Monday, February 24, 2014: In a very fortifying response, India has stood strong against US’ case in WTO. The government has reportedly decided not to meet the officials of the USITC, a federal agency of US that initiated a probe against domestic trade and investment policies.
The USITC had alleged that India’s trade and investment rules, predominantly those of intellectual property laws, discriminate against US companies. USITC officials are coming to India and have arranged meetings with officials of different ministries like commerce and industry, finance and external affairs. However, India has decided not to entertain them at all.
Last week, USITC also conducted a meet, based on ‘Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the US Economy’. Recently, Obama administration had strongly criticised India’s investment climate and IPR laws, especially in the pharmaceuticals and the solar sectors. The USITC has reported the issue of rejection of patent to the Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Sprycel and the Novartis’ Gleevec. It stated that the Indian IPR laws are not friendly in the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) compliant, under the World Trade Organisation.
It must be noted that on 11 February, US dragged India to WTO on its solar mission plan. Moreover, the Global Intellectual Property Center of the US Chamber of Commerce ranked India at the bottom, of the total of 25 countries in terms of protection and enforcement of intellectual property practices.
