IT Hardware Importers May Require Global Certification

The government may ask laptop, server and other IT hardware importers to provide an international certification attesting that their product is from a trusted source before allowing a licence-free import of it, people in the know of the matter told ET.

This certification, one of the people said, could be from an international organisation. This organisation could periodically verify that the components used in the hardware come from trusted supply chains and do not have any spyware or malware in them, this person said.

The move is aimed at providing a workable solution to countries such as China, the US, South Korea and Taiwan.

They had, at a meeting of the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Market Access earlier this week, raised India’s decision to put restrictions on the import of these products. They claimed that the decision would have an impact on the trade of these products, cause uncertainty for their users as well as exporters, and was inconsistent with global trade laws.

The people said the ministries of commerce & industry and electronics & information technology are in the final stages of working on a notification which could list out the ways in which countries could address the security concerns that India has. Despite the concerns raised by the US , China and others, the government is likely to stick to its stance of allowing the import of these products only from trusted sources and through the licensing or registration process, a senior IT ministry official said.

“We want an absolutely trusted supply chain for the Indian digital ecosystem, especially, when we are just going to take off, and the entire internet is going to be built on servers, clouds and data centres,” the official said.

In August, the government placed, with immediate effect, laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs, ultra-small factor computers and servers in the restricted imports category, thereby requiring the importers of these products to obtain a licence.

A day later, following a meeting of electronics company executives with senior officials from the IT ministry as well as the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the government extended the deadline until October 31. “We want to ensure a trusted supply chain for these goods and their security can’t be compromised,” said another official.

Sources said some of the hardware could potentially have security-related issues and could compromise sensitive and personal data.

Clarity on the regulations is crucial before the import management system for IT products kicks in from November and for allaying the concerns of the exporting nations. The US has said the measure would prompt its firms to think twice about doing business in India, and that it would impact its exports to India. While South Korea raised doubts about the decision’s consistency with WTO rules, China and Taiwan asked about the purpose of this policy.

Source: The Economic Times

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