NEW DELHI: India and Canada are on the verge of signing the Free Trade Agreement, the sources observing the development say. “Five rounds of trade talks have been held between India and Canada, the last round got over on November 18.
The sectors that talks have focused on include small and medium enterprises (SMEs), environment, labour and gender. This was excluding traditional matters under the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that was relaunced in March. This would be followed by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) followed by the FTA,’’ say sources.
The issue of relaunching the talks took place on March 11 this year during the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI) that took place between the commerce minister Piyush Goyal and Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng.
The joint statement of the MDTI emphasised that the agreement would help in expanding bilateral trade in goods and services by unlocking the potential across sectors. Both ministers agreed to formally re-launch the negotiations for India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and also consider an interim agreement or early progress trade agreement that could bring early commercial gains to both the countries.
The interim agreement would include high-level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, and may also cover any other areas mutually agreed upon.
‘COMMITMENTS IN GOODS, SERVICES, RULES OF ORIGIN’
The interim agreement would include high-level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, and may also cover any other areas mutually agreed upon.