U.S. Seeks Industry Input on Standards that Create Trade Barriers When Exporting to India

On December 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce ("USDOC"), on behalf of the Administration, published a Federal Register ("FRN") notice, seeking public input to identify priority sectors in which the United States and India will pursue cooperative dialogues under the U.S.-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue ("S&CD") to address standards-related trade barriers. The aim of the cooperative dialogues is for the private sector to produce concrete recommendations for the U.S. and Indian governments on breaking down barriers related to standards, regulatory, and conformity assessment practices to increase bilateral trade. Stakeholder input will be used by the USDOC, in consultation with its interagency partners, to identify those sectors where cooperative work will yield the most benefits for bilateral trade from a U.S. perspective. The USDOC will also use stakeholder input to seek agreement from its Indian government counterparts on the sectors in which to begin cooperative work.

Criteria for selection include: The nature of the existing standards-related barriers in the sector (medical devices, ICT products, oil and gas, etc.), including whether the standards related measures that are affecting bilateral trade are subject to regulatory discretion or have limited potential for adjustment due to legislated mandates; the relative estimated trade impact of eliminating the standards-related barriers in the sector; and whether private sector representatives from the sector—both U.S. and Indian—are committed to leading a cooperative dialogue to produce concrete recommendations for the U.S. and Indian governments on breaking down barriers in the sector. Selection will also take into account the willingness of U.S. and Indian regulators to become involved in this targeted work, as well as if another bilateral forum relevant to the suggested issue already exists.