Commerce Ministry Creates FTA Utilisation Cell to Help Indian Businesses Leverage Free Trade Agreements

Key facts

• The Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has set up an FTA Utilisation Cell to help domestic businesses understand and tap opportunities in markets covered by India's free trade agreements.
• Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal announced the cell at the India-EFTA Prosperity Summit, stating it will educate entrepreneurs through industry associations, export promotion councils (EPCs) and state governments.
• The cell will work with EPCs to create action plans for each partner-country market over the next 4-5 years to integrate partner markets with the Indian market.
• A national workshop on FTAs has been held, with state-level discussions planned this month and district-level workshops during the current fiscal year.
• India has finalised trade pacts with the four-nation EFTA bloc, New Zealand, Mauritius, the UAE, Australia, Oman, the European Union (EU) and the UK.
• The India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) was implemented in October last year; EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
• India will have free trade arrangements covering 32 countries, with the majority of trade at zero tariffs.
• The 32 partner countries are developed, high per capita income nations that import agricultural goods worth over a trillion dollars.
• India's share of EFTA's total imports is about USD 2-3 billion, less than one per cent, and the target is to reach about 2 per cent of the import basket in the next 3-4 years.