Lok Sabha Question No. 218 (STARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: Foreign Trade Policy
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Pushpendra Singh Chandel, Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 218 (H) TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 th  MARCH, 2022

## FOREIGN TRADE POLICY

## *218(H). SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL: SHRIMATI MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मं त्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any initiative for formulation of foreign trade policy;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has also taken any initiative for free trade agreement with various countries;
- (d) if so, the details thereof including the likely benefit for India therefrom;
- (e) whether the Government has also made any assessment of impact of these trade agreements on the trade of agricultural products, especially on dairy and dairy products of the country; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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## THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (f):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a) to (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO. 218(H)   FOR  ANSWER  ON  16 th  MARCH, 2022 REGARDING   'FOREIGN TRADE POLICY'.

(a) : Yes, Sir.

(b) : The current Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 which was announced for a period for five years, was extended by a year till 31 st March, 2021 due to COVID-19.  Due to continuing impact of COVID19 and to revisit and review FTDR Act further, the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020 was extended up to 31 st March, 2022.  As part of the consultative process to formulate a new Foreign Trade Policy, various meetings with stakeholders were held. All the suggestions have been taken on record for further examination. A separate Foreign Trade Policy cell was created to coordinate with various officials in formulation of the Foreign Trade Policy under the supervision of an officer of the level of Joint Secretary to the Government of India.

(c)& (d): India had signed 10 RTAs/FTAs with various countries/regions before 2015 and two since then.  These  FTAs  are  with  ASEAN  (The  Association  of  Southeast  Asian  Nations),  Japan,  South Korea, SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), Mauritius and United Arab Emirates (UAE). India's merchandise exports to these countries/regions have registered a growth of 20.75% in the last five years. As regards India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), as this has been implemented w.e.f. 01-04-2021, it is too early to calculate quantifiable benefits. Agreement with UAE was signed on 18 February 2022 and not yet implemented.

In  addition  to  this,  India  has  signed  6  Preferential  Trade  Agreements  (PTAs)  with  various countries/regions. A list of FTAs/PTAs signed by India is attached at Annexure-A & B.

India is currently negotiating FTAs and PTAs with some other various countries/regions, including Australia, UK, Canada, Israel and the EU being some of the important ones.

The likely benefits of FTA include increased market access, level playing field vis-à-vis competitors, increased bilateral trade, greater employment opportunities, etc.

(e)&(f): Export  of  Agri  products  (including  dairy  and  dairy  products)  has  increased  from  USD 32.662 billion in April-Jan 2021 to USD 40.873 billion in April-Jan 2022 i.e. an increase of 25.14%. Some of the increase in exports of Agri Products is as a result of the trade agreements.

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## FTA's already in force

|   Sl. No. | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                                     | Date of Signing of the Agreement                                           | Date of Implementation of the Agreement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | India - Sri Lanka FTA                                                                                                                                                     | 28 th December, 1998                                                       | 1 st March, 2000                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|         2 | Agreement on SAFTA (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives and Afghanistan )                                                                 | 4 th January, 2004                                                         | 1 st January, 2006 (Tariff concessions implemented from 1 st July, 2006)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|         3 | India Nepal Treaty of Trade                                                                                                                                               | 27 th October, 2009                                                        | The Treaty has been extended for a further period of 7 years and is currently in force till 26 th October 2023.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|         4 | India - Bhutan Agreement on trade Commerce and Transit                                                                                                                    | 17 th January, 1972                                                        | Renewed periodically, with mutually agreed modifications. Agreement dated 29 th July 2006 was valid for 10 years. With mutual consent, the validity was extended for a period of one year or the period till the proposed new Agreement comes into force. The renewed Agreement has been signed on 12.11.2016 and came into force with effect from 29 July 2017, for a period of 10 years.                                                                                                                 |
|         5 | India - Thailand FTA - Early Harvest Scheme (EHS)                                                                                                                         | 9 th October, 2003                                                         | 1 st September, 2004                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|         6 | India - Singapore CECA                                                                                                                                                    | 29 th June, 2005                                                           | 1 st August, 2005                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|         7 | India - ASEAN-CECA-Trade in Goods, Services and Investment Agreement (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) | 13 th August, 2009 for goods and November 2014 for Services and Investment | Goods  1 st January 2010 in respect of India and Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand.  1 st June 2010 in respect of India and Vietnam.  1 st September 2010 in respect of India and Myanmar.  1 st October 2010 in respect of India and Indonesia.  1 st November 2010 in respect of India and Brunei.  24 January 2011 in respect of India and Laos.  1 st June 2011 in respect of India and the Philippines.  1 st August, 2011 in respect of India and Cambodia. Services and Investment 1 July, 2015 |
|         8 | India - South Korea CEPA                                                                                                                                                  | 7 th August, 2009                                                          | 1 st January, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         9 | India - Japan CEPA                                                                                                                                                        | 16 th February, 2011                                                       | 1 st August, 2011                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        10 | India - Malaysia CECA                                                                                                                                                     | 18 th February, 2011                                                       | 1 st July, 2011                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|        11 | India - Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and                                                                                                                  | 22 nd February, 2021                                                       | 1 st April, 2021                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|        12 | Partnership Agreement (CECPA) India-UAE FTA                                                                                                                               | 18 th February, 2022                                                       | Not yet implemented.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |

## PTAs already in force:

|   Sl. No. | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | Date of Signing of the Agreement            | Date of Implementation of the Agreement                                                                                   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) (Bangladesh China, India, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Sri Lanka)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | July, 1975 (revised on 2 nd November, 2005) | 1 st Nov, 1976                                                                                                            |
|         2 | Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) (Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Tanzania, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe) | 13 th April, 1988                           | 19 th April, 1989                                                                                                         |
|         3 | SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement (SAPTA) (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 11 April, 1993                              | 7 December,1995                                                                                                           |
|         4 | India - Afghanistan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           | 6 th March, 2003                            | 13 th May, 2003                                                                                                           |
|         5 | India - MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    | 25 th January, 2004                         | 1 st June, 2009                                                                                                           |
|         6 | India - Chile                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 | 8 th March, 2006                            | 11 th September, 2007. The agreement has been expanded on 6 th September, 2016 and came into force w.e.f 16 th May, 2017. |

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