Govt Plans to designate rare earth, pharma & IT as critical sectors
rare earth minerals, electronics and pharmaceuticals as critical sectors to secure them against any future supply chain disruption.
The move comes ahead of the Supply Chain Resilience Agreement of the 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) entering into force next week.
As per the agreement, the member countries have to identify critical sectors and key goods for cooperation upto 120 days after the date of the entry into force. The agreement will enter into force on February 24, 2024.
«Inter-ministerial and industry consultations are going on. We are yet to take a call on the sectors,» said an official.
IPEF has 14 members, including India, Australia, the US, Japan, Fiji, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand, representing 40% of the global gross domestic product and 28% of the global trade in goods and services.
As per the official, a structured mechanism is being identified to develop action plans to set up supply chain council and an emergency response network.
To facilitate cooperation among the members, the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement contemplates the establishment of three new IPEF supply chain bodies- the supply chain council, the supply chain crisis response network and the IPEF labour rights advisory board.
The proposed advisory board, comprising government, worker and employer representatives, and a subcommittee composed of government representatives, would support the IPEF partners' promotion of labour rights in their supply chains, promotion of sustainable trade and
