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WT/COMTD/RTA/M/5  
 
20 September 2013  
(13-5040)  Page: 1/4  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Fifth Dedicated Session on Regional Trade Agreements    
 
   
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 16 SEPTEMBER 2013 
Chairperson: H.E. Ms. Marion Williams (Barbados) 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS ............................................. 1  
(i)  Status of the work of the Dedicated Session - report by the Chairperson .................. 1  
(ii)  Free Trade Agreement between India and Malaysia (Goods) 
(WT/COMTD/N/37, WT/COMTD/RTA /5/1, WT/COMTD /RTA/5/2) ............................................... 1  
C. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 4  
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The draft agenda as contained in document WTO/AIR/4173 of 4 September 2013 was 
adopted. 
B. CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
(i) Status of the work of the Dedicate d Session - report by the Chairperson 
2. The Chairperson said that she wished to pr ovide Members with a brief update on the 
regional trade agreements (RTAs) notified under the Enabling Clause that were to be considered in 
the Dedicated Sessions on RTAs of the Comm ittee on Trade and Development (CTD).  
3. She firstly informed the Committee that for a number of RTAs – namely, RTAs between 
India and Nepal, India and Afghanistan, and India and Bhutan – the full set of data needed to 
complete the Factual Presentations had not been submitted by the Parties. With regard to the 
Agreement between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Secretariat was still waiting to receive some data from a number of ASEAN countries. The Secretariat was also 
still waiting to receive some data relating to the accession of Rwanda and Burundi to the Protocol 
on the Establishment of the East African Community Customs Union. She urged the Parties to these Agreements to provide the data as soon as possible. Finally, she said that there remained one RTA notified under the Enabling Clause that had not been ratified by all the Parties. This was 
the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA). Following the procedures of the Committee 
on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA), a Factual Pr esentation of an RTA falling in this category 
would only be drafted after the Agreement had been  ratified by all the Parties. The Parties to 
PICTA were urged to inform the Secretariat as  soon as all ratifications were complete.  
4. The Committee took note of the Chairperson's update. 
(ii) Free Trade Agreement between India and Malaysia (Goods) (WT/COMTD/N/37, 
WT/COMTD/RTA/5/1, WT/COMTD/RTA/5/2) 
5. The Chairperson said that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Malaysia 
entered into force on 1 July 2011. The goods and se rvices aspects of the Agreement were notified WT/COMTD/RTA/M/5 
 
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  to the WTO by the Parties on 6 September 2011 under paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause and 
under Article V:7(a) of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS), respectively.  At the present meeting, only the goods aspects of the Agreement – the notification of which was circulated in document WT/COMTD/N/37 – would be considered. The services aspects of the 
Agreement would be considered at the 70
th Session of the CRTA, scheduled for 17 and 
18 September 2013.   
6. She said that the text of the Agreement, together with its annexes, was available on the 
Parties' official websites. The Factual Presentation on the Agreement – circulated as document 
WT/COMTD/RTA/5/1 on 9 July 2013 – had been prepared by the Secretariat on its own 
responsibility in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs. Written questions and replies on the goods aspects of the 
Agreement had been circulated in document WT/COMTD/RTA/5/2 on 4 September 2013. She 
proposed to organize the consideration of the goods aspects of the Agreement by giving the 
Parties, and then Members, the opportunity to provide any general comments. Members would 
then turn to the specifics of the goods aspects of the Agreement.   
7. The representative of India said that India and Malaysia enjoyed close and friendly 
relations and long-standing commercial links. Economic and trade relations between the two 
countries had been strengthened in recent ti mes through Malaysian entrepreneurship and the 
liberalization of the Indian economy since 1991. Indian companies were actively engaged in Malaysia in varied sectors such as palm oil refining, power, railways, information technology, bio-technology, industrial goods, higher education, civil construction and training. Malaysia was 
India's third most important trading partner amongst the ASEAN countries and was also India's 
gateway to ASEAN and China. India was the largest trading partner for Malaysia in South Asia.  
8. With the entry into force of the India-Malaysia FTA, bilateral economic engagement had 
received a further boost. The Agreement, cont aining 16 chapters and 15 annexes including 
schedules of commitments in goods and services, pr ovided better conditions for trade in goods and 
services, as well as for investment and economic cooperation. According to data maintained by 
India's Director-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, bilateral trade had grown from 
US$10.6 billion in the 2008-2009 period  to US$14.4 billion in the 2012-2013 period, reflecting an 
increase of 36%. On a year-to-year basis, total bilateral trade grew by 30% in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, and by 7% in 2012-2013. India's exports to Malaysia had grown from US$3.4 billion in 
2008-2009 to US$4.4 billion in 2012-2013 - an in crease of close to 30% - and imports from 
Malaysia had risen from US$7 billion in 2008-2009 to US$10 billion in 2012-2013, which was an increase of 43%. She highlighted that the important product categories in the countries' bilateral 
trade had benefitted from increased trade flows during 2012-2013 relative to the previous period. 
In the case of India's exports to Malaysia, trade had increased in areas such as petroleum products, meat, chemicals, agricultural items, copper and iron products, fruits, machinery and 
textiles. With regard to India's imports from Malaysia, trade had increased in crude palm oil, 
petroleum products, wood products and chemicals. 
9. She went on to say that, in the context of the India-Malaysia FTA, India had offered more 
significant tariff concessions to Malaysia on 76 items relative to what was available under the 
ASEAN-India Agreement. These included items such as fruits, cocoa, palm oil products and 
synthetic textiles. On refined palm oil, there was an advance of the timeline for tariff reduction from 2019 to 2018. Malaysia had offered similar tariff concessions to India on 140 items, including 
on basmati rice, mangoes, eggs, trucks, motorcycles and cotton garments, which were all items of 
considerable export interest to India. Furthermor e, the end dates for tariff reduction or elimination 
under Normal Track-I, Normal Track-II and Sensitive Track had been advanced in the 
India-Malaysia FTA relative to the ASEAN-India Agreement. In conclusion, she said that a general 
review of the coverage under the India-Malaysia FTA was envisaged by the Parties. India looked 
forward to enhanced economic cooperation with Malaysia and to benefiting from the concessions provided under the India-Malaysia FTA. 
10. The representative of Malaysia said that Malaysia’s bilateral trade with India had witnessed 
an upward trend since July 2011. Based on domestic statistics, Malaysia’s total trade with India in 
2012 amounted to US$13.3 billion, which was a significant increase over the 2011 value of 
US$12.5 billion. In 2012, Malaysia’s total exports to India amounted to US$9.5 billion, while 
imports from India were valued at US$3.8 billion. India was Malaysia’s eleventh largest trading partner in 2012, and was the seventh
 largest export destination and fifteenth largest source of WT/COMTD/RTA/M/5 
 
