US, India say resolving market access issues bilaterally brings tangible benefits to farmers, businessmen

India and United States have acknowledged the tangible benefits accruing to farmers and businesses of both countries by mutually resolving certain outstanding market access issues through increased bilateral engagement.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal have agreed to continue working to expand bilateral trade in agricultural and food products through the TPF Working Group on Agricultural Goods and committed to holding technical dialogues on animal health, plant health, and food safety and other technical issues in 2022.

Both the ministers have welcomed the agreement to finalize work on market access facilitation for mangoes and pomegranates, pomegranate arils from India, and cherries and alfalfa hay for animal feed from the United States. The United States intends to finalize the transfer of the preclearance programme / regulatory oversight of irradiation for mangoes and pomegranate to Indian authorities as soon as is practicable.

India and US also look forward to signing the Systems Approach Operational Work Plan for the export of pomegranate arils from India to the United States.

India intends to finalize phyto-sanitary work to allow the importation of US cherries, and India intends to finalize the phyto-sanitary certification which will allow the importation of US alfalfa hay for animal feed into India, the joint statement said.

Additionally, the US agreed to work to complete India's request for table grapes access to the United States, and India agreed to work to finalize the mutually agreed export certificate to allow the importation of US pork and pork products.

The US side welcomed the extension in time notified by India for accepting certain test results from ILAC accredited labs under the Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE) policy, and both sides agreed on the importance of providing sufficient time for industry to adapt to future testing requirements, the statement read further.

The US also appreciated the extension in time notified by India regarding implementation of Polythene Material for moulding and extrusion (Quality Control) Order, 2021 and to consider consultation with industry to discuss labelling arrangements that satisfy the measure's objectives.

The Ministers welcomed the enhanced engagement on intellectual property (IP) and recognized that the protection and enforcement of IP contributes to the promotion of innovation as well as bilateral trade and investment in IP-intensive industries. They appreciated the work of the TPF IP Working Group and reviewed its progress in copyrights, patents, trademarks, and sharing of national experiences regarding traditional knowledge and genetic resources. The United States welcomed India's clarifying the administration of its patent regime, including on disclosure requirements, treatment of confidential information, patent application oppositions, as well as supporting evidence for well-known trademark applications. Both the United States and India welcomed each other's commitment to comply with the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and World Intellectual Property Organization Performance and Phonogram Treaty, the joint statement read.

( With inputs from ANI )

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