Effective this Monday, New Rules of Origin for imports under FTA evoke sharp response; Raise concerns

 To be implemented from Monday, the new “Rules of Origin” asking companies in India to disclose the production process undertaken of the imported good in the country of origin including the cost of each component/ingredient of exporters’ confidential information, has evoked a sharp response from multinational companies especially from East Asia and ASEAN.

Many have termed this Revenue Department’s new rules against the spirit of Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which India has inked FTAs with many countries especially from Asia like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and ASEAN members.

It is being feared that the FTAs and EPAs might become unworkable. And not all countries agree to the Indian government’s contention that the new norms have been framed with a view to checking inbound shipments of low-quality products and dumping of goods by a third country routed through an FTA partner country. Read more...