeting also witnessed a galore of questions “regarding tariff rationalization, import substitution objectives, public procurement preferences, and support measures for strategic sectors.” Some Members pointed out India’s frequent recourse to trade remedies.

India appears to be facing an FDI drought due to the current economic conditions and abrupt policy measures. Yet, “members took note of the liberalization of foreign direct investment across most sectors and the operation of the National Single Window System. They requested information on foreign direct investment (FDI) policies, investment screening procedures, and approval requirements for investors from land-bordering countries.”

Issues raised also included the operation of import licensing systems, electronic processing of authorizations (so-called faceless customs processing), transparency and predictability of border procedures, and plans for further modernization. Some Members also expressed concerns regarding India's administration of customs valuation and import licensing measures, and their consistency with related WTO Agreements.