Trade and Environment - Environmental Requirements and India's Exports of Leather and Leather Products

Project Team: Dr. U. Sankar, Mr. A. Sahasranaman, Mr. S. Jawahar, Mr. M. Ramachandran, Mr. S.Tholkappian, Ms. Mamatha Rao, Mr. N. Karthikeyan and Ms.B. Preethi.

Time Period: 2004 - 2005

Project Summary:

To undertake a review of trade and environment literature focusing on theory, institutions and policy issues.  To consider the actions taken by developed countries to ban or restrict or reduce access to exports of leather and leather products from developing countries, particularly India.  To study the global supply chain of the leather industry from raw material stage to finished product stage, and identify temporal and cross-country changes at various stages  To review policies and practices adopted by other major exporting countries in coping with domestic and global environmental requirements and trade liberalization.  To study the supply chain of the Indian leather industry and the responses of the industry to changes in the domestic and global policy environments  To assess the preparedness of the industry, particularly the tanning segment, in meeting the domestic and global environmental requirements, and to estimate the actual or/and normative environmental compliance costs and their shares in the export prices.  To review India’s trade policy with respect to exports of leather and leather products, analyze trends in the composition and direction of trade, and India’s share in the global leather market.  To design and conduct a survey of Indian leather exporters to know about their awareness of the environmental requirements abroad and the problems they face in complying with the requirements.  To suggest policy packages to enhance the export prospects of the Indian leather industry while complying with the environmental requirements.