India-European free trade pact comes into effect on October 1

India-European Free Trade Association(EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) will come into effect from Wednesday, October 1. Ministry of Commerce and Industry in a statement said that the agreement was signed on 10th of March last year in New Delhi. EFTA is an important regional group, with several growing opportunities for enhancing international trade in goods and services. EFTA countries are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland and among them Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India followed by Norway. Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement is a modern and ambitious agreement that incorporates, for the first time in any Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by India which is a commitment linked to investment and job creation. The agreement focuses on market access related to goods, trade facilitation, investment promotion, market access on services, intellectual property rights, trade and sustainable development.

Under it, EFTA’s market access covers 100 percent of non-agri products and tariff concession on Processed Agricultural Products. The agreement also offers binding commitment of 100 billion US dollar investment in India in the next 15 years. It will also facilitate generation of one million direct jobs through such investment. The TEPA will empower India’s exporters by providing access to specialized inputs and create conducive trade and investment environment. This would boost exports of Indian made goods as well as provide opportunities for services sector to access more markets. The agreement comprises of 14 chapters with main focus on market access related to goods, rules of origin, trade facilitation, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, investment promotion, market access on services, intellectual property rights, trade and sustainable development and other legal and horizontal provisions.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, a dedicated EFTA Desk has also been operational since February this year whcih is a single-window mechanism for investment facilitation to support EFTA businesses in investing, expanding, and establishing operations in India.The Desk will also act as the primary channel for fostering continuous business-government dialogue, ensuring continuous engagement between India and EFTA partners.