India-Ukraine inks trade protocol

Ukraine to lower taxes on GJ India

The 4th Meeting of India-Ukraine Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (IU-WGTEC), under the India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation was held today in New Delhi.

Indian delegation was led by Bidyut Behari Swain, Additional Secretary, Foreign Trade (CIS), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Ukrainian Side was led by Mr. Oleksiy Rozhkov, Director of Directorate for International Trade and Economic Cooperation and European Integration of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine.

A protocol was signed at the end of the meeting. The protocol deals with review of trade, cooperation in the field of small and medium entrepreneurship, cooperation in the field of technical regulation (standardization, metrology, certification & conformity assessment), public-private partnership (PPP) and investment.

India and Ukraine have identified potential sectors where both Sides could engage in bilateral trade since presently the share of trade between both Sides is quite low as compared to total trade made with the rest of the World. Both Sides agreed to share the list of products which they would like to trade.

Both Sides should participate in the major fairs/exhibitions in the identified potential sectors. Both Sides agreed to share the details of the fairs / exhibitions to each other sufficiently in advance to ensure participation. In order to promote trade, both Sides should share the mandatory inspections’ / regulations’ requirement to be fulfilled at the time of exporting / importing of any product so that any delay related to such inspection could be reduced and it will also create a positive atmosphere for doing business.

Indian Side informed about various Export Promotion Councils and other export related institutions from where one can get the details of exporters /importers and agreed to share the list of such institutions. It requested Ukrainian Side to share such list of institutions so that exporters/importers from both Sides could interact and through this mechanism bilateral trade could be facilitated and enhanced.

For Gem and Jewellery Sector the duty structure for gems and jewellery products is on higher side in Ukraine, including a VAT of 20%, total duty for gold jewellery and cut & polished diamonds is around 30%. Indian Side requested Ukrainian Side for duty reduction on gold jewellery and cut & polished diamonds.