India hosts ASEAN meeting to advance review of goods FTA

India and the 10-member ASEAN bloc on Tuesday reviewed the progress of negotiations to update the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

India is hosting the 13th ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Joint Committee meeting in New Delhi to advance the review of the trade pact. The Joint Committee meeting and related meetings are being held in a hybrid format until July 10.

The India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement was signed in 2009. ASEAN is one of India’s key trading partners, accounting for about 11 per cent of India’s global trade.

The progress of the negotiations was reviewed during the 13th AITIGA Joint Committee meeting and related discussions.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Joint Committee provided strategic guidance to the Sub-Committees in their respective areas of work and urged them to expedite the finalisation of the outstanding chapters under the AITIGA review.

The Sub-Committees were assigned time-bound deliverables and encouraged to work closely to achieve tangible outcomes within the agreed timelines.

The ministry said meetings of three of the eight Sub-Committees under the AITIGA Joint Committee are being held alongside the 13th Joint Committee meeting. These include the Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation (SC-CPTF), the Sub-Committee on National Treatment and Market Access (SC-NTMA), and the Sub-Committee on Rules of Origin (SC-ROO).

The ministry said the meetings provide an important platform to deepen cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding and advance constructive dialogue between India and ASEAN.

The 13th AITIGA Joint Committee meeting, held on Tuesday, was co-chaired by Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Nitin Kumar Yadav and Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Malaysia, Mastura Ahmad Mustafa.

Delegations from all ASEAN member states — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam — participated in the meeting.