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May be April for India-ASEAN FTA
There is a delay yet again in the scheduled signing of the India-Asean free trade agreement (FTA). Instead of the agreement being sealed at ASEAN Summit scheduled later this month, the signing has been postponed to April this year when the India-Asean summit takes place.
A last minute glitch in the form of the number of tariff cuts to be brought about annually, however, needs to be sorted out before the agreement is signed, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath has said.
Talking to the media, Mr Nath said he won’t visit Bangkok
later this month (as was initially planned) as the Asean summit was purely meant for the 10 Asean members. It was more appropriate to sign the agreement during the India-Asean summit in April which was also likely to be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “This will give us more time to sort out some issues which have crept up,” the minister said.
The last minute differences between India and the Asean over the number of times in a year tariff cuts should be brought about is minor compared to the compromises already reached between the two. The bilateral free trade agreement, which seeks to eliminate tariffs on about 40,000 items traded between the two, has been high on the PMs agenda ever since negotiations began. The pact is expected to play a significant role in intensifying India’s relationship with South East Asia
.
The tariff elimination will take place in a phased manner by 2015. For about 10% of additional tariff lines on the sensitive track, the tariffs will not be eliminated but brought down to 5%. India has 489 items, mostly farm products, on the sensitive list which will not be subject to tariff cuts.
The minister added the agreement needs to be ratified by the ten countries individually before it can be implemented. The Asean members include Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
Talking to the media, Mr Nath said he won’t visit Bangkok
The last minute differences between India and the Asean over the number of times in a year tariff cuts should be brought about is minor compared to the compromises already reached between the two. The bilateral free trade agreement, which seeks to eliminate tariffs on about 40,000 items traded between the two, has been high on the PMs agenda ever since negotiations began. The pact is expected to play a significant role in intensifying India’s relationship with South East Asia
The tariff elimination will take place in a phased manner by 2015. For about 10% of additional tariff lines on the sensitive track, the tariffs will not be eliminated but brought down to 5%. India has 489 items, mostly farm products, on the sensitive list which will not be subject to tariff cuts.
The minister added the agreement needs to be ratified by the ten countries individually before it can be implemented. The Asean members include Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.
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