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EU criticises high duties on liquor imports by India

BS Economy Bureau

The European Union on Tuesday criticised India for the high tariff levels on liquor imports in the post-quantitative restrictions era and called for a review of the decision.

Expressing concern at the high incidence of duties on imported liquor, EU ambassador to India Michel Caillouet said that the EU had raised the issue with the Indian commerce department and was hoping for a review of the decision which was incompatible with World Trade Organisation standards.

"We hope the government will review its decision to raise duties on imported liquor as they have made these items prohibitively expensive," he said.

The duties have raised the prices of these items to levels surpassing those of quantitative restrictions era, he added. Caillouet said that EU would wait for some more time before deciding on the future course of action.

The ambassador also expressed concern over the intellectual property rights regime stating that there was a need for reforms. On the issue of enhancing bilateral trade, he said there was tremendous potential for increasing trade between the two partners and added that India accounted for only a minuscule portion of EU's trade.

On the forthcoming World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Doha in November this year, Caillouet said that EU did not support the US decision against signing the Kyoto protocol aimed at bringing down greenhouse emissions.

He also said that India would stand to lose if it stayed away from the negotiations and expressed the hope that India would not stand isolated at the Doha ministerial meet.

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