New Delhi
India and Canada on Friday agreed to formally re-launch the negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement, which aims at boosting economic ties between the two countries.
This issue was discussed during the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment (MDTI). Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Canadian Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng co-chaired the meet.
The two countries also agreed to consider an interim agreement or early progress trade agreement that could bring early commercial gains to both countries.
According to a joint statement, the ministers highlighted the existing trade complementarities between India and Canada and emphasised that the agreement would help in expanding bilateral trade in goods and services by unlocking the potential across sectors.
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, it said.
In a free trade agreement, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duty on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also relax norms for promoting trade in services and investments. In an interim pact, two nations reduce or eliminate duties on a limited number of goods.
“The 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 statement said.
Further, the two countries discussed ways to provide greater market access for commodities such as pulses, sweet corn, baby corn, and banana.
“Both countries agreed to undertake intensified work with respect to the recognition of Canada’s systems approach to pest risk management in pulses and market access for Indian agriculture goods such as sweet corn, baby corn, and banana,” the statement said.
The two sides emphasised to enhance cooperation in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and critical and rare earth minerals as well as in areas like tourism, urban infrastructure, renewable energy, and mining.
“They also noted the role of strong people-to-people ties between the two countries, including the movement of professionals and skilled workers, students, and business travellers, in strengthening the bilateral economic partnership,” it said.
India’s exports to Canada stood at USD 2.9 billion in 2020-21 as against USD 2.85 billion in 2019-20. Imports in 2020-21 were USD 2.68 billion as against USD 3.9 billion in 2019-20.
