He said the process to harmonise with international standards is high on the government’s agenda because integrating with world thinking on standards and IP is important for the fast-paced growth of the Indian economy.
“There is work ongoing with a number of economies, including the U.K., on intellectual property (IP) rights and modernisation in an effort to improve Indian protocols,” Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has said.
The minister forecast that over the next three or four years, Indian standards will be seen as world class and accepted across the world.
While he veered away from any direct reference to the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) while “negotiations are on”, the minister mentioned that the issue of transfer pricing was among the matters that had emerged as part of efforts to find wider solutions in the trade talks.
“There is no written rule or unwritten rule that any one geography or one set of people are honest and the other set is dishonest… so transfer pricing will remain an issue by issue, case by case subject and there can’t be a one size fits all,” he said.
