Lok Sabha Question No. 2284 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-24
Subject: Free Trade Agreements
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: L.R. Shivaramegowda, Tejpratap Singh,Yadav, ANJU BALA, HARISHCHANDRA DEORAM CHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2284 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 th  DECEMBER,2018

## FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

2284.   SHRI L.R. SHIVARAME GOWDA: SHRI TEJ PRATAP SINGH YADAV: SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: SHRI HARISHCHANDRA CHAVAN

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  enter  into  new  Foreign  Trade  Agreements (FTAs) or review the existing FTAs with other countries including ASEAN region for enhanced co-operation and investment and boosting trade and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether India has entered into FTAs with other countries during the last three years and if so, the details thereof along with the names of countries;
- (c) whether there is any provisions for providing relaxation in taxes under FTAs and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  any  imports  and  exports  have  been  made  with  the  countries,  India  has signed FTAs during the last three years and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  amend  several  laws  to  meet  the requirements of  the international  trade  agreements  ratified  by  India and  if  so,  the details thereof along with the steps taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

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THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) to (e) :   Yes  Madam.  About 22 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are at various stages of   either review or negotiation by the Department of Commerce.  The details are at Annexure-I.  India has not entered into any new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with any country during the last three years. The Government implements Free Trade Agreements through specific notifications which are abided by all competent authorities.

## FTAs/PTAs under Negotiation/Review:

|   S. No. | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | India - EU BTIA (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia ,Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) | Negotiations launched on 28 th June 2007 in the areas of Goods, Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Facilitation and Customs Cooperation, Competition, IPR & GIs. Etc. Sixteen rounds of negotiations and a number of inter-sessional and Chief Negotiator level meetings have been held till date. A Ministerial review meeting between Commerce & Industry Minister and EU's Trade Commissioner was held on 15 th April, 2013 at Brussels. After a period of lull, several attempts were made in 2016 to revive the negotiations through stocktaking meetings at the Chief Negotiators level. The 9 th meeting took place in Brussels on 15 November, 2018. |
|        2 | India - Sri Lanka Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreements (ETCA)                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | The negotiations on the text of the proposed Agreement are being carried out with Sri Lanka. Eleven rounds of negotiations have been held so far. The 11 th round of negotiations of the ETCA was held on 3-5 October, 2018 in Colombo.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|        3 | India - Thailand CECA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | Early Harvest Scheme on 83 items implemented. So far 30 rounds of India-Thailand Trade Negotiation committee (ITTNC) meetings have been held. The 30 th round was held on 13-14 July, 2016 in New Delhi.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|        4 | India - Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA)                                                                                                                                                                                                      | The India-Mauritius CECPA negotiations, put on hold, were revived in March, 2016 during the visit of the Hon'ble Prime Minister to Mauritius. After resumption, 7 Round of the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) have been held with the 7 th round held on 19-23 November, 2018 in Mauritius. The negotiations discussed the tariff modalities, Rules of Origin, Services, General Economic Cooperation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|        5 | India EFTA TEPA (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland)                                                                                                                                                                                                                            | The India-EFTA TEPA (Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement) was launched in January 2008 (then known as BTIA). The first round was held in New Delhi during 6-8 October, 2008. The Chapters covered are Trade in Goods, Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Measures (SPS), Technical Barriers to Trade(TBT), Trade Facilitation and Customs Cooperation, Competition, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Government Procurement (GP), Dispute Settlement(DS), Trade Defence(TD), Rules of origin(ROO), Sustainable Development (SD) and Legal & Horizontal etc. So far 17 rounds of negotiations have been held with the last round of negotiations held on 18-21 September, 2017 in New Delhi.       |
|        6 | India - New Zealand FTA/CECA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Ten Rounds of negotiation of CECA have been held so far. The 10 th Round was held in New Delhi on 17-18 February, 2015.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|        7 | India - Israel FTA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          | Nine rounds of negotiations on India-Israel FTA have been held so far. The Ninth round was held in Jerusalem, Israel from 19-20 February, 2018.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        8 | India - Singapore CECA ( 3 rd review)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       | Second review of India-Singapore CECA was concluded on 01.06.2018. The elements of second review included improvements in rules of origin, Products Specific Rules and tariff elimination on certain goods. Third                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |

|   S. No. | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                   | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        9 | India - SACU PTA (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia)                                                                               | Five rounds of negotiations have been held so far, the 5 th round of negotiations was held in October 2010 in New Delhi.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|       10 | India - Mercosur PTA expansion (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay)                                                                                | The existing India-MERCOSUR PTA is being expanded. The 3 rd Meeting of Joint Administrative Committee was held in Brasilia on 29 th September, 2016. Both sides have exchanged their initial offers on 14.09.2017.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|       11 | BIMSTEC CECA (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal)                                                                        | 21 meetings of the Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) have taken place. The 21 st Meeting of BIMSTEC Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) was held during 18-19 November, 2018 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|       12 | India - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Framework Agreement (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates)                        | Two rounds of negotiations have been held so far between 2006 and 2008. The second round was held in September 9-10, 2008. Since then GCC has deferred its negotiations and is currently reviewing its negotiations with all countries and economic groups.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|       13 | India - Canada FTA                                                                                                                                      | Ten rounds of negotiation on India-Canada CEPA have been held so far. The tenth round was held in August, 2017 in New Delhi.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|       14 | India - Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)                                                                                   | Negotiations have been kept on hold due to RCEP negotiations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|       15 | India - Australia                                                                                                                                       | Nine rounds of negotiations have been held so far. The ninth round of negotiations was held on 21-23 September 2015, in New Delhi, India.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|       16 | India-Malaysia CECA (1 st Review)                                                                                                                       | The 1 st meeting of the India-Malaysia Joint Committee meeting to review implementation of India-Malaysia CECA was held on 8 th December, 2014.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|       17 | Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement among ASEAN + 6 FTA Partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand) | Based on the Declaration of the Leaders during the ASEAN Summit in November, 2012, negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership between the 10 ASEAN member states and its 6 FTA partners commenced in May, 2013. The 24 th round of RCEP TNC and related meetings were held from 18-27 October, 2018 at Auckland, New Zealand. Six RCEP Ministerial meetings have been held with the 6 th RCEP Ministerial Meeting held on 30-31 August, 2018 at Singapore. Two RCEP Leaders' Summit have been held with the 2 nd Summit held on 14 November, 2018 at Singapore. The negotiations cover a number of areas like trade in goods, services, investment, intellectual property, economic & technical cooperation, electronic commerce, government procurement, competition and legal and institutional issues. |

|   S. No. | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                  | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       18 | India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam)(1 st Review) | The decision to start the review of ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was taken during the 12 th AEM - India Consultations held in August 2015 in Kuala Lumpur. The 34 th AITNC meeting of the AITIGA was held on 6 April, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur wherein India has suggested to set up Working Groups in line with the scope of review decided in the 12 th AEM - India consultations. Since then, India has been consistently requesting ASEAN to initiate the review of AITIGA. |
|       19 | India-Korea CEPA review                                                                                                                                | Seven rounds of negotiations for upgrading India-Korea CEPA have been held so far with 7 th round held on 11-12 December, 2018 in Seoul.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|       20 | India-Iran PTA                                                                                                                                         | So far, two meetings have taken place. The last meeting was held at New Delhi on 01-02 September, 2016.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|       21 | India-Peru Trade Agreement                                                                                                                             | The 3 rd round of negotiations was held on 4-7 December, 2018 in New Delhi.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|       22 | India-EAEU Technical Consultations                                                                                                                     | The first round of technical consultations was held on 30-31 January, 2018 in New Delhi..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |

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