Foreign Trade (Coordination)
TRADE POLICY DIVISION
The Trade Policy Division (TPD) is divided into different functional areas of trade and commerce such as Agriculture, Non-Agricultural Market Access, Disputes and Rules, SPS/TBT, TRIPS & Environment/Labour, Services and Trade Facilitation catering the functions of World Trade Organization and other International Bodies / Groups functioning in the field of development World Trade.
The Division is headed by Additional Secretary with two Joint Secretaries and Seven Divisional level Officers i.e. Directors/ Additional Economic Adviser / Deputy Secretary and other supporting staff of the following desks:
· DESK-I TPD (Agri & Coord) · DESK-II TPD (Disputes & Rules) · DESK-III TPD (SPS-TBT/TRIPS, Environment & Labour ) |
· DESK-V.A (Services-I) · DESK-V.B (Services-II) · DESK-V.C (Services-III) DESK-V.D (Services-IV) · DESK-VI TPD (TF & Admin) |
Name and Contact Address of Division Head :
Shri Arvind Mehta
Additional Secretary
Trade Policy Division
Department of Commerce
Government of India
Udyog Bhavan,
New Delhi-110011
Shri Dammu Ravi Joint Secretary Trade Policy Division Department of Commerce Government of India Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi-110011 |
Shri Sudhanshu Pandey Joint Secretary Trade Policy Division Department of Commerce Government of India Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi-110011 |
MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF TRADE POLICY DIVISION (TPD) :
Desk-I TPD(Agriculture & Coordination Desk )
Major Area: Agriculture including
- Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
- Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
- WTO Committees on relevant Agreements
Others :
- Overall coordination for WTO negotiations of Doha Round including matters to be placed before CCWTO/ Cabinet.
- Ministerial Conference of WTO
- Talking points and briefs on WTO issues
- Parliamentary work including Standing Committees
- Material for annual reports, economic survey, budget speeches, monthly cabinet reports and other VIP reports etc.
- Work of TNC and General Council
- Matters related to India’s participation in WTO Public Forum, Inter Parliamentary Union etc.
- Matters related to G-20, OECD and World Economic Forum
Ms. Anu P. Mathai, Director |
Shri Narayan Prasad, Under Secretary |
Desk-II TPD(DISPUTES & RULES)
- WTO Dispute Settlement, Interpretation of GATT provisions, Rules Negotiations including Anti-Dumping, & Agreement on Subsidy and Countervailing measures and Agreement on Safeguards, Section 9 of Customs Tariff Act, Indian Council of Arbitration and related work including:
- Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
- Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
- WTO Committees on relevant Agreements
- Government procurement chapter in India-EU BTIA
Shri Tapan Mazumder, Director |
Shri A K Sharma, Under Secretary |
DESK.III TPD (SPS-TBT-TRIPS
Major Area:
Trade & Environment, Trade & Labour, Agreement on TRIPS, Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade including:
- Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
- Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
- WTO Committees on relevant Agreements
Other Areas
- TPD Capacity building including the Centre for WTO studies and WTO chair in National Law School, Bangalore, Study proposal for approval under MAI, etc.
- TPD Documentation Centre and Library
- Work relating to RIS
- E Governance
Shri Amit Singla, Deputy Secretary |
Shri Sanjay Kumar, Under Secretary |
Shri Shyamal Kumar Bit, Section Officer |
DESK.IV TPD (NAMA)
- Non-Agricultural Market Aceesss (NAMA) :
NAMA, NTMs as limited to NAMA Negotiations, Textiles and clothing issues in the WTO, Committee on Regional Trade Agreements of WTO including CRTA negotiations, International Textile Clothing Bureau (ITCB), e-commerce, Council for trade in goods, Committee on market access, tariff negotiations, ITA, Duty Free Tariff Preferences (DFTP) for LDCs;
- Government procurement and Global coherence; and
- State Trading Enterprises; including
- Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
- Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
- WTO Committees on relevant Agreements
- Committee on Balance of Payments
- Trade Policy Reviews of all WTO members including India
Shri (Vacant) Director |
Ms Aprajita Singh. Asst Director |
DESK V.A TPD (SERVICES-I)
WTO related work
- Schedule of Commitments / Offers: Market Access Discussions including new approaches to negotiations as suggested by some developed countries.
- Issues of text: Domestic Regulations, LDC Modalities, Emergency Safeguard Measures, Government procurement, Subsidies etc.
- Implementation of WTO Obligations under Article III and VII etc. of the GATS – issues of notification etc.
