India's ongoing FTA negotiations with EU, UK are on track: Govt official

The ongoing negotiations of India for the proposed comprehensive free trade agreements with the UK and European Union (EU) are on track and the next round of talks with both the regions will happen soon, a top government official said on Monday.

India has recently concluded the sixth round of talks with the UK and third round with the EU.

"The seventh round with the UK and the fourth round with the EU will be held very soon. Both the trade agreements are on track," the official said.

The official added that both the agreements are comprehensive in nature and includes goods, services, investments, labour, environment and sustainability.

All these issues require a lot of unanimity among the negotiating countries and these talks are complex exercises.

"Last time when the UK negotiating team was here, we had a a good understanding. Now there is a much better understanding. Both the teams are negotiating at a convenient speed and pace and a lot of issues are being settled between the two teams," the official said.

Negotiations with the UK started on January 13 last year.

The bilateral trade between the two countries increased to USD 17.5 billion in 2021-22 compared to USD 13.2 billion in 2020-21. India's exports stood at USD 10.5 billion in 2021-22, while imports were USD 7 billion.

After a gap of over eight years, India and the EU formally resumed negotiations on the proposed agreement on June 17, 2022.

India's bilateral trade with the European Union rose by 43.5 per cent to USD 116.36 billion in 2021-22.

When asked about India's demand for resumption of exports benefits by the US under Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), the official said India would welcome if it would be resumed by America.

"We had requested the US during the meeting of trade policy forum...The US has to take the call. It would help enhance competitiveness of our exporters," the official added.

The GSP is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries.

Under the programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by Congress.

In 2019, the US withdrew these benefits.

When asked about the issue of Iran stopping imports of tea and rice from India, another senior official said that it was a temporary measure.

"I believe that some rice exports have started," the official said.

On the issue of under-invoicing of Chinese imports in India, the department of commerce has flagged the matter with its finance counterpart.

"We have received feedback that the finance ministry is taking actions. On some consignments from China, risk profiling to identify those consignments which are under invoicing. Some seizures are happening. We are waiting for some feedback from the finance ministry," the official said.

On India-Russia trade, the official said India has taken up issues of domestic exporters with regard to market access and standards with Russia.

"We will be pushing exports of electronic items in Russia. India is also pushing rupee trade with Russia," the official added.

Countries including Russia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are keen to have rupee trade with India.