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The Legal Metrology Act 2009, the Legal Metrology (Packing Commodities) Rules 2011, and Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2011 regulate labelling requirements in India. There is no mandatory labelling requirement for genetically modified products. (...)

Imports of GM food, feed, and organisms, and living modified organisms for R&D, food, feed, processing in bulk are governed by the Environment Protection Act 1986 and Rules 1989, unchanged since India's previous Review.

(…) The EIC (Export Inspection Council)'s other certification activities include health certificate, authenticity certificate (basmati rice), non-GMO certificate, and preferential certificates of origin (CoO) under 15 schemes/agreements.

(…) On 4 July 2014, quantitative export restrictions on organic sugar were eliminated. (…)

(…) exports by STEs (State trading enterprises) are deemed necessary for conservation and proper utilization of some ores of metals.

A special licence granted by the Board of Approvals is necessary to set up an EOU (export-oriented unit) to manufacture arms and ammunition, explosives and defence equipment, atomic substances, narcotics and psychotropic substances and hazardous chemicals, distillation and brewing of alcoholic drinks, cigarettes/cigars and manufactured tobacco substitutes. Up to 100% of FDI is allowed in EOUs under the automatic route in areas where no FDI prohibition applies.

India's latest notification to the WTO Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures concerned fisheries' subsidies at the state, union territories and central government levels. Its latest notification on other subsidy programmes (at the central government level) covers the period 2011-12.

India's latest notification on fisheries subsidies covering the information for 2010-11 to 2013-14 was submitted to the WTO in November 2014. The authorities state that various subsidies under the centrally-sponsored scheme for development of marine fisheries are mainly aimed at improving socio-economic conditions of poor and traditional coastal fishermen by way of upgrading their skills with improved craft and gear and ensuring safety at sea; these subsidies are provided to upgrade fishing capacity for optimum utilization of available fisheries resources, rather than creating overcapacity, as well as ensuring the sustainable livelihood of poor and traditional fishermen, enabling/encouraging them to decongest coastal waters by moving from near-shore to deep sea to unexploited or underexploited fishery resources. The authorities consider that the amount of subsidies provided to the sector is very small compared to most other countries.

Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) continue to play an active role in the economy, holding significant market-share in several sectors/subsectors, e.g. petroleum and mining, power transmission and generation, nuclear energy, heavy engineering, the aviation industry, storage and public distribution system, shipping, insurance, and telecommunications.

Since its last Review, India has taken several initiatives to modernize its IPR administration and continue its efforts to enforce IPRs. The Copyright Act was amended, inter alia, to implement the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty and guidelines were issued on patents for biological materials, both in 2012. In March 2012, India issued its first and only compulsory licence (on certain anti cancer medicine).