Online platform for registration, resolution of non-trade barriers in 2-3 months: Official

An online platform for registering and resolving non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters is expected to be rolled out in the next 2-3 months, a senior government official said on Friday.

Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Rajesh Agrawal said that the portal on SPS (sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures) and TBT (technical barriers to trade) issues would cover three areas, including taking feedback from exporters and finding a resolution strategy.

A task force, chaired by Agrawal, is also looking into the resolution strategy for non-tariff barriers (NTBs).

"The portal will also help us to monitor all the efforts done to resolve those issues. In the next 2-3 months hopefully, we will roll that out," he told reporters here.

It takes years to resolve some of the barriers.

Economic think tank GTRI in its report has stated that India needs to act in a fast-track manner for the removal of NTBs, being faced by domestic exporters in different countries like the US, China and Japan, to achieve export target of USD 1 trillion for goods by 2030.

India's exports are far below potential as they face NTBs in the EU (European Union), the US, China, Japan, Korea and many other countries.

Key Indian exports that routinely face high barriers include chillies, tea, basmati rice, milk, poultry, bovine meat, fish, chemical products to the EU; sesame seed, black tiger shrimps, medicines, apparel to Japan; food, meat, fish, dairy, industrial products to China; shrimps to the US; and bovine meat to South Korea.

Most non-tariff measures (NTMs) are domestic rules created by countries to protect human, animal or plant health and environment. NTM may be technical measures like regulations, standards, testing, certification, pre-shipment inspection or non-technical measures like quotas, import licensing, subsidies, and government procurement restrictions.

When NTMs become arbitrary, beyond scientific justification, they create hurdles for trade and are called NTBs (non-tariff barriers).

About the EU's carbon tax (CBAM), the additional secretary said that it is not "strictly" an SPS or TBT issue.

The European Union has announced the imposition of this tax on certain sectors like metals and fertiliser as they emit carbon during the manufacturing process.

He added that as customs duty rates are gradually going down, more and more technical regulations are increasing, which most of the time acts as barriers to trade.

"These regulations add to trade burden," he said.

TBT and SPS are a kind of non-tariff measures used by the countries to protect consumers, animals, and plants and maintain the quality of products in their markets.

When these regulations impose an unnecessary burden on trade, then they become non-tariff barriers.

These issues are also raised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). During 1995-2024, India has flagged as many as 43 issues in the SPS committee of the WTO and 40 TBT matters.

Against India, 25 SPS issues are raised by other countries and 70 TBT matters during the period.

TBT measures include mandatory quality control orders on goods like toys.