EU disappointed over India’s move to approach WTO’s body

New Delhi: The European Union (EU) has expressed disappointment over India’s move to approach the WTO’s appellate body in a case related to customs duties on certain information and communications technology (ICT) products, an official said.

On December 8, India appealed against a ruling of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) trade dispute settlement panel, in a case filed by the European Union against New Delhi’s import duties on certain ICT products including mobile phones and components, base stations, integrated circuits and optical instruments. India has stated that it is the right of countries to appeal, and called for early restoration of the non-functional appellate body of WTO so that the panel’s errors can be corrected and the dispute can be resolved expeditiously. New Delhi has also rejected the EU’s request to settle the dispute through arbitration. On this request, India has said that such interim arbitration agreements undermine the right of countries to appeal to a permanent standing body, which is fundamental to the multilateral trading system.

The panel in April had ruled that import duties imposed by India on certain ICT products violate global trading norms. Appellate body is the final authority to decide on trade disputes in WTO. However, it is not functioning as the US has been blocking appointments of judges in the body. Bilateral consultation is the first step to resolve a dispute. If both sides are not able to resolve the matter through consultation, either of them can approach for the establishment of a dispute settlement panel.

The panel’s ruling or report can be challenged at WTO’s appellate body. The issue came up during the meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) on December 18 in Geneva, the headquarter of WTO. In the meeting, the EU said the panel has ruled in its favour and has also found that India’s tariffs on these products are in excess of its WTO commitments. It claimed that EU companies have been negatively impacted by India’s excessive import duties on ICT products since 2014, a time of enormous developments in the sector, including the rollout of 4G and 5G networks in India.

The EU has said that “while it recognizes India’s right to appeal, it deeply regrets that India did not avail itself of the opportunities which the EU repeatedly offered to have this matter adjudicated upon through appeal arbitration,” according to the Geneva-based official. “India said that with respect to the EU request for arbitration, India’s long-standing position on the appellate body crisis and the implications of interim arbitration arrangements is that such interim agreements undermine the right of countries to appeal to a permanent standing body” the official added. which is fundamental to the multilateral trading system,” the official added.