This blog aims to discuss various legal issues related to International Trade and International Business with a special focus on India. It caters to the needs of students, academicians, traders and other legal firms and organisations. We also try to provide you with latest academic and legal news.
Exports during May, 2010 were valued at US $ 16145 million (Rs. 73964 crore) which was 35.1 per cent higher in dollar terms (27.5 per cent higher in Rupee terms) than the level of US $ 11952 million (Rs.58005 crore) during May, 2009. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-May 2010 was US $ 33032 million (Rs 149111 crore) as against US $ 24349 million (Rs. 120069 crore) registering a growth of 35.7 per cent in Dollar terms and 24.2 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
IMPORTS
Imports during May, 2010 were valued at US $ 27437 million (Rs.125694 crore) representing a growth of 38.5 per cent in dollar terms (30.8 per cent in Rupee terms) over the level of imports valued at US $ 19806 million ( Rs. 96125 crore) in May, 2009. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-May, 2010 was US $ 54745 million (Rs. 247211 crore) as against US $ 38858 million (Rs. 191502 crore) registering a growth of 40.9 per cent in Dollar terms and 29.1 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS:
Oil imports during May, 2010 were valued at US $ 8844 million which was 66.7 per cent higher than oil imports valued at US $ 5306 million in the corresponding period last year. Oil imports during April-May, 2010 were valued at US$ 16923 million which was 68.5 per cent higher than the oil imports of US $ 10045 million in the corresponding period last year.
Non-oil imports during May, 2010 were estimated at US $ 18593 million which was 28.2 per cent higher than non-oil imports of US $ 14500 million in May, 2009. Non-oil imports during April - May, 2010 were valued at US$ 37822 million which was 31.3 per cent higher than the level of such imports valued at US$ 28813 million in April - May, 2009
TRADE BALANCE
The trade deficit for April - May, 2010 was estimated at US $ 21712 million which was higher than the deficit of US $ 14509 million during April -May, 2009.
On July 18, 2010, Afghanistan and Pakistan reached a landmark agreement on a transit trade deal. The new deal will allow Afghanistan to use the Wagah land route in Pakistan to transport goods by land to India. However, Indian products cannot be sent in the opposite direction.
The use of this land route to connect Afghanistan to India had been a major source of contention during the talks, with Pakistan asserting that India is not meant to be covered by the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
Other provisions of the final agreement include sea access for Afghanistan, via Pakistan's ports, along with the opportunity for Pakistan to use Afghanistan as a gateway to the rest of Central Asia. The agreement also aims to standardise customs and transit permit arrangements. The pact is expected to be a huge boost to the Afghan economy, especially for pomegranate producers and other farmers, who will now have much easier access to international markets.
The Agreement is expected to contribute in the development of South Asia where the transport of goods from Afghanistan to India will be much easier now which will cut the transaction cost. And it will bring Afghanistan into the mainstream of the South Asian Trading Environment. This Agreement, further, can be made a platform for the liberalization of trade relations within the SAARC Region.
The Sixteenth Meeting of the Head of the States or Governments of Member Countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was held on April 28-29, 2010 in Thimpu, Bhutan. The theme of the Summit was 'Climate Change'. The Leaders welcomed Climate Change as the theme for the Summit and reaffirmed their commitment to address this challenge. They also adopted the 'Thimphu Statement on Climate Change' and directed that the recommendations contained therein be implemented in earnest. During the Summit the Leaders expressed the satisfaction that SAARC has achieved a number of important milestones with the completion of twenty five years of its establishment. Off course, the twenty five years standing and survivorship of SAARC as an organization in spite of bitterness of bilateral relations of two major power of the region India and Pakistan, is itself an evidence of its success.
In the Silver Jubilee Year of SAARC, the Leaders emphasized the need to develop a 'Vision Statement'. They agreed to form a 'South Asia Forum' which will consist of eminent personalities of diverse background including from all SAARC Member States. The Forum would provide inputs based on a comprehensive understanding for charting out the future course of SAARC in the medium and long run and recommend the necessary improvements required in the existing mechanisms.
The Leaders emphasized upon the participation of each and every section of the South Asian Community, particularly its students and youth, private media, private sector, think tanks, civil society and institution of economic development. The Leaders recognized the need to draw on the democratic and participatory tradition collectively represented by the Parliamentarians of South Asia for the progress of SAARC. The Leaders were eager to encourage the involvement of private sector in the regional development though the public-private partnership. In this context, they recommended the convening of a "Conclave of SAARC Parliamentarians" in line with the SAARC Charter and directed the SAARC Secretariat to convene of Working Group, comprising nominees of the Member States, to work out the modalities for establishment of such a Conclave.
