Context
- Recently, the Government of India has initiated a comprehensive review to identify and resolve market access barriers faced by Indian pharmaceutical exports in all SAARC nations and Iran.
1. Key Interventions and Nodal Agencies
- Executing Body: The exercise is spearheaded by the Foreign Trade (South Asia) Division under the Department of Commerce, in coordination with Pharmexcil (Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India).
- Targeted Nations: Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Iran.
- Objective: To formulate product-specific strategies and consolidate solutions for a high-level dialogue involving Indian Missions, the Ministry of External Affairs, and Export Promotion Councils.
2. Key Issues to be Addressed:
The intervention specifically targets two major categories of international trade restrictions:
- SPS Measures (Sanitary and Phytosanitary): Regulations applied to protect human, animal, or plant life/health from risks arising from additives, contaminants, or disease-carrying organisms.
- TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade): Mandatory technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures that create unnecessary obstacles to international trade.
3.Geopolitical Impact Assessment
- West Asia Crisis Linkage: The government is actively assessing how the ongoing geopolitical conflict and crisis in West Asia have disrupted pharmaceutical supply chains and trade volumes with these specific neighbouring countries.
4. Key Economic Data (FY 2024-25)
- Regional Export Volume: India’s pharmaceutical exports to the eight targeted nations stood at $1.2 billion.
- Global Export Volume: This accounts for a small fraction of India’s total global pharmaceutical exports, which reached $30.47 billion in the same fiscal year.
5. About SAARC
I. General Overview
- Full Form: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
- Establishment: It was founded on 8 December 1985 with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka (Bangladesh).
- Headquarters / Secretariat: Kathmandu, Nepal (established in 1987).
II. Member Countries (8)
- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
- Afghanistan is the newest member. It joined the organization during the 14th SAARC Summit in 2007.
III. Key Objectives
- To promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and improve their quality of life.
- To accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.
Consider the following statements about India's pharmaceutical trade initiatives:
I. It aims to resolve non-tariff barriers such as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures faced by Indian pharmaceutical exporters.
II. The scope of this market access exercise is exclusively restricted to the member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) Both I and II
(d) Neither I nor II
Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement I is correct: The initiative specifically targets the resolution of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), which act as significant non-tariff market access barriers for pharmaceutical exports.
Statement II is incorrect: The exercise to identify and resolve these market access issues is not exclusively limited to SAARC nations; it also actively includes Iran.
