Free trade agreements of India

India is party to free trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade agreements with many countries and trade blocs, and is negotiating with many others. As of 2022, India has preferential access, economic cooperation and FTA with more than 50 individual countries.

The negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates were completed in 88 days, which was the shortest time span for any free trade agreement signed by India.[1]

Overview

  India
  Free trade areas
  Agreement being negotiated

There are different types of trade agreements that enable preferential market access between India and signatory countries or trade blocs - preferential trade agreements (PTA), free trade agreements (FTA), and Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA).[2]

A preferential trade agreement (PTA) involves two or more partners agreeing to reduce tariffs on an agreed number of tariff lines (products). The list of products on which the partners agree to reduce duty is called the positive list. In general, PTAs do not cover substantially all trade. The India Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement is an example of a PTA.[2]

A free trade agreement (FTA) also involves reducing or eliminating tariffs on items traded between the partner countries; however each maintains individual tariff structure for non-members. The key difference between an FTA and a PTA is that PTAs have a positive list of products on which duty is to be reduced, while an FTA uses a negative list on which duty is not reduced or eliminated. Thus, compared to a PTA, FTAs are generally more ambitious in coverage of tariff lines on which duty is to be reduced. The India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement is an example of an FTA.[2]

Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are agreements which consist of an integrated package on goods, services and investment, as well as trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards and sanitary and phytosanitary issues. The India Korea CEPA is one such example and it covers a broad range of other areas such trade facilitation, customs cooperation, investment, competition, intellectual property rights etc. CECA/CEPAs are more comprehensive and ambitious than FTAs in terms of coverage of areas and the type of commitments. While a traditional FTA focuses mainly on goods, a CECA/CEPA provides holistic coverage of many areas like services, investment, competition, government procurement, disputes etc. Further, a CECA/CEPA looks deeper into the regulatory aspects of trade than an FTA. Due to this, it encompasses mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) that cover the regulatory regimes of the partners. An MRA recognises different regulatory regimes of partners on the presumption that they achieve the same end objectives.[2]

Bilateral agreements

Country Agreement name Type Signed Effective Ref.
 Afghanistan India Afghanistan Preferential Trade Agreement PTA 6 March 2003 13 May 2003 [3][4]
 Australia Australia–India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA) CECA 2 April 2022 29 December 2022 [5][6]
 Chile India Chile Preferential Trade Agreement PTA 8 March 2006 11 September 2007 [7][8]
 Japan Japan India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (JICEPA) CEPA 16 February 2011 1 August 2011 [7]
 Malaysia India Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IMCECA) CECA 8 February 2011 1 July 2011 [7]
 Mauritius India Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement CECPA 22 February 2021 1 April 2021 [7]
 Thailand India Thailand Free Trade Agreement FTA 9 October 2003 1 September 2006 [7]
 Singapore India Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement CECA 29 June 2005 1 August 2005 [7]
 South Korea India Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IKCEPA) CEPA 7 August 2009 1 January 2010 [7]
 Sri Lanka India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) FTA 28 December 1998 1 March 2000 [9]
 United Arab Emirates India UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement CEPA 18 February 2022 1 May 2022 [10][11]

Under negotiation

Proposed

Multilateral agreements

Agreement name Type Countries/Trading Bloc Signed Effective Ref.
Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) PTA Bangladesh, China, Laos, Mongolia, South Korea, Sri Lanka 1975
ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement CECA  ASEAN 13 August 2009 1 January 2010 [7]
ASEAN-India Trade in Services Agreement November 2014 1 July 2015 [7][19]
ASEAN-India Investment Agreement November 2014 1 July 2015 [7][19]
Global System of Trade Preferences (GSTP) PTA 41 countries 13 April 1988 19 April 1989
India Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement PTA  Mercosur 25 January 2004 1 June 2009 [7]
South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) FTA South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) 6 January 2004 1 January 2006
India EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement TEPA EFTA 10 March 2024

Under negotiation

Abandoned proposals

See also

References

 This article incorporates text from Free Trade Agreements Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which is a copyrighted work of the Government of India, licensed under the Government Open Data License - India (GODL).

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