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TO BE PUBLISHED IN PART III SECTION 4 OF THE GAZETTE OF INDIA (EXTRAORDINARY) DATED 4.12. 2003
No. 1-CA(7)/64A/2003
New Delhi, Dated 4th December, 2003
Whereas certain draft amendments further to amend the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, were published by the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, as required by sub-section (3) of section 30 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949), at pages 4396 to 4407 of the Gazette of India, Part III Section 4, dated the 5th October, 2002 under the notification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India No. 1-CA(7)/64/2002 dated 24th September, 2002;
And whereas objections and suggestions were invited before the expiry of a period of forty five days from the date on which the copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public;
And whereas the said Gazette was made available to the public on 9th October, 2002;
And whereas the objection and suggestion received from the public on the said draft amendments had been considered by the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and approved by the Central Government;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 30 of the said Act, the Council, with the approval of the Central Government, hereby, makes the following amendments in the Chartered Accountants Regulations,
1. Short title and commencement.-
    (1) These regulations may be called the Chartered Accountants (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2003.
    (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Gazette of India.
2. In the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, -
  1. in regulation 204, for the words and letters "Schedules `C', `D', `E', `F' and 'G' ", the words and letters "Schedules `C', `D', `E', `F', `G' and `H' " shall be substituted;
"SCHEDULE H (POST QUALIFICATION COURSE IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAWS AND WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION)
1. Course for Diploma in International Trade Laws and World Trade Organisation.-
(1) Objective. -
The objective of this course is to provide the candidates with a thorough knowledge of the following areas and to equip members with the specialised skills necessary for developing a dedicated practice in the area of services related to International Trade Laws and WTO
  • Domestic Trade Laws
  • Anti-dumping
  • Anti-subsidy
  • Competition Laws
  • TRIPS and TRIMS
  • GATT Agreements
  • GATS Agreement
    1. This Trade Laws and WTO Course shall include:-
  • Part I - Theoretical knowledge with examination
  • Part II - Practical Training and submission of a dissertation
A member eligible for the course has to complete Part I first before registering for Part II of the Course.
A certificate in the approved form shall be granted to those who qualify in the Course and they shall be entitled to use the letters "DITL (ICAI)" after their names.
Part I - Theoretical knowledge with examination
2. Administration and admission to the examination.-
Notwithstanding anything contained in Regulation 176 of these Regulations, the International Trade Laws and WTO Course shall be under the charge of the Committee on Trade Laws and WTO appointed by the Council for the purpose (referred in this Schedule as the "Committee"). The Committee's functions, in this regard, shall, inter alia, include holding of examination, admission thereto, appointment and selection of examiners, prescription of books for the guidance of candidates, declaration of results and other allied matters.
No candidate shall be admitted to the Part I Examination of the Trade Laws and WTO Course unless he is a member at the time of appearing at the examination.
3. Registration And Tuition fee.-
Registration and tuition fee for the Part I of the course shall be Rs. 20,000/- including the cost of study material. The Committee shall provide an appropriate list of study materials as well as prepared study material to the candidates.
4. Conduct of examinations.-
(1) The examination may be conducted at such interval, in such manner and at such time and places, as the Council may direct.
(2) The dates and places of the examination and other particulars shall be notified in the official Gazette.
(3) A candidate for admission to the examination shall pay such fee, not exceeding Rupees One Thousand for each group or any other sum as may be fixed by the Council from time to time. Candidates can appear either for Group A or Group B or for both Groups at their discretion.
(4) A candidate for the Trade Laws and WTO Part I examination shall ordinarily be declared to have passed the examination if he/she passes in both the groups simultaneously or in one group at one examination and in the remaining group at any subsequent examination, securing at one sitting a minimum of 40 per cent marks in each paper of the Group and a minimum of 50 per cent marks of the total marks of all the papers in that Group.
5. Application for admission to examination.-
An application for admission to the examination shall be made in the approved form, a copy of which may be obtained from the Secretary of the Committee and together with the specified fee, shall be sent so as to reach the Council in accordance with the directions given by it.
6. Refund of Examination Fee. -
(1) The fee paid by a candidate who has been admitted to an examination shall not, except as otherwise provided in sub-paragraph (2) be refunded.
(2) Where a candidate applies to the Council for the transfer of fee to the next examination on the ground that he was prevented from attending the examination on account of circumstances beyond his control, the Council may permit the fee paid by such candidate to be adjusted toward the fee payable only for the next following examination:
Provided that no such application received after the expiry of fifteen days of the last date of the examination shall be considered.
7. Action against candidates resorting to unfair means.-
If it is reported to the Committee that a candidate has resorted to or has attempted to resort to unfair means for the purpose of passing the examination, the Committee shall hold an enquiry and submit a report to the Council which may, after any further investigation as it may consider necessary, take such disciplinary action against the candidate as it thinks fit:
Provided that an opportunity shall be given to the candidate of being heard before an order adverse to him is passed.
8. Examiners.-
The Committee may make such arrangements and may appoint such examiners to set question papers and evaluate answer books, as it may deem fit.
9. Amendment of Result.-
In any case where it is found that the result of an examination has been affected by error, malpractice, fraud, improper conduct or other matter of whatever nature, the Committee hereinbefore mentioned shall have the power to amend such result in such manner as shall be in accordance with the true position and to make such declaration as the Committee shall consider necessary in that behalf.
10. Part I of the course will be supported by Personal Contact Programmes (PCPs). PCPs are to be held at such centres in the country, at such times and places as may be specified. These PCPs will be for a minimum duration of 30 days for which a separate fee shall be charged as may be specified.
The personal contact programme will cover the subject matter of all the papers contained in Part I of the Course. The record of attendance in the personal contact programme (with a minimum attendance record of 80%) must be produced at the time of applying for admission to the examination.
11. Grant of Certificate.-
A candidate who has completed the Part I Examination of the course shall be awarded for a Certificate in the appropriate form.
12. Details of Papers and Course Contents.-
The candidate shall have to appear for the following papers for Part I
Group A
Paper I: Introduction to International Trade
Paper II: GATT, Rules of Origin and Trade Related Agreements
Paper III: GATS, TRIPS and TRIMS, SPS and Dispute settlement and review procedures in WTO
Group B
Paper IV: Domestic Trade Laws
Paper V: Anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and Safeguards - Laws and Practice
Paper VI: Competition Laws and Policies
Detailed Course Contents:
Group A
Paper I         Introduction to International Trade           (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. Fundamentals of International Trade
  2. GATT, 1947
  3. GATT 1994 (Marrakesh Agreement)
