India, EU To Hold Next Round Of FTA Talks From May 12

India and the European Union have decided to accelerate efforts to advance the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement or FTA, with the next round scheduled to begin here on May 12, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce L Satya Srinivas said that the tenth round of talks focused on areas like market access offers in goods, services, investment and government procurement.

"Both sides have agreed to accelerate efforts to advance the negotiations," he told reporters here. The 11th round is scheduled from May 12-16.

The remarks assume significance as the two are exploring the option of negotiating their free trade agreement in phases amidst an uncertain global trade environment.

India has followed the practice of negotiating such trade pacts in two phases with Australia.

On the agreement, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said, "If some of the issues which may not be very core to the trade, maybe taking some more time, then it is better to focus on core trade issues. So we say that first things first."

"We are also discussing with the EU what can be the early harvest of the first tranche where we can do faster...So we are taking a very very pragmatic approach with the EU as we are taking it with the US or Australia," he added.

The two sides are mining to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year.

On the India-New Zealand trade pact, he said it was just launched and there is a standard operating procedure that India will follow in these negotiations.

There are tracks, chapters, and core trade issues such as rules of origin, tariff rates, non-tariff barriers and customs facilitation.

"So negotiations will proceed as per the SOP," Barthwal added.

On the India-UK trade pact, Srinivas said both teams are working to resolve the pending issues.

Further, he said that negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between India and South American nation Chile was launched on April 1.

Chile is the fifth largest trading partner of India in the LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) region with bilateral trade in goods at $3.59 billion during April-February 2024-25.

With Peru, the Indian team concluded the seventh round of talks earlier this month. This will be the first FTA of the country in the LAC region.