§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations his Department has made to the Indian Government regarding trade liberalisation; and if he will make a statement. [34934]
§ Mr. NelsonMy Department has regularly lobbied the Indian Government regarding trade liberalisation particularly in the context of the Indo-British partnership. Recently India has followed a programme of removal of trade barriers but more needs to be done, particularly on high tariffs, restrictions on imports of consumer goods, transparency of procedures, protection of intellectual property rights, and the opening up of public sector monopolies particularly in finance and insurance.
In line with the strategy on trade barriers launched by the then President of the Board of Trade on 28 June this Department will continue to press India to remove barriers to trade in bilateral contacts and where appropriate through the World Trade Organisation in concert with our EU partners.