- Participating in the multilateral services negotiation and preparation for various meetings of various bodies at the WTO such as the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services (CTS SS), Regular Session of the Council for Trade in Services (CTS), Committee on Trade in Financial Services (CTFS), Working Party on Domestic Regulations (WPDR) and the Working Party on GATS Rules (WPGR) and to provide inputs to PMI Geneva. Contributing to India’s submissions at the WTO.
- Other WTO related matters such as contributing towards India’s trade Policy Review, the Ministerial Conference.
- TISA
- Work related to interpretations of WTO law /GATS
- Interpretations of WTO law /GATS
FTAs/Bilaterals
- RCEP
- India - EU BTIA
- India EFTA
Sepecific Service Sectors
- Business Services
- Legal services
- Communication Services
Other Issues -
- Cabinet notes, RTI, Parliament Questions, Briefs and Speeches, and Studies
- Evolution of our position on FDI in multi brand retail.
- E-Commerce
- All work related to Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreements(BIPAs)
Ms. Aparna Sinha, Director |
Ms Manisha Meena, Deputy Director Shri Munna Prasad Under Secretary Shri Abhisek Sharma Dy. Director General Foreign Trade |
DESK V.B.TPD (SERVICES-II)
FTAs/Bilaterals
- India – Malaysia
- India – New Zealand FTA
- India – Australia FTA
- India – Canada FTA
- Implementation work related to India – Japan CEPA, India – Sri Lanka CFEC
- Implementation of India - Kores CECA
- India – Thailand FTA
- India – China Working Group on Services
- ASEAN-India Trade in Services Agreement
- 2nd Review of India – Singapore CECA
- BIMSTEC
- APTA
- SAARC Agreement of Trade in Services (SATIS)
Specific Service Sectors
- Construction and related engineering
- Distribution Services
- Educational Services
- Environmental Services
- Transport Services
Other Issues
- Cabinet notes, RTI, Parliament Questions, Briefs and Speeches, and Studies
- Improvement in Statistics on Trade in Services
Ms. Sangeeta Saxena, Additional Economic Advisor |
Shri Abhisek Sharma Dy. Director General Foreign Trade |
DESK V.C.TPD (SERVICES-III)
FTAs/Bilaterals
- India – US TPF
- India – US ICT Working Group
- India – Israel FTA
- Initiation of dialogue with Chile, Brazil and Mercosur
- Any new bilateral engagement
Services Conclave & Global Exhibition on Services
Specific Service Sectors
- Tourism and Travel related Services
- Health related and Social Services
- Health Services
- Re-creational, Cultural and Sporting Services
Other Issues
- Cabinet notes, RTI, Parliament Questions, Briefs and Speeches, and Studies
- Contributing to the formulation of proposed internal reform agenda in key services sectors. Work related to IMG on Services.
- Improvement in Statistics on Trade in Services
Ms. Aditi Das Rout, Director |
Shri Yashpal, Under Secretary |
Ms.Subhashree Section Officer |
DESK V.D.TPD (SERVICES-IV)
Sepcific Service Sectors
- Financial Services
- Other Services not included elsewhere
Other Issues
- Bank branches approval related issues
- Agreements negotiated by respective line Ministries e.g. Shipping, Civil Aviation, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion,
- Ministry of Overseas India Affairs, Department of Economic Affairs etc.
- Cabinet notes, RTI, Parliament Questions, Briefs and Speeches, and Studies
Ms. (Dr. Anuradha Guru, Director |
DESK VI TPD (TF & ADMIN)
- Trade Facilitation, Customs Valuation, Pre-shipment Inspection, Import Licensing Procedure, including:
- Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
- Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
- WTO Committees on relevant Agreements
- Committee on Trade and Development (special session), sub-committee on LDCs,
- Working group on Trade and Transfer of Technology,
- Aid for trade, Technology assistance and capacity building
- Work relating to Investment including TRIMs, Trade, Debt & Finance, and Competition Policies.
- Monitoring of NTMs of key countries.
- Accession
- Coordination in TPD
- Result Framework Document (RFD)
- General Administration, VIP cases in TPD, Hindi matters and matters related to PMI Geneva
- Nominations for WTO sponsored Seminars/ Workshops and Conferences
- Matters relating to membership Administration, Budget of WTO.
Ms. Anice Joseph Chandra, Director |
Shri Vivek Chaudhary, Assistant Director |
Shri B S Manral, Section Officer |