The European Union conceded that it had blocked the entry of an Indian garment consignment in November 2003 in retaliation to the high tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed on imports in India.
The European Commission communicated the position at the joint working group meeting with India last Friday, officials said.
The four-member EU delegation was led by Fernando Perreau de Pinninck, head of unit, textiles negotiations, in the directorate general for trade.
Last November, a consignment of 3,100,000 sweat-shirts, estimated to be worth around Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million), had been embargoed by the EU.
The consignment, the first of the additional 7,000 tonnes quota sanctioned to India, was not given landing permission, and EU authorities had put the blame on technical problems.
Officials said Indian exports had to face an embargo-like situation in some other cases also.
Trade blocks
- EU authorities had initially said technical problems were to be blamed for the blocking of the garment consignment
- Indian officials say other export shipments have also faced embargoes
- EU has, however, softened its stance on market access in India
They also said the EU had, however, softened its stance on market access in India after the government explained the tariff structure in the country.
EU had been arguing that India's tariffs were discriminatory for its exporters since Indian products had to face lower duties than those levied on imports.
It was also pointed out that in the case of 383 of the 520 textile products, import duty was lower than the bound rates.
"While we do not see any more problems on the tariff side, EU still has some problems with the non-tariff barriers, which it says are hindering its exports to India. In the coming weeks we will take up the matter with them," an official said.
During his visit to India last month, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy had also taken up the issue of limited market access with Indian authorities but the matter was not discussed. It was subsequently referred to the joint working group.
India has also voiced its concerns about the EU repeatedly delaying the granting of exceptional flexibilities to India, which had been agreed upon way back in August 2000.
The EU delegation has cited technical reasons for granting the flexibility, which enables Indian exporters to exceed the permitted quota levels.
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