Team Blitz India
India-European Free Trade Association signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) in New Delhi on March 10. India had been working on TEPA with EFTA countries comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway & Liechtenstein for long. EFTA was set up in 1960 for promotion of free trade and economic integration of its four member states. It is an important economic block out of the three in Europe, the other two being the EU and the UK.
Among EFTA countries, Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India followed by Norway.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier approved the signing of the agreement with EFTA states. Speaking on the occasion, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry said, “For the first time, India is signing FTA with four developed nations and for the first time in history of FTAs, binding commitment of $100 billion investment and 1 million direct jobs in the next 15 years has been given. The agreement will give a boost to Make in India and provide opportunities to young and talented workforce. It will provide a window to Indian exporters to access large European and global markets.”
The agreement comprises 14 chapters with focus on market access to goods, trade facilitation, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, investment promotion, intellectual property rights, trade and sustainable development and other legal and horizontal provisions.
As part of the agreement, EFTA is offering 92.2 per cent of its tariff lines which cover 99.6 per cent of India’s exports. Its market access offer covers 100 per cent of non-agri products and tariff concession on processed agricultural products.
India, on the other hand, is offering 82.7 per cent of its tariff lines which cover 95.3 per cent of EFTA exports of which more than 80 per cent import is gold.
