Acknowledging the tough negotiating process ahead at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to make the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) in services proposed by India a reality, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that lessons learnt in the time absorbed while negotiating the trade facilitation pact in goods would play a crucial role in its success.

“We find that the countries that are driving the services industry and those with inputs from knowledge-based spectrum are not willing to support a trade facilitation agreement in services. The lessons that have been learn from coming to a consensus on TFA in goods through a dialogue process are crucial even as we place a proposal at the WTO for a TFA in services,” Sitharaman said while addressing a workshop on TFA in services organised by the World Bank on Thursday.

The Minister expressed the hope that the negotiating process would not take very long.

New Delhi recently gave a formal presentation on its proposal for a TFA in services at the WTO, which evoked a mixed response. Several African countries, including South Africa, which have been traditionally on the same page with India on most issues at the WTO, have reportedly expressed their reservations on the compliance cost of such a pact.

While the EU broadly welcomed India’s proposal, it does not seem willing to extend special and differential treatment to the country, which is reserved for the developing world, which could be a problem, a government official told BusinessLine .

Sitharaman said India’s proposal on TFA in services was not specifically about new market access in services but was about removing hurdles.

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