Lok Sabha Question No. 2425 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-14
Subject: Regional Compressive Economic Partnership
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Dr. BHOLA SINGH, DILIP KUMAR MANSUKHLAL GANDHI, V. PANNEER SELVAM

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2425

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2015

## REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

## SHRI DILIPKUMAR MANSUKHLAL GANDHI:

## 2425. SHRI BHOLA SINGH: SHRI V. PANNEERSELVAM:

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

- a) whether the Government has joined or proposes to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with other countries;
- b) if so, the details thereof along with the benefits accrued/likely to accrue therefrom;
- c) whether there has been any change in India's exports and imports with those countries India has entered into agreements;
- d) if  so,  the  details  thereof,  country-wise  along  with  the  impact  on  Indian  domestic industries, industry-wise; and
- e) whether  the  Government  is  holding  negotiations  with  other  regional  blocks  for developing trade and commerce and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

वाणिज् य एवं उद्योग राज् य मंत्री )श्रीमती निममला सीतारमि((स्वतंत्र प्रभार ) THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) to  (b):  India  is  part  of  the  Regional  Comprehensive  Economic  Partnership  (RCEP) which  is a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) amongst sixteen countries consisting of  ten ASEAN member states and their six Free Trade Partners namely India, Australia, China,  Japan,  New  Zealand  and  Republic  of  Korea.  The  RCEP  is  currently  under negotiations with ten round of negotiations being completed. The tenth Round was held from  12-16  October  in  Busan,  South  Korea.  The  RCEP  is  intended  to  facilitate  and thereby  increase  goods  and  services  trade  as  well  as  investment  flows  amongst  the participating countries.

(c) to (d) The details of the growth rates of exports to and imports from the individual countries and regional blocks with which India has trade agreements is given at Annexure I. (e) The details of other regional blocks with whom Government is holding negotiations are given at Annexure II.

***************

Annexure 1 India's total trade with Trade Agreement partners (in $ million)

| COUNTRY/BLOCK                                 | YEAR                | EXPORT   | IMPORT   | TOTAL TRADE   |
|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------|----------|----------|---------------|
| ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT (APTA) COUNTRIES | 2012-13             | 26914.05 | 66618.58 | 93532.63      |
| ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT (APTA) COUNTRIES | 2013-14             | 29778.81 | 64658.43 | 94437.25      |
| ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT (APTA) COUNTRIES | 2014-15             | 29716.47 | 75319.81 | 105036.29     |
| ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT (APTA) COUNTRIES | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 11899.9  | 38995.52 | 50895.42      |
| ASIA PACIFIC TRADE AGREEMENT (APTA) COUNTRIES | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 5.08%    | 6.33%    | 5.97%         |
| ASEAN COUNTRIES                               | 2012-13             | 33008.31 | 42866.36 | 75874.67      |
| ASEAN COUNTRIES                               | 2013-14             | 33135.05 | 41279.29 | 74414.35      |
| ASEAN COUNTRIES                               | 2014-15             | 31812.86 | 44714.77 | 76527.63      |
| ASEAN COUNTRIES                               | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 11787.95 | 20953.49 | 32741.44      |
| ASEAN COUNTRIES                               | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -1.83%   | 2.13%    | 0.43%         |
| JAPAN                                         | 2012-13             | 6101.24  | 12412.29 | 18513.54      |
| JAPAN                                         | 2013-14             | 6814.64  | 9481.03  | 16295.67      |
| JAPAN                                         | 2014-15             | 5385.87  | 10131.36 | 15517.23      |
| JAPAN                                         | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 2597.79  | 4912.18  | 7509.97       |
| JAPAN                                         | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -6.05%   | -9.65%   | -8.45%        |
| KOREA                                         | 2012-13             | 4205.67  | 13105.12 | 17310.79      |
| KOREA                                         | 2013-14             | 4209.52  | 12470.97 | 16680.49      |
| KOREA                                         | 2014-15             | 4604.19  | 13529.11 | 18133.3       |
| KOREA                                         | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 1767.62  | 6651.28  | 8418.91       |
| MALAYSIA                                      | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 4.63%    | 1.60%    | 2.35%         |
|                                               | 2012-13             | 4444.1   | 9951.06  | 14395.15      |
|                                               | 2013-14             | 4198.18  | 9230.18  | 13428.36      |
|                                               | 2014-15             | 5816.65  | 11117.74 | 16934.39      |
|                                               | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 2154.69  | 4675.53  | 6830.22       |
|                                               | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 14.40%   | 5.70%    | 8.46%         |
| SINGAPORE                                     | 2012-13             | 13619.31 | 7486.38  | 21105.7       |
| SINGAPORE                                     | 2013-14             | 12511.19 | 6762.71  | 19273.9       |
| SINGAPORE                                     | 2014-15             | 9809.53  | 7124.47  | 16934         |
| SINGAPORE                                     | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 3425.72  | 3810.31  | 7236.02       |
| SINGAPORE                                     | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -15.13%  | -2.45%   | -10.43%       |
| AFGHANISTAN                                   | 2012-13             | 472.63   | 159.55   | 632.18        |
| AFGHANISTAN                                   | 2013-14             | 474.35   | 208.77   | 683.13        |
| AFGHANISTAN                                   | 2014-15             | 422.56   | 261.91   | 684.47        |
| AFGHANISTAN                                   | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 302.66   | 109.34   | 412           |
| AFGHANISTAN                                   | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -5.45%   | 28.12%   | 4.05%         |
| BHUTAN                                        | 2012-13             | 233.22   | 164      | 397.22        |
| BHUTAN                                        | 2013-14             | 355.61   | 152.17   | 507.78        |
| BHUTAN                                        | 2014-15             | 333.94   | 149.87   | 483.81        |
| BHUTAN                                        | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 183.75   | 183.61   | 367.36        |
| BHUTAN                                        | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 19.66%   | -4.40%   | 10.36%        |
| CHILE                                         | 2012-13             | 690      | 2992.31  | 3682.31       |

