NEW DELHI, November 16: Britain has identified India as a priority market for its trade promotion activities and called for a concerted campaign to step up bilateral trade to the 5 billion pounds mark in the next two years.

The British secretary of state for trade and industry Margaret Beckett, who arrives here on Monday on an official visit, told PTI in an interview from London that the 5-billion pound trade target `is ambitious but within our reach and it is up to both sides, government`s and private sectors, to work towards this'.

Welcoming India's commitment to economic liberalisation, particularly opening up of the insurance sector, Beckett said `I look forward to the time when British insurers will again be able to take an active role in India.'

The British trade and industry secretary said, `we are more than happy to share our knowledge of both the advantages and potential pitfalls of the privatisation or disinvestment path with India. Several British banks and consultants are already involved in India in the key sectors, she said.

On the contentious issue of increasing anti-dumping action by European Union against India, Beckett said while United Kingdom believed there was a need for the EU to have a trade policy instrument to deal with unfair practices like dumping, it should now be used for protectionism.

The UK, therefore, considered all commission proposals for anti-dumping measures critically and agreed only if satisfied they were economically justified, she said adding ``but simple majority voting among the 15 member states means our views do not necessarily prevail.''

She agreed that there were still problems for developing countries in maximising their agricultural exports to the European Union and other developed countries.

But it was one of the big successes of the Uruguay Round that for the first time trade in agricultural products was brought within the scope of the multilateral trading system, she said.

Moreover, all members of the WTO acknowledged that there was a need to take this process further, which was why ``we are committed to new negotiations on agriculture by the turn of the century'', she said asserting, ``as regards the EU, I can assure you that the reform of the common agricultural policy is one of the new labour government's top priorities.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.