In the two days Summit, Bhutan pursued the Concept of Gross national Happiness (GNH) for ensuring the people-centric development, culture, preservation of environment, better governance. Other Member States also welcomed Bhutan's offer to host a SAARC Workshop on GNH in 2010. The SAARC meeting took note on deepening regional efforts on poverty alleviation. Further, the Member States welcomed the offer of the Government of Nepal to host the Third Ministerial Meeting on Poverty Alleviation in 2011.
In pursuance of the recommendation contained in the SAARC Ministerial Statement on Environment on conservation of aquatic ecosystem, trans boundary bio-diversity zones, automated network of weather stations and regular and systematic sharing of scientific data. The Leaders called for focus on water management and conservation and development of cooperative projects at regional level in terms of exchange of best practices and knowledge, capacity building and transfer of eco-friendly technology. They were deeply concerned by the extent of environmental degradation in the region. They welcomed the signing of the SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment and called for its early ratification and implementation.
Further they showed satisfaction for the ongoing initiatives in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment through regional cooperation. The Government of Maldives announce to nominate a Woman Secretary General as the Tenth Secretary General of SAARC which can be proved another milestone in the path of achieving goals for regional cooperation. Recognizing the important role young people play in the region, the Leaders directed the development of a SAARC Youth Action Plan, in line with the SAARC Youth Charter to guide regional cooperation in this area.
The Member States cheered upon the ratification of the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) Charter and also the inauguration and operationalization of the Permanent Secretariat of the SDF including the appointment of its first Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Leaders emphasized the need for the Member States to take full advantage of the mechanism of the SDF through expeditious clearance and implementation of the projects and programmes to promote the welfare of the people of the SAARC region, to improve their quality of life and to accelerate economic growth, social progress and poverty alleviation in the region.
The Ministers urged the need to implement the SAFTA in letter and spirit. They emphasised on the removal of non-tariff, para-tariff and other trade distorting barriers with the strong working of SAFTA Ministerial Council. The Leaders welcomed the signing of the SAARC Agreement on Trade in Services and expressed that this will open up new vistas of trade cooperation and further deepen the integration of the regional economies. They called for the early ratification of the Agreement.
The Leaders called for collaborative efforts to achieve greater intra-regional connectivity and endorsed the recommendation to declare 2010-2020 as the "Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC". They agreed on the need to expedite negotiations with a view to finalizing the two agreements on Motor Vehicles and Railways.
The need to enhance cooperation was felt in the energy sector to facilitate energy trade, development of efficient conventional and renewable energy sources including hydropower. The Leaders agreed that an Action Plan on Energy conservation would be prepared by the SAARC Energy Centre (SEC), Islamabad with inputs from the Member States and submit to the inter- governmental mechanism for consideration. They called for the creation of a web portal on Energy Conservation for exchange of information and sharing of best practices among SAARC Member States.
Further the countries, Australia, the People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mauritius, the Union of Myanmar, the United States of America and the European Union were given the observer status during the summit, whereas Australia and Myanmar attended the Summit for the first time.The Seventeenth Summit shall be held in Maldives in 2011.
-- Manish Sharma LL.B. (Hons.), LL.M. (International Trade and Business Laws) Faculty of Law, ICFAI University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, INDIA E-mail: msharma28@gmail.com Mobile No.: +91 9012372533
Yes, it is true that NALSAR has given this golden opportunity to three students pursuing their LL.M. and are specializing in fields like Intellectual property laws and International Trade and Business Laws. For a change this time the focus for academic development and international exposure to students has been shared with the LL.M. species at NALSAR and these students have been given a valuable chance to expose themselves to the international atmosphere. Three students have been selected from amongst a class of 60 students. They will be studying at the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario, Canada for a period of eight months.
Now we can say that LL.M. in India is also going places.
Will be back with more updates…
Visit NALSAR website here Visit Faculty of Law Exchange program of Faculty of Law University of Western Ontario, Canada here
On October 6, 2004, the United States requested to the Dispute Settlement of the World Trade Organization for consultation with the Governments of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain (the "member States"), and with the European Communities ("EC") concerning measures affecting trade in large civil aircraft.
According to the request for consultations from the United States, measures by the EC and the member States provide subsidies that are inconsistent with their obligations under the SCM Agreement and GATT 1994. The measures include: the provision of financing for design and development to Airbus companies ("launch aid"); the provision of grants and government-provided goods and services to develop, expand, and upgrade Airbus manufacturing sites for the development and production of the Airbus A380; the provision of loans on preferential terms; the assumption and forgiveness of debt resulting from launch and other large civil aircraft production and development financing; the provision of equity infusions and grants; the provision of research and development loans and grants in support of large civil aircraft development, directly for the benefit of Airbus, and any other measures involving a financial contribution to the Airbus companies. The subsidies in question include those relating to the entire family of Airbus products (A300 through the A380)
The United States further notes that certain launch aid provided for the A340 and A380 appear to be illegal export subsidies in contravention of certain provisions of Article 3 of the SCM Agreement. The United States is also concerned that the measures appear to be inconsistent with Article XVI: 1 of GATT 1994.
