The next round of negotiations for the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is scheduled to take place in the national capital from September 23 to 27, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal announced on Tuesday.
During this round of talks, both sides will discuss core trade issues covering Goods, Services, Investment and Government Procurement along with necessary rules such as Rules of Origin, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT) and Trade Remedies.
Continuing from the previous rounds, the concerns of Indian stakeholders regarding the EU’s sustainability measures, such as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), deforestation, and others, will be discussed with the EU side, the secretary said.
Negotiations for an India-EU FTA were formally re-launched on June 17, 2022. Negotiations cover 23 policy areas and chapters. Eight rounds of negotiations have been held till now. During the eighth round of negotiations in June. discussion/negotiations on 21 policy areas/chapters were held in as many as 90 technical sessions.
Similarly, on the India-UK FTA, the commerce secretary apprised that an Indian team visited the UK in April for negotiations on outstanding issues.
Subsequently, the Services team also visited the UK in May to discuss outstanding issues in the Services track.
A virtual meeting between Piyush Goyal and Jonathan Reynolds, UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade was held on July 11, 2024, to discuss the next steps in India-UK FTA. Also, both Ministers met on the sidelines of the G7 Trade Summit in Italy in July.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal has said recently that India is actively working on the process of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with many countries and expressed confidence in fast progress with the United Kingdom.