  4. Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation
  5. Structure and working of the WTO
  6. Most Favoured Nations Treatment
  7. Special and differential treatment
  8. Tariffs and non-tariff barriers
Paper II       GATT, Rules of Origin and Trade Related Agreements       (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. Agreement on Rules of origin
  2. Agreement on Pre-shipment inspection
  3. Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures
  4. Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
  5. Agreement on Agriculture
  6. Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of GATT, 1994
  7. Decisions regarding cases where customs administration have reasons to doubt the truth or accuracy of the declared value.
  8. Agreement on Technical Barriers to trade
  9. Relevant Understandings
  10. Regional Trading Agreements
  11. New Issues and Non-trade issues in Multilateral trading system
Paper III        GATS, TRIPS, TRIMS, SPS and Dispute settlement and Review Procedures in WTO           (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. General Agreement on trade in services
    1. Decision on financial services
    2. Decision on negotiations on movement of natural persons
    3. Decisions on Professional Services
  2. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
  3. Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary measures
  4. Dispute settlement mechanism under WTO, International commercial arbitration
  5. Review procedures of WTO - Agreements, ministerial meetings, evolution process and emerging scenario
Group B
Paper IV         Domestic Trade Laws              (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. Consumer Protection Act, 1986
  2. Copyright Act, 1957
  3. Economic Offences Act, 1974
  4. Environment Protection Act, 1986
  5. Essential Commodities Act, 1955
  6. Essential Commodities(special provisions) Act, 1981
  7. Patents Act, 2000
  8. Sales Promotions Act, 1976
  9. Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958
  10. Export import policy and procedure
Paper V         Anti-dumping, Anti-subsidy and Safeguard - Laws and Practices           (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. Agreement on anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures
  2. The application of anti-dumping measures
  3. Anti-dumping - Law and Practice
    1. Main provisions
    2. Dumping determination
    3. Price comparisons
    4. Constructed price
    5. Domestic industry injury
    6. Volume of import
    7. Procedures for investigation
    8. Duration of measures
    9. Circumvention action
  4. Anti-subsidy - Law and Practice
    1. Structure of SCM
    2. Definition of subsidies
    3. Red, Amber and Green Subsidies
    4. Serious prejudice
    5. Extinguishing the effect of subsidy - the Countervailing duty
  5. Safeguards
    1. Safeguard measures
    2. Compensation and retaliation
  6. Case Laws on Anti-Dumping, Anti-subsidy and countervailing measures including reports of the Designated Authority of Government of India, European Commission and of the WTO dispute settlement machinery
Paper VI         Competition Laws and Policies             (100 marks)
Syllabus
  1. Emerging Competition Laws in India
  2. Competition Law and policies in the European Union
  3. Competition Law and policies in the United States, NAFTA Countries
  4. Competition Law and policies in the transition economies
  5. WTO Rules & Competition Policy
13. Updation/Revision of the Syllabus.-
The Committee on Trade Laws and WTO is authorised to update/ revise the syllabus, from time to time, which will be intimated to the candidates, enrolled for the course.
Part II - Practical Training and submission of a dissertation
14. Practical Training
(1) A candidate can register himself for Part II (Practical Training) after qualifying in the Part I examination of the Course by submitting an application in the approved form with such fee as may be fixed by the Council from time to time, which shall not be refunded.
(2) In addition to theoretical knowledge with examination as detailed above, the candidate will also have to write a dissertation, after undergoing practical training, on a specific WTO agreement such as Textiles or Agriculture or Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures etc., with relevant analysis, with supporting case laws highlighting the opportunities for India and Indian Service Providers.
(3) Practical training is on the job training for the specified period which shall be undergone with commercial or industrial organisations, both within and outside India, which are primarily involved in international trade as well as transnational corporations. The details of the criteria for the organisations in this regard will be specified by the Committee.
(4) In deciding applications for registration, weightage will be given to the position held by the candidate and the opportunities available to him for receiving the requisite type of training and experience in the organisation. The training may also be undergone in any Government organisation, department, directorate or industrial undertaking as may be specified by the Committee, depending upon the type of the undertaking as well as involvement of the candidate in any research project conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India or by other Institutions as may be approved by the Committee from time to time.
(5) Practical training may also be undergone in professional firms of Chartered Accountants and other consultancy firms in India and in firms of Public Accountants outside India. For this purpose, firms satisfying the following requirement may be considered suitable:
  1. The firm is having adequate assignment in the concerned area of specialisation.
  2. The candidate applying for registration of practical training is working on the assignments in that area of specialisation.
(6) If a member desires to undergo practical training with a firm of Public Accountants situated outside India, the partners of such firm should belong to a recognised accounting body. Such an accounting body will have to be approved by the Committee on Trade Laws and WTO.
(7) Considerations taken into account by the Committee in deciding application for registration of practical training include:
  1. The type of experience that the candidate would be getting in the organisation;
  2. The environment in the organisation and the facilities available for getting requisite experience;
  3. The candidate's desire to learn and urge to go beyond the formalised procedure and seek out the rationale behind methods and procedures; and
  4. The candidate's inclination to keep himself abreast of the developments taking place around him.
(8) A candidate shall undergo practical training for a specified period in the organisations / authorities that may be recommended by the Committee in this behalf and who satisfies the conditions hereinafter mentioned, shall be granted a certificate in appropriate form.
(9) A candidate may begin his practical training immediately after registration for this Part II.
(10) The Committee may specify the criteria for organisations, service in which may be recognised towards practical training referred to hereinbefore.
(11) A candidate desiring to qualify himself for the grant of a certificate referred to in sub-paragraph (8) shall make an application, at least six months in advance giving notice of his intention to qualify for the same.
(12) Record of training
A complete record showing the details of training undergone by the candidate shall be maintained by him in the specified formats to be suggested by the Committee. Report in the specified format shall be submitted to the Committee on a quarterly basis.
(13) During this practical training the candidate shall choose a minimum of three areas in which he shall do detailed practical work. A suggested list of areas is given below:
  1. Anti-dumping
  2. Anti subsidies
  3. Safeguards
  4. Textiles & Clothing
  5. Agriculture
  6. Rules of origin
  7. International Dairy Agreement
  8. Disputes Settlement
  9. Trade-in-services
  10. TRIPS
  11. TRIMs
  12. SPS
15. Dissertation. -
(i) A candidate, after undergoing the practical training for a specified period, as may be directed by the Committee, shall submit a dissertation on a subject to be approved by the Committee, within a period of three months from the date of completion of training:
Provided that the Committee in appropriate cases may extend the time for submission of the dissertation for a period not exceeding three months.

