India likely to enter into FTA with EAEU countries

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Joint DGFT of Mumbai has issued an official communique TRADE NOTICE NO.1/2018 today notifying that the Indian Government intends to enter into an Free trade Agreement, this year with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) consisting of countries Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. 

Through the notification the Department of Commerce intends to conduct a stakeholder’s consultation with various business houses of Mumbai, trading bodies, Ministry of Industries and the Govt of Maharashtra to understand the challenges/benefits that the FTA could generate. This is specific to the firms located in Maharashtra. 

According to the notification the DGFT feels that some sectors could be affected due to the India-EAEU FTA. These being  Agricultural products (especially Fish products, coffee, oil cakes etc.), Pharmaceuticals, Plastic products, Textiles - Readymade garments, Engineering, Machinery and Automobiles. The Directorate General feels, “ as these consultations could go a long way in formulating India's negotiation strategy, the firms who may be affected by the country having a free trade agreement with EAEU may study the opportunities and prepare their views.

The notification also specifies that the interested firms may “have offensive interest (i.e. gaining market access into EAEU) or defensive (i.e. to protect from imports into India from EAEU which might hurt) and therefore prepare their views/inputs/ analysis, so that these can be discussed during the meeting with the Maharashtra State Government Officials as and when scheduled.