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  imports for Malaysia in that year. India had been Malaysia’s largest export destination in 
South Asia since 1998. The India-Malaysia FTA reflected the strong commitment by both countries to encourage growth in bilateral trade and enhance economic cooperation. The Agreement was a comprehensive one, which would facilitate and enhance bilateral trade, investment and economic 
relations. The Agreement added value to the exis ting ASEAN-India Agreement by subjecting more 
products to tariff concessions and advancing the timelines for the reduction or elimination of tariffs. Provisions to enable exporters to comply with rules of origin requirements were also 
included. In addition, the Agreement provided for collaborative efforts in priority areas such as 
infrastructure development, human resource deve lopment, small and medium-sized enterprises, 
tourism, science and technology, creative industries, finance and business facilitation. 
11. The representative of Turkey expressed apprec iation to the Parties for the responses they 
had provided to the written questions that his delegation had submitted on the Agreement. He 
noted that the responses had been circulated to  Members in document WT/COMTD/RTA/5/2.    
12. The representative of the United States note d from the Factual Presentation that, at the 
end of the implementation period for India, 2,783 tariff lines would remain dutiable, representing 
24.7% of the tariff and 53.2% of imports from Malaysia. This included 32 tariff lines relating to Malaysia's top 25 exports. With regard to Malaysia's commitments, 1,790 tariff lines would remain 
dutiable at the end of the implementation period , representing 17.2% of the tariff and 8.1% of 
imports from India. Duties would remain on 26 tariff lines relating to India’s top 25 exports. In this 
light, and taking into account the relatively low level of tariff elimination or reduction under the Agreement - particularly by India - his delegation  wished to know how the Agreement facilitated 
and promoted the trade of developing countries as  required under paragraph 3(a) of the Enabling 
Clause. He also noted that the Parties’ exclusion lists were subject to an annual review with a view to improving market access. In this regard, he inquired whether any such reviews had occurred 
and whether, on the basis of the outcome of th ese reviews, the Parties would make a future 
notification of the Agreement under GATT Articl e XXIV. He next observed that the Agreement 
covered non-tariff measures (NTMs). Since any criter ia or conditions for the coverage of NTMs in 
RTAs notified under the Enabling Clause had never been prescribed by Members, he wished to 
know the legal basis for the coverage of NTMs in the Agreement. Finally, noting from Table 5.1 of 
the Factual Presentation that the India-Thailand Agreement had not been notified to the WTO, he inquired when India and Thailand planned to do so, as required under WTO rules. 
13. The representative of the European Union said that her delegation shared similar concerns 
to those raised by the US. She indicated her delegation's particular interest in obtaining more 
information on the scheduled annual reviews of the India-Malaysia FTA. 
14. The representative of Malaysia said that the coverage of the India-Malaysia FTA was the 
result of a negotiated outcome and reflected the commitments that the Parties were willing to 
make at a given point in time. However, the Agreement permitted the Parties to review the 
coverage and improve on it if they so wished. She did not believe that there was more that the 
Parties could say on the issue of coverage.  
15. The representative of India said that he would need to consult with his capital on the 
question raised by the US on the India-Thailand Agreement.     
16. The representative of the United States said that his delegation was interested in the 
Parties' views as to how the Agreement facilitated and promoted the trade of developing countries, 
as required by the Enabling Clause. He also reiterated his delegation's interest in the Parties' views 
concerning the legal basis for the coverage of NT Ms in the Agreement. He indicated that the US 
would submit questions on the Agreement in writing. 
17. The Chairperson said that oral discussion of the goods aspects of the India-Malaysia FTA 
could be concluded in accordance with paragr aph 11 of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs. 
Further questions by delegations on the goods aspe cts of the Agreement were to be submitted in 
writing to the Secretariat within one week, by 23 September 2013. She noted in this regard that 
the US had indicated that it would be submitting written questions. The Parties would then be 
given two weeks to submit written replies, by no  later than 7 October 2013. In accordance with 
paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism, all written submissions as well as the minutes of WT/COMTD/RTA/M/5 
 
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  the meeting would be circulated promptly in all WTO official languages, and would be made 
available on the WTO website.  18. The Committee took note of all interventions. 
C. OTHER BUSINESS 
19. No matter was raised under "Other Business". 
20. The meeting was adjourned. 
 
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