The covid crisis has made the unseen effects of regulatory roadblocks extremely visible For individuals, one of the symptoms of covid-19 is the loss of smell.
But for governments, there may be a regaining of sight. Covid-19 has made the unseen effects of many regulatory roadblocks in India much more visible because it is now a matter of life and death.
The first example is that of import duties on medical equipment, including ventilators, protective equipment, masks and testing kits.
India has a list of import duties (custom duties plus cesses plus special tariffs) on almost every product. The government’s import tariff list has 98 chapters and runs into thousands of pages, ostensibly to protect the interests of domestic manufacturers.