This paper studies the impact of services trade liberalization under the currently negotiated EU-India
FTA on women’s lives in India and tries to delineate the concern areas. Services sector liberalization
can affect women in two major ways; by creating or destroying employment and incomes; and
by, affecting the access to critical basic services like credit, health, education, water, energy. It is
undeniable that many chapters of services trade liberalization involve a clear and differentiated
impact on women.
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India's trade policy has undergone a significant shift towards an increasing engagement with Free Trade Agreements as compared to unilateral trade liberalization or multilateral trade liberalization through the WTO. This shift in India's trade policy has had a significant impact on the agriculture sector which no longer enjoys the exclusive protection it has received so far. Since 2007, India has been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union of which agriculture is an important component. Along with liberalization of commodity trade, and corresponding impact on tariffs and non tariff barriers, substantial movement in enforcing stricter IPRs and a much more ambitious investment liberalization policy are likely to significantly affect agriculture.
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India is currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, which includes not
only liberalization of commodity trading, but also a wide range of chapters including deep services
trade liberalization, full investment liberalization, and stricter IPR conditions than the TRIPS
norms. As trade is an engine of growth and development, India’s trade policy has many goals to meet.
India shows high poverty level, increasing income and social inequalities as well as deep seated gender
inequalities.
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Given the emphasis on gender mainstreaming today, the gender impact of trade policy must be paid serious attention to, especially as it is increasingly evident that trade policy is not 'gender neutral'. The nature of international trade itself is undergoing continuous changes, with autonomous liberalization being accompanied by initiatives at the WTO as well as rapid advances in Preferential or Free Trade Agreements.
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The paper broadly examines the core trade interests of the EU and India, the content of the negotiations and outlines some key concerns of a potential deal for India in the areas of goods, services and investments, intellectual property rights and government procurement.
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The negotiations held at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reveals there is a wide gap between the developed and developing nations which has threatened the equity related components of the Convention.
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Anti-dumping is used by a small number of countries not to ensure that world trade is fair and competitive, but to create monopolies and favour large firms particularly in large and concentrated industries, argues this Centad working paper.
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The Centad working paper tracks the negotiating history of TRIPS in search of the origin of GI-related (Geographical Indications) provisions and provides a cogent account of various contours of WTO negotiations on GI to date. It also analyses the Indian GI Act in light of the TRIPS provisions.
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This working paper tracks the evolution of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations since its inception, and provides a concise overview of the current state of negotiations. The paper covers key issues under the purview of the GATS from an Indian perspective, and makes important policy suggestions for India on certain sensitive sectors.
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While the Hong Kong Declaration allows self-designation of Special Products (SPs), this paper discusses how SPs should be designated and categorised.
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An analysis of tariff reduction modalities in Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) in light of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.
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This Centad working paper takes a critical look at the Hong Kong Ministerial text on agriculture and NAMA. On the basis of this analysis, the paper suggests specific and important negotiating points for developing countries.
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WTO negotiations on Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) are about resisting hasty liberalisation in the South and dismantling excessive protectionism in the North. For India and Pakistan, the Girard formula for tariff reduction may be the best option if a non-linear approach is adopted. But this would still mean a steep reduction in tariff rates. India and Pakistan should use this as a bargaining chip and ask for compensation.
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Contract farming can benefit local producers if the contracts are correctly structured and monitored. The Indian experience suggests the need for alternative institutional mechanisms if contracting is to be used as a development tool.
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The Group of 20 (G20), which includes India and Pakistan, has emerged as a formidable negotiating bloc in the WTO. It has successfully questioned existing agricultural trade rules that hamper the interests of developing countries. However, there are crucial internal and external contradictions and pressures that it must resolve if it is to continue voicing the interests of developing countries.
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Agricultural subsidies are the big sticking point in WTO negotiations. This paper traces how agricultural negotiations have played out in the Agreement on Agriculture and the July Framework. It suggests negotiating options for India in the run up to the Hong Kong Ministerial in December 2005.
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Negotiations on non–tariff barriers have received little attention. Yet, as tariffs decline, NTBs will be used more to protect domestic trade. This paper explains two of the most contentious NTBs for India: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade.
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