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Trade Ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have agreed on a cooperation framework to promote mutual beneficial commercial relationship among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) while consenting to work together in a number of other areas such as services, standards, e-commerce, intellectual property and non-tariff measures.
In a joint communiqué following the sixth meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers in New Delhi on Thursday, the Ministers emphasised the importance of developing cooperation among MSMEs in the crucial areas of trade and investment.
“This cooperation can be in the form of exchange of information on the regulatory framework, rules, regulations and good regulatory practises governing MSMEs, interface among the major chambers of commerce and industry and participation of MSME stakeholders in BRICS economic events such as trade fairs, conferences, seminars etc,” it said.
Commerce& Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman represented India in the meeting.
Stressing that the increase in non-tariff measures (NTMs) constrain the participation of developing countries in global trade, the Ministers agreed in principle on the `BRICS Mechanism for NTM Resolution’ framed by the Contact Group on Trade and Economic Issues (CGETI) which comprises officials from all five countries. They urged the CGETI to advance this work including on the issue of scope.
The Ministers also highlighted the importance of facilitating expansion of trade in services by addressing existing barriers and endorsed the “Framework for Cooperation on Trade in Services”.
The `Framework for Cooperation on Standardisation’, which aims to promote a better understanding and an open dialogue among BRICS countries in the area, that was agreed to by the CGETI, was also agreed to by the Ministers.
In the communiqué, the Ministers appreciated the work being carried out in the BRICS countries for development of national single windows. “These would facilitate both exporters and importers who would then need a single point interface for all their clearances,” it said.
The Ministers highlighted the importance of cooperation on IPR and e-commerce and endorsed the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism in both areas. They took note of the proposal to conduct a joint study to promote areas of common interest in e-commerce and stressed the importance of enhancing the BRICS countries understanding on e-commerce
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