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NEW DELHI, June 28

THE Cabinet today endorsed the move by India and China to offer tariff concessions to each other under the Bangkok Agreement, with the Government claiming that China's accession to the agreement would work to India's advantage.

Briefing newspersons here, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, said that under the agreement, China had offered tariff concessions to India on 182 items (corresponding to 217 tariff lines) as per the International Trade Classification Harmonised System (ITC-HS) nomenclature. These products include chemicals, leather and textile products and diamonds. "In effect, the country will be eligible for concessions on 722 items, covering 25-30 per cent of our current exports to China in value terms," she noted.

On the other hand, India has granted concessions on 106 items, corresponding to 188 tariff lines under the Bangkok Agreement to other member countries, which it will now offer to China as well following the latter's accession. These 188 tariff lines, however, account for only 2.2 per cent of the country's imports from China in value terms. The country, therefore, stands to be a net gainer from China's accession to the agreement.

The Bangkok Agreement, signed in 1975, refers to an initiative under the United Nations' Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for trade expansion through exchange of tariff concessions among members. So far it has been ratified by five countries (India, South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Lao PDR), with China offering to join the treaty in 1993.

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