EU to take India's high duties on spirits to WTO dispute panel

New Delhi, Mar 6 (UNI) The visiting European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel today said the European Union could take the issue of high duties by India on imported spirits and wines to the WTO's dispute panel, but disfavoured linking trade with human rights issues.

''I am extremely sorry and disappointed to see that India did not slash high tariffs on wines and spirits in its recent budget,'' Ms Boel said at a press conference here.

Mr Boel that EU could even impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from India as Indian tariffs were beyond the WTO norms. This, she said, was a ground for taking the issue of high tariffs on Indian wines and spirits to the dispute settlement mechanism.

She, however, did not favour the stand of the United States of linking trade agreements with the issue of human rights and said such tie-ups and agreements should be signed by different parties separately.

Importers of European producers of whisky, spirits and wines have been pressing since last year the EU authorities for action against India in view of its high tariffs.

The Commissioner said that she was expecting the Indian government to take the view point of the European producers of spirits and slash duties into account in its Budget proposals for 2007-08. But the budget was a disappointment, she said.

Ms Boel, who is leading a 28-member delegation of European food and drinks companies, earlier in the day met Argiculture Minister Sharad Pawar and discussed an array of issues relating to the growing relationship between Indian and the EU, particularly those pertaining to agriculture.

Ms Boel is on a week-long visit to the country and is slated to meet Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath later.

An EU report highlighted that duties and taxes in some Indian states were as high as 550 per cent on imported spirits and 264 per cent on wines.

Talking about the contentious issue of high agricultural subsidies provided to the European farmers, Ms Boel said the EU being a staunch believer of an early completion of the Doha round has already stopped subsidy to sugarcane producers.

This renders the products emanating from the EU internationally competitive.

In this context, she also said that vegetable and fruit growers were unhappy with the EU's strict adherence to the WTO norms.

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