India imposes export barrier for Pakistani cement

India has made cement exports subject to a performance bank guarantee of US$10,000 to be supplied by exporters.

In a letter issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to all foreign cement manufacturers, said cement exporters would have to submit this guarantee to qualify for exporting cement to the country.

The move has not been welcomed in Pakistan which sees it as another nontariff barrier imposed by India to restrict its cement exports despite Pakistan to have accorded the most-favoured nation status to India, effective from 1 January 2013.

An official at one of the largest cement manufacturers said to the Pakistani Observer newspaper that it is not the first nontariff barrier that India imposes. In 2007, the BIS issued licences to Pakistani cement producers after physical verification of their production process for one or two years. Almost all units were granted the certificate, which expired some six months ago, resulting in a slowdown or even stoppage of cement exports. He said the cement makers had already applied for renewal well before their expiry but the process had been delayed due to security concerns of the BIS while the renewal process should occur automatically.

Pakistan has the capacity to export 6-7Mta of cement, meeting demand for the product in India.