India and EU to focus on goods and investments during FTA talks

14 Nov 2022 , 08:15 AM

During the third round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, which will start in Delhi on November 28, India and the European Union are likely to talk about issues relating to trade in goods and investments.

After a nine-year break, the two sides started FTA talks again. Separate talks for an Investment Protection Agreement and an Agreement on Geographical Indications were also started in June.

According to news reports, the EU has proposed an anti-fraud clause in the goods chapter that deals with preventing, detecting, and combating violations or circumventions of customs law related to preferential treatment.

The first round of negotiations, conducted in June, centered on the 18 chapters proposed by the EU. In October, the second round was held in Brussels.

Chapters on topics such as digital trade, public procurement, anti-competitive behaviour, merger control and subsidies, state-owned companies, dispute resolution, effective regulatory procedures, and energy and raw commodities have all been discussed.

The EU has become India’s largest source of foreign direct investment as its percentage of inflows of foreign capital increased to 18% from 8% during the past ten years (FDI). The amount of FDI that the EU invested in India between April 2000 and September 2020 was $86.82 billion.

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