New Indian rules on jute import a non-tariff barrier, says BD

Syful Islam
The government has found last week's notice by India on jute and jute goods import as a new non-tariff barrier (NTB) and inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials said.
Dhaka has requested Delhi to revoke the new regulation as Bangladesh's jute exports are being hampered seriously because of the new rules, they added.
The new notice, which was issued on September 10, cancelled registration of Indian importers of raw jute and jute products and made mandatory fresh registration of importers, buyers' and users' levels.
It also asked importers to have no-objection certificate (NoC) for each consignment from the Jute Commissioner of India and submit details of the buyers of the imported consignments while applying for NOC.
After examining the Indian notice, the Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) in a report to the ministry of commerce (MoC) said the notice is not consistent with the Article III (4) of the WTO's General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT).
The Article III (4) stated that "the products  of  the  territory  of  any  contracting  party  imported  into  the  territory  of  any  other contracting  party  shall  be  accorded treatment  no  less  favourable  than  that  accorded  to  like  products  of  national origin in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use."
The BTC said the notice is hindering import of jute and jute products from Bangladesh into India as the new regulation turned out to be a NTB.
It said earlier India had imposed another NTB on jute bags import making mandatory marking of 'Made in Bangladesh' on the body of the product.
The BTC said the circular has created apprehension among the importers that it is not possible for them to give details of secondary or tertiary buyers. If secondary and tertiary buyers get deviated, then importers might get penalty.
Sources said Indian Jute Commissioner Subrata Gupta informed a diplomat of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata that they were obliged to issue the new circular in the face of violation of Jute Packaging Material Act 1987.
Under the Act, all jute bags, which are used as packaging materials of food grains, have to be made of 100 per cent local jute. However, in many cases, the order was not followed by the jute millers.
Besides, he said, in recent years, some local jute mills were shut down due to wide allegation of using imported jute bags in public sector food grain packaging. It has created necessity of imposition of new regulation, he said.        
A senior MoC official said Dhaka has already requested New Delhi to revoke the new notice allowing export of jute and jute goods to India as usual.
He said hectic efforts are there to pursue the Indian authority to suspend the notice which is hindering the exports.
"We have already voiced our concern to the Indian authority and they have taken it seriously. There are some indications that the notice may be withdrawn soon," he said.
The official said the ministry of foreign affairs has been asked for talks with the Indian foreign ministry.
Besides, the ministry of jute and textiles has been asked to take steps and if necessary, send a delegation to India, to discuss the issue with their counterparts.
He said jute goods exporters have also been asked to contact Indian importers in a bid to resolve the issue.  
syful-islam@outlook.com