Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs) sought public comments/suggestions on draft Consumer Protection (Direct selling) Rules, 2021.  As per the draft rules, direct selling companies are banned from promoting pyramid schemes or money circulation schemes. Direct selling companies have to register themselves under relevant Indian laws and also with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for allotment of a registration number.

The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of an MoU between the Permanent Mission of India to the WTO (PMI), Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) within The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. The MoU will provide valuable academic and research opportunities to the employees of CTIL and the Department of Commerce in the field of international trade and investment law.

The government has notified Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for automobile and auto components after approving it on September 15. The PLI Scheme aims to overcome the cost of disabilities and encourage the industry to make fresh investments to make advanced auto products. It is estimated that in five years, this PLI Scheme will lead to fresh investments of over Rs 42,500 crore (€8.5 billion), and incremental production of over Rs 2.3 lakh crore (€27 billion). It will create additional jobs of over 7.5 lakh jobs and enhance India's share in the global automotive trade

Top trade and technology bodies from the US and UK have told the Indian government to adopt the 5G standards that have been recommended by the 3GPP. India is currently in confusion about which 5G standard it should go with - 5Gi developed by Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) or the 3GPP developed 5G standard. The top international trade bodies have urged the Indian government to go ahead with 3GPP standards which will give a much-needed push to electronic manufacturing in India as companies will be encouraged to set up their operations in India.  “By using globally harmonized standards such as those from 3GPP, companies can set up manufacturing operations in India with the confidence that they can easily serve both the Indian market and export to global markets,” the bodies said in a joint submission letter to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC). 

Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that Make in India initiative has made significant achievements and presently focuses on 27 sectors under Make in India 2.0. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is coordinating action plans for manufacturing sectors, while Department of Commerce is coordinating service sectors. Accordingly, the Govt. is making continuous efforts under Investment Facilitation for implementation of Make in India action plans to identify potential investors. Investment Outreach activities are being carried out for enhancing international co-operation for promoting FDI and improve Ease of Doing Business in the country.

A collaborative model from industry to map best innovation practices will take India to the league of top 25 countries in the Global Innovation Index from the 48th rank in 2020 and make it the innovation powerhouse of the world, Commerce & Industry Minister said. Minister announced 80% reduction on fee for filing of IPRs for all recognised educational institution in India and abroad. The key achievements highlighted by Goyal include granting of 28,391 patents in 2020-21 as compared to 4,227 grants during 2013-14 (572% growth), reduction in time of patent examination from 72 months in December 2016 to 12-24 months in Dec 2020 and 1.42 million trademark registrations in last four years in comparison to 1.1 million during the previous 75 years (1940-2015).

The parties have agreed to launch negotiations on key issues such as market access, investment protection and geographical indications. Talks with the EU on a free trade agreement are set to begin later this month after eight years with the commerce ministry scheduling a meeting among the stakeholders. Sources said the dates for the first few sessions with the EU representative have been set before the end of this month. The parties have agreed to launch negotiations on key issues such as market access, investment protection and geographical indications. The preliminary talks on the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) will be based on the initial recommendations of industry groups.

India and UK are aiming to launching the negotiations on FTA by November 2021. Proposed FTA between India & UK is expected to unlock extraordinary business opportunity and generate jobs. Both sides have renewed their commitment to boosting trade in a manner which benefits all. Since the ‘Declaration’ on launch of Enhanced Trade Partnership, announced by Prime Ministers on 4th May 2021, both countries have made substantial progress on various aspects of partnership.