SOPs for negotiating an FTA with India: ready by the end of the year: Rediff Moneynews

New Delhi, Oct 24 (PTI) The standard operating procedure (SOP) document for negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) is likely to be ready by the end of this year, an official said on Thursday.

The manager clarified that it is an internal document which aims to standardize the negotiation processes of these pacts.

The Ministry of Commerce is in the process of developing the document and it will also seek “advice” from higher authorities on this matter for any changes if necessary.

It was informally distributed to 17 ministries, including Agriculture, Labor and Environment, to get their views, as negotiating an FTA is a multi-ministerial exercise.

“Our goal is this year. We would like to have the 2024 version. It will be revised every 2-3 years,” the official said, adding that the goal is to document “our negotiation process so that whatever the lessons that we have learned, having carried out different FTA negotiations, we are able to document them.

It will also include best practices that produce the “best results,” so that whenever someone conducts these negotiations in the future, they can refer to them.

Government officers are mobile, so “we have to document these learnings in the form of SOPs,” the official said, adding that it is an internal document of the ministry and has nothing to do with it. with the content or quality of the FTA.

The European Union, Australia and international organizations have their SOPs for negotiations.

To discuss various aspects of these agreements, the Commerce Ministry organized a two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ on FTA strategy and SOPs for trade negotiations on May 16-17.

The exercise assumes particular significance as India engages with several trading partners to negotiate free trade agreements.

At Chintan Shivir, various issues were discussed including India’s trade strategy and vision 2047; economic assessment and modeling of FTAs; the inclusion of new disciplines in FTAs, such as labor, environment, gender and indigenous peoples; services and digital commerce; and SOPs for FTA negotiations.

A separate session was also organized on leveraging India’s FTAs ​​to address new forms/types of measures such as CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), supply chain disruptions, critical minerals and artificial intelligence.

India is negotiating trade agreements with the United Kingdom, the EU (European Union), Peru and a comprehensive trade agreement with Australia. It is also in talks with the Eurasian Economic Union for a trade deal.

The country has signed trade agreements with Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) since 2021.