| COUNTRY/BLOCK      | YEAR                | EXPORT   | IMPORT   | TOTAL TRADE   |
|--------------------|---------------------|----------|----------|---------------|
|                    | 2013-14             | 664.02   | 2508.04  | 3172.06       |
|                    | 2014-15             | 565.82   | 3080.63  | 3646.45       |
|                    | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 331.6    | 1111.82  | 1443.43       |
|                    | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -9.44%   | 1.47%    | -0.49%        |
| NEPAL              | 2012-13             | 3088.84  | 543.1    | 3631.94       |
| NEPAL              | 2013-14             | 3592.43  | 529.95   | 4122.37       |
| NEPAL              | 2014-15             | 4558.77  | 639.91   | 5198.68       |
| NEPAL              | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 1946.49  | 258.18   | 2204.67       |
| NEPAL              | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 21.49%   | 8.55%    | 19.64%        |
| SRILANKA           | 2012-13             | 3983.87  | 625.81   | 4609.68       |
| SRILANKA           | 2013-14             | 4534.51  | 666.94   | 5201.45       |
| SRILANKA           | 2014-15             | 6703.72  | 756.17   | 7459.89       |
| SRILANKA           | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 2791.26  | 394.52   | 3185.78       |
| SRILANKA           | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 29.72%   | 9.92%    | 27.21%        |
| MERCOSUR COUNTRIES | 2012-13             | 6814.66  | 6057.54  | 12872.2       |
| MERCOSUR COUNTRIES | 2013-14             | 6414.12  | 5085.23  | 11499.35      |
| MERCOSUR COUNTRIES | 2014-15             | 6738.84  | 7501.63  | 14240.46      |
| MERCOSUR COUNTRIES | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 1964.77  | 3225.33  | 5190.1        |
| MERCOSUR COUNTRIES | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -0.56%   | 11.28%   | 5.18%         |
| SAARC COUNTRIES    | 2012-13             | 15110.8  | 2679.95  | 17790.75      |
| SAARC COUNTRIES    | 2013-14             | 17504.59 | 2473.07  | 19977.66      |
| SAARC COUNTRIES    | 2014-15             | 20480.14 | 2930.85  | 23411         |
| SAARC COUNTRIES    | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 8814.72  | 1499.39  | 10314.1       |
| SAARC COUNTRIES    | CAGR(2012-2015)     | 16.42%   | 4.58%    | 14.71%        |
| THAILAND           | 2012-13             | 3733.17  | 5352.61  | 9085.78       |
| THAILAND           | 2013-14             | 3703.39  | 5340.36  | 9043.75       |
| THAILAND           | 2014-15             | 3464.83  | 5865.88  | 9330.71       |
| THAILAND           | 2015-16(APR TO SEP) | 1530.25  | 2927.19  | 4457.43       |
| THAILAND           | CAGR(2012-2015)     | -3.66%   | 4.68%    | 1.34%         |

Source: DGCIS Kolkata

## Trade agreements under negotiation with regional blocks:

|   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 were launched on 28th 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. Fifteen rounds of negotiations and a number of inter- sessional and Chief Negotiator level meetings have been held till date. A Ministerial review meeting between Hon'ble Commerce& Industry Minister and EU's Trade Commissioner was held on 15 th April, 2013 at Brussels. After a period of lull, both sides began re-engagement from October, 2014 onwards.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|        2 | 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. 13 rounds of negotiations have been held with the 13 th and final round being held on 25-29 th November, 2013. Legal vetting has been completed in most of the texts with only some residual work remaining. There are few pending issues on both sides such as TRIPS Plus and Data Adequacy/Data Security status. |
|        3 | India - SACU PTA (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia)                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | Five rounds of negotiations have been held so far. 1 st Round of negotiation was held in Pretoria on October 5-6 th , 2007 and the 5 th round of negotiations held in October 2010 in New Delhi. During the 9 th Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting held at Durban on 19 th March, 2015 under the co-chairmanship of Hon'ble Minister of External Affair and South Africa's Foreign Minister, while discussing pending negotiations on finalization of INDIA-SACU PTA, the Indian side requested the South African side for                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |

| S. No.   | Name of the Agreement                                                                                                                                   | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|          |                                                                                                                                                         | assistance in holding the 6 th round of negotiations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| 4        | India - Mercosur PTA (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay)                                                                                          | The two issues currently under discussion on the India- Mercosur PTA are the expansion in coverage and inclusion of Venezuela in the PTA.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 5        | BIMSTEC FTA (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal)                                                                         | 20 meetings of the Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) have taken place. 20 th Meeting of BIMSTEC Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) was held on during 07-09, September 2015 in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| 6        | 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 in 2006 and 2008. The second round was held in September 9-10, 2008. No round could take place held in the last 7 years since GCC has deferred its negotiations with all countries and economic groups and is currently reviewing its negotiations with all countries and economic groups.                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| 7        | 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. Ten rounds of negotiations have been held so far. The 10 th round was held on 8-16, October 2015 in Busan, Korea. The negotiations cover a number of areas like trade in goods, services, investment, intellectual property, economic &technical cooperation, competition and legal& institutional issues. |
| 8        | India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) (1 st Review) | The ASEAN Secretariat has agreed to the 1 st review of India-ASEAN trade in Goods Agreement in the coming months. Dates would be finalized as per mutual consultations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |