Business: India and Australia held the tenth round of talks for the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in Sydney during August 19-22 as part of ongoing efforts to finalise free trade agreements with several countries. According to a statement issued by the Commerce Ministry on Sunday, the talks covered key areas including goods, services, digital trade, government procurement, rules of origin and agricultural technology. The 11th round of talks is scheduled to be held in New Delhi in November, the ministry said. The two countries had implemented an interim trade agreement in December 2022 and are now focusing on expanding its scope. In the ongoing CECA talks, India is pushing to eliminate non-tariff barriers that hinder the export of agricultural products like grapes to Australia. Expanding agricultural trade and addressing non-tariff barriers
The two sides have also held formal inter-sessional meetings,
which discussed five tracks as agreed under the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), as well as 14 new areas, including micro, small and medium enterprises, innovation, agricultural technology and critical minerals. India has already granted access to Australian products under 70% of its tariff lines, while Australia has agreed to eliminate tariffs on all products from India. According to experts, Australia is seeking further tariff cuts on additional products from India, while India is focusing on removing non-tariff barriers that impact exports of agricultural products such as okra, pomegranate and grapes. “Though Australia has agreed to zero tariffs on these products, non-tariff barriers continue to hamper exports,” said Ajay Srivastava, founder of think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). Srivastava said there are discussions going on in Australia about pharmaceutical price controls on generic medicines, which is a big concern for India.
