Inter-ministerial panel for expediting FTAs

The government is considering setting up of an inter-ministerial panel comprising senior officials to eliminate the differences across various ministries and departments on proposals relating to Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The various Ministries that oversee different sectors tend to delay negotiations in FTAs due to the differences over crucial and sensitive issues. The inter-ministerial panel will boost the co-ordination among ministries and departments and will also improve the quality of negotiations.

The move to set up an inter-ministerial panel is deemed to be significant, as India is either negotiating or planning to start high-stake FTAs talks with key economies such as the EU, the UK, Canada, Israel, members of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and Australia. Together these economies (excluding the UAE, which is a part of the GCC, with which India has already signed an FTA) contributed as much as $108 billion, or 26%, to India’s merchandise exports in FY22.