NEW DELHI -- India has severely criticized the imposition of quantitative restrictions (QRS), especially in textiles, by developed countries as being among the most important nontariff barriers affecting its trade, IRNA reported.

According to the **Hindu**, a New Delhi-based English daily, Indian government on the WTO's report on the trade policy review said that the new tariff barriers faced by Indian products in overseas markets were severely constraining the country's exports.

These include restrictive import policy regimes, standards including phytosanitary standards, export subsidies, barriers on services, government procurement regimes and other barriers such as antidumping and countervailing measures.

The comments on the hurdles to trade have been appended to top the main report on India's trade policy review by the WTO secretariat.

The WTO review had lauded India for its economic reforms program, which resulted in strong economic growth throughout the 1990s despite external shocks.

The Indian authorities, in their policy statement, pointed to the numerous impediments to the growth of its international trade.

Quantitative restrictions, especially in textiles, were one of the most important of them, the integration program implemented by the importing countries on textiles had not been in line with the spirit of the agreement on textiles and clothing though it may have conformed to the narrow technical and legal requirements of the agreement.

In the first stage, which commenced on January 1, 1995, major restraining countries did not integrate any product under restraint for Indian and the integration of restrain products had been negligible in the second and third stages. The result: even in the tenth year of the transition period, over 95 percent to the country's apparel and yarn trade would remain disintegrated with some of its major trading partners.

Another problem in textiles exports was the unilateral changes introduced by certain trading partners in their rules of origin. These had adversely affected the export of textiles and India's rights under the ATC including the full utilization of quota.

Highlighting the nontariff barriers affecting market access, Indian government noted that in agricultural products there were barriers to exporting mangoes and other fruits owing to insistence on use of only the vapor heat treatment procedure. Sanitary and phytosanitary standards were affecting products such as flowers, milk products, meat.