India recently made headlines for joining forces with Britain and other countries to modernise IP standards
Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister, said that harmonizing India's protocols to international standards was high on their priority list to maintain rapid economic development in India.
Goyal travelled to London on Wednesday (12.07.23) for an Institute of Chartered Accountants of India UK Chapter Meeting for chartered accountants of Indian origin.
"Within the UK we are engaged in IP modernisation efforts. Goyal stated that Indian protocol concerning intellectual property will be upgraded.
India is very active when it comes to quality standards, with both BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) for non-food items, and FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) for food items actively working on standards development. We attempt to harmonize with international standards wherever possible; unfortunately, this is not always possible... "We are roughly 90% there with regards to our standards being in line with generally accepted ones", stated the expert.
The minister, an accountant by training, noted that India recognizes its need to integrate itself with international thinking on standards for intellectual property to expand its economy.
Though it is a long journey, India is making progress quickly towards being the preferred global tourism destination. "This goal is top on our agenda," Goyal noted. He predicted that Indian standards would become world-class within three to four years.
Although he did not directly refer to India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), he noted that transfer prices emerged during trade discussions as part of attempts to find broad solutions.
He stated: "Transfer pricing is not a one-size-fits-all subject - there cannot be one solution that applies universally."
In his address, Minister Liddell highlighted how corporate tax rates had decreased over the last nine years.
He noted that they had successfully persuaded the G20 to implement a minimum corporate income tax rate of 15% across the world.
Goyal met with his British counterpart Kemi Bdenoch during her three-day visit, coinciding with 11th round FTA negotiations. This meeting provided an important boost in terms of momentum for these discussions.
In a press release issued by the Indian Commerce Ministry, progress had been achieved during open and honest dialogue regarding various controversial issues.
