Divisions
Trade Policy Division
Overview of the division
Functions of the Division

International Trade Negotiation Wing – Multilateral (TNM) Division which was earlier known as Trade Policy Division keeps abreast of the developments in international trade organizations including the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC, etc. Matters like promotion of trade cooperation among developing countries, Commonwealth trade, multilateral trade, and tariff negotiations are also the responsibility of this Division.

The TNM Division 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 the World Trade Organization and other International Bodies / Groups functioning in the field of development World Trade.

Officers in the Division

The Division is headed by Special Secretary / Special Additional Secretary with five four Joint Secretary level officers and Eight three Divisional Officers at the level of Directors/ Deputy
Secretary and other supporting staff of the following desks:

  • DESK-I: TNM (Agri & WTO Coord)
  • DESK-II: TNM (Disputes & Rules)
  • DESK-III: TNM (SPS-TBT/TRIPS,and Admin & Coord)
  • DESK-IV:TNM (Trade Facilitation)
  • DESK-V: TNM (NAMA)
  • DESK-VI: TNM (Services-I)
  • DESK-VII: TNM (Services-II)
  • DESK-VIII: TNM (Services-III)
  • DESK-IX TNM (Environment & Labour Desk)
Name and Contact Address of Division Head :
  • Vacant : Additional Secretary (TNM)
  • Shri Darpan Jain : Joint Secretary, TNM-IV
  • Dr. M. Balaji : Joint Secretary, TNM-I
  • Shri Amitabh Kumar : Joint Secretary, TNM-II
  • Shri Yashvir Singh : Economic Adviser, TNM-III

Trade Negotiation Wing : Multilateral (TNM) Division :
Department of Commerce​
Government of India​
Vanijya Bhavan / Udyog Bhavan,​
New Delhi-110011

Major functions of the Trade Negotiation Wing – Multilateral (TNM) Division in the Department of Commerce are given below:
TTNM (Agriculture & WTO Coord Desk)
Functions of the Division
Major Area: Agriculture including
    • Agriculture negotiations in the WTO
    • Work relating to notifications under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)
    • Review of compliance with relevant Agreements- GATT and AoA
    • WTO Committee on Agriculture (regular) and in Special Session
    • Advice to other Ministries / Departments on Agriculture policies w.r.t. WTO agreements

∙WTO Reforms

Others :
  • Ministerial Conference of the WTO
  • WTO Trade Negotiations Committee
  • General Council of WTO
  • Overall coordination for WTO negotiations including matters to be placed before the Cabinet and its committees.,
  • Inputs for bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral documents/MoUs/declaration/ communique etc. withingwithin DoC and to other Ministries/Departments involving trade issues , esp. w.r.t. WTO.
  • Talking points and briefs on overall WTO issues for use in various international forasfora
  • Matters related to India’s participation in WTO Public Forum, Inter Parliamentary Union etc.
  • Informal WTO Ministerial meetings including in the sidelines of various regular meetings , such as the G-20, OECD and World Economic Forum
Officers in the Division
  • Shri Devesh Gupta : Director
  • Ms. Prachi Singhal : Deputy Director
  • Shri S S Bhoria: Consultant
TNM (Rules & Dispute Desk)
Functions of the Division

WTO Dispute Settlement, Dispute Settlement under FTAs, Interpretation of GATT provisions, Providing comments on WTO compatibility on measures/issues forwarded by other line Ministries/Departments from GATT and SCM Agreements angle, Rules negotiations including Anti-Dumping, Agreement on Subsidy & Countervailing measures, Agreement on Safeguards, Section 9 of Customs Tariff Act, Indian Council of Arbitration and related work including:

  • Work relating to notification requirements pertaining to WTO committees on Anti-Dumping, Safeguards, and SCM.
  • Review of compliance with relevant Agreements (Anti-Dumping, Safeguards, and SCM).
  • WTO Committees on Anti-Dumping, Safeguards and SCM issues.
  • Ratification and negotiations with respect to the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies
Officers in the Division
  • Shri Rakesh Kumar: Joint Director General of Foreign Trade
  • Ms Suganya K: Deputy Director General of Foreign Trade
  • Ms. Usha Sreenivasan : Under Secretary
TPD (SPS-TBT-TRIPS Desk)
Functions of the Division

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 CRIT/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
    • NTMs
    • IIFT, NCTI
Officers in the Division
      • Ms. Jyoti Yadav : Deputy Secretary
      • Shri Vivek Kumar : Deputy Director
      • Ms. Jaishree Kakkar : Under Secretary (IIFT/NCTI)
TNM (Admn & Coord Desk)
Functions of the Division
      • Coordination in TPD
      • Parliamentary matters, including Standing Committee etc.
      • 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.
Officers in the Division
  • Ms. Jyoti Yadav : Deputy Secretary
  • Shri B. S. Manral : Consultant
TNM (Trade Facilitation Desk)
Functions of the Division

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
        Other issues:
        • Committee on Trade and Development (Special Session) and Sub-Committee on LDCs
        • Working Groups 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
        • Trade policy reviews of all WTO members including India
Officers in the Division
  • Shri Rakesh Kumar: Joint Director General of Foreign Trade
  • ∙Ms. Usha Sreenivasan : Under Secretary (Additional Charge)
TNM (NAMA Desk)
Functions of the Division
  • 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 in NAMA, 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
    • 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 in NAMA, 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
    • GVC discussion in WTO
    • MSME discussions in WTO
    Officers in the Division
    • Shri Devesh Gupta : Director
    • Shri Naveen Kumar : Assistant Director
    • Shri Rajeev Raj Gupta: Assistant Section Officer
    TNM (Services-I Desk)
    WTO related work
    Functions of the Division
    • 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
    • E-Commerce in WTO
    Officers in the Division
    • vacant : Deputy Secretary
    • Ms. Shalini Mahajan : Deputy Director
    • Shri Vipin Kumar : Assistant Section Officer
    TNM (Environment & Labour Desk)
    Functions of the Division
    Trade & Environment and Trade & Labour, Gender including:
    • WTO issues on Trade & Environment
    • WTO issues on Trade & Labour, Gender, MSME
    • Work relating to Notification requirement of WTO
    • Review of compliance with relevant Agreements
    • WTO Committee on Trade and Environment
    Officers in the Division
    • Shri Devesh Gupta: Director
    • Shri Naveen Kumar: Assistant Director
    • Shri Rajeev Raj Gupta: Assistant Section Officer