Clipped from: https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/widening-protectionism-123030901284_1.html
Quality control should not be made a non-tariff barrier
Once a government gives in to protectionism, its control of trade and manufacturing inevitably tends to increase. The government views the trade deficit and in particular the trade deficit with China as a major problem, but has chosen to address this problem not through competitiveness-enhancing reform but through protectionist acts. Where high tariff walls are no longer advisable, non-tariff barriers of various sorts are being introduced. The latest such instrument is quality control orders, or QCOs. It has now been reported that 58 such regulations would be issued in the next six months. This follows some QCOs on items such as footwear, some varieties of steel, and especially toys. The government is comparing this number to the 34 QCOs issued since 1987. But this is not a good thing, since this supposedly low number reflected India’s greater integration into the world economy to the benefit of consumers.
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