Indian government on Tuesday told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it has no plans to extend the ban beyond the mentioned products in the October notification pertaining to IT hardware products such as personal computers, Tablets and laptops.
The government said that industry consultations were undertaken before issuing the notification on 3 August and a transition period of three months was provided till 31 October 2023, as reported.
US, China, South Korea and Taiwan had raised concerns on the India’s laptop and other IT hardware ban issue at the WTO. The US had said that with the new rules firms will think twice about doing business in India and it would impact its exports.
India informed WTO that it introduced an additional notification on 19 October, implementing a new system for imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers to monitor hardware shipments more effectively. This import management system became operational on 1 November.
When questioned about the monitoring phase’s duration and the possibility of delaying full implementation of new import rules, India clarified that there is no such proposal at present. The new system is designed to manage and monitor the import of specific IT hardware goods, ensuring resilience in the supply chain and addressing national security concerns, according to India’s communication to the WTO.