The United States is further concerned that the measures appear to be causing adverse effects to US in a manner contrary to the provisions of Articles 5 and 6 of the SCM Agreement. The United States is concerned that the measures have caused and continue to cause nullification or impairment of benefits to the United States under GATT 1994 within the meaning of Article XXIII: 1.
On June 30, 2010The WTO issued the report of the Panel that had examined a complaint by the United States. In that Panel Report, certain recommendations have been stated which are as following:
1.As per the article 3.8 of the DSU, it has been concluded that, to the extent that the European Communities, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom have acted inconsistently with the SCM Agreement, they have nullified or impaired benefits accruing to the United States under that Agreement.
2.According to article 4.7 of the SCM Agreement, taking into account the nature of the prohibited subsidies that the Panel have found in this dispute, it recommends that the subsidizing Member granting each subsidy found to be prohibited, withdraw it without delay and specify that this be done within 90 days.
3.According to article 7.8 of the SCM Agreement, in light of the Panel's conclusions with respect to adverse effects it recommends that, upon adoption of this report, or of an Appellate Body report in this dispute determining that any subsidy has resulted in adverse effects to the interests of the United States, the Member granting each subsidy found to have resulted in such adverse effects "take appropriate steps to remove the adverse effects or ... withdraw the subsidy".
--
Manish Sharma
LL.B. (Hons.), LL.M. (International Trade and Business Laws)
Faculty of Law,
ICFAI University, Dehradun,
Uttarakhand,
INDIA
E-mail: msharma28@gmail.com Mobile No.: +91 9012372533
According to the Customs Tariff (Identification, Assessment and Collection of Antidumping Duty on Dumped Articles and for Determination of Injury) Rules, 1995, the Designated Authority may suspend or terminate investigation if the exporter concerned furnished an undertaking to revise his price to remove the dumping or the injurious effect of dumping as the case may be. No undertaking can however be accepted before preliminary determination is made. No anti-dumping duties are recommended on such exporters from whom price undertaking has been accepted. No price undertaking may, however, be accepted in case it is found that acceptance of such undertaking is impracticable or is unacceptable for any reason.
Rule 15 of the Anti-dumping Rules 1995 says that:
1.The designated authority may suspend or terminate an investigation if the exporter of the article in question, -
i.furnishes an undertaking in writing to the designated authority to revise the prices so that no exports of the said article are made to India at dumped prices, or
ii.in the case of imports from specified countries undertake to revise the prices so that injurious effect of dumping is eliminated and the designated authority is satisfied that the injurious effect of the dumping is eliminated:
Provided, further that the designated authority shall complete the investigation and record its finding, if the exporter so desires, or it so decides.
2.No undertaking as regards price increase under clause (ii) of the sub-rule (1) shall be accepted from any exporter unless the designated authority had made preliminary determination of dumping and the injury.
3.The designated authority may, also not accept undertakings offered by any exporter, if it considers that acceptance of such undertaking is impractical or is unacceptable for any other reason.
4.The designated authority shall intimate the acceptance of an undertaking and suspension or termination of investigation to the Central Government and also issue a public notice in this regard. The public notice shall, contain inter alia, the non-confidential part of the undertaking.
5.In cases where an undertaking has been accepted by the designated authority the Central Government may not impose a duty under sub-section (2) of section 9A of the Act for such period the undertaking acceptable to the designated authority remains valid.
6.Where the designated authority has accepted any undertaking under sub-rule (1), it may require the exporter from whom such undertaking has been accepted to provide from time to time information relevant to the fulfilment of the undertaking and to permit verification of relevant data:
Provided that in case of any violation of an undertaking, the designated authority shall, as soon as may be possible, inform the Central Government of the violation of the undertaking and recommend imposition of provisional duty from the date of such violation in accordance with the provisions of these rules.
The designated authority shall, suo moto or on the basis of any request received from exporters or importers of the article in question or any other interested party, review from time to time the need for the continuance of any undertaking given earlier.
-- Manish Sharma LL.B. (Hons.), LL.M. (International Trade and Business Laws) Faculty of Law, ICFAI University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, INDIA E-mail: msharma28@gmail.com Mobile No.: +91 9012372533
