INDIA DOUBTED MAY’S BREXIT PLAN BEFORE TRUMP DID

LONDON : Six months before US President Donald Trump criticised Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for a ‘soft Brexit’, a note by the ministry of commerce as part of a Uk-india Joint Trade Review had concerns due to continued ties with EU envisaged.

May’s plan includes a ‘common rulebook’ with the EU after Brexit, meaning continued adherence to the rules and standards set in Brussels. Trump said this week that would mean the US “dealing with the EU instead of dealing with the UK”.

May’s plan outlined amid pressure from companies that have integrated supply chains across the EU, which is also their main market, has already led to the resignation from her cabinet and claims by both pro and anti-brexiteers that it is unworkable.

The note by the ministry of commerce included in the review was submitted to the India-uk JETCO (Joint Economic and Trade Committee), which met in January, attended by Suresh Prabhu, minister for commerce, and Liam Fox, secretary for international trade.

The review, obtained by campaign group Unearthed through India's right to information request, says that London should be prepared to relax EU rules on food standards and chemical safety as part of a new trading relationship with India after Brexit. The note said: “India…will be unable to mete out separate dispensation to UK in areas of EU competence”.

It named a range of non-tariff barriers to trade, including limits on fungicides in basmati rice and the enforcement of food hygiene standards for milk and dairy products such as paneer.