ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the undertaken a preliminary analysis of the likely impact of the pact with focus on plantation sector. Analysis of the likely impact on any sector has to begin with an understanding of the present state of that sector in the country concerned. Similarly, India provides only 1.9 per cent of the export market for Thai natural rubber but it accounts for over 45 per cent of India's imports. Bulk of the import of plantation commodities that we have noted above has been through advance licensing route for processing and export as noted by George, Joseph. If the real concern is with plantations and the millions involved therein, the attempt should be to correct the anomalies in the import regime, help in developing a vibrant processing sector that provides growth impulses to the country's plantation sector. The tariff lines subject to tariff reduction/elimination are divided into normal track, sensitive track, highly sensitive lists, special products and the exclusion list.
