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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  India to raise visa fee hike issue through services pact
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India to raise visa fee hike issue through services pact

New Delhi to also highlight issues related to social security, data privacy and insurance portability at WTO

A file photo of commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/MintPremium
A file photo of commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

India is planning to address issues such as discriminatory visa fee hikes, data security and social security through a proposal that it will soon table at the World Trade Organization for an agreement on trade facilitation in services (TFS).

“Our proposal will cover discrepancies in trade in services as well as procedural and administrative issues and principles that apply to all," a government official aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity. “It will not delve into market access issues because that will involve domestic regulations, which is not the intention of the proposed agreement to address."

At an informal meeting of 30 WTO members in June, trade minister Nirmala Sitharaman said WTO director-general Roberto Azevêdo cleared India’s proposal for having a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) in services similar to the one for goods, which has already been signed.

“We have been asked to submit a proposal which will be taken up by all members. We don’t know how negotiations will pan out, but we certainly don’t want to make it a subject of give and take," she said.

“The TFA for goods does not deal with tariff rationalization but with procedural issues of customs clearance; TFS will follow a similar template," the official said. The TFA for goods was agreed at the Bali ministerial of the WTO in December 2013.

The Indian cabinet ratified the deal in February this year.

The paper will also address the contentious issue of professional visa fee hikes by the likes of the US and UK, which India has been claiming to be discriminatory. “We will propose that there has to be sufficient explanation for such visa fee hikes and it cannot target a particular country," the official said.

The paper will seek to distinguish between short-term and long-term visas, the official said.

India has dragged the US to the WTO on the visa fee issue earlier this year. As a first step in resolving the dispute, India asked the US to enter into what are called Article IV consultations under the dispute settlement understanding. If they fail to arrive at an amicable solution, India could ask for the establishment of a dispute settlement panel to adjudicate the issue.

The paper to be presented by India in September will also include issues such as data security and privacy. “Some countries do not accept others as data secure. We are advocating self-certification," the official said.

India’s proposal will also seek insurance portability under which if an individual has insurance in one country, he/she can avail of it anywhere in the world.

To avoid the India-US like tussle on social security contributions, the paper will also seek to give an employee the flexibility of either keeping the social security in a foreign country or take it back in case he/she wants to return to his/her home country.

Individuals working abroad are sometimes forced to pay social security contributions in their home country as well as their country of residence. To avoid such double contributions, countries often enter into so-called totalization agreements. However, despite the large number of Indians working in the US, the two nations do not have such an agreement so far.

India has been trying to convince the US to sign such a deal, which could help bring back contributions of up to $1.5 billion made by Indians while working in the US even though they were not allowed to avail of the US’ social security benefits.

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Published: 30 Aug 2016, 01:12 AM IST
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