WTO-compliant measures soon to boost Indian textile export

India will soon announce World Trade Organisation-compliant measures to boost export of apparels and textiles that will help exporters compete with Bangladesh and Vietnam, which get zero-duty access to the European Union, said textiles secretary Raghvendra Singh. Discussions have been held with the departments of commerce and revenue regarding that, he said.

The textiles ministry is working on the recommendations of the committees set up to examine the WTO compatibility of the schemes, a report in a top business daily quoted Singh as saying.

He, however, did not clarify on how long the popular Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS), one of the five schemes challenged by the United States at the WTO, will continue. The US wants India to do away with the scheme as the country had crossed the average per capita income level of $1,000 some time back and was no longer eligible to give export sops.

Singh also indicated that the Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) scheme could be expanded to increase the level of benefits to exporters.