(ii) Candidate shall choose any one of the areas as listed under practical training for his dissertation as mentioned in sub-para (13) of para 14 above.

(iii) The Candidate has to get the synopsis of the dissertation approved by the Committee during the period of training.

(iv) The candidate shall suggest a panel of guides for himself consisting of academicians and practitioners. The Committee shall choose from that panel one academician and a practitioner to act as guides for the candidates.

(v) The dissertation shall be submitted with such fee as may be fixed by the Council from time to time, which shall not be refundable.

(vi) The candidate shall submit in English three typewritten or printed copies of the dissertation embodying the results of his training and research.

(vii) The candidate shall further submit a statement indicating the sources from which his information has been derived and the extent to which he has based his work on the work of others and shall indicate which portion or portions of his work he claims as original.

(viii) The Committee shall forward the dissertation to the referees appointed by it for their advice whether the dissertation is of a sufficiently high degree of merit as to deserve approval or whether it may be modified and if so, in what manner, or whether it may be rejected.

(ix) If a candidate fails to submit the dissertation within the period as specified in sub-paragraph(i) above or such extended period as the Committee may grant under the proviso to the said sub-paragraph (i), his registration for practical training shall stand cancelled:
Provided that the Committee may renew the registration at its discretion, on receipt of an application from the candidate together with a fee of one thousand rupees, which shall not be refunded except where the application is not entertained and on such renewal the period of training already undergone by the candidate shall be counted towards practical training as referred to in sub-paragraph (i) above.
16. Interview. -
The candidate shall be required to appear before an interview board that may be appointed by the Committee in this behalf.
17. Grant of Certificate.-
A candidate who has completed the practical training, whose dissertation has been approved and who has been successful at the interview, shall be awarded a Certificate in the approved form."
(Dr. Ashok Haldia)
Secretary

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