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Informist, Monday, Jul. 14, 2025

--Trade secy:UK, EU FTAs not confined to only goods trade, svcs included too 

--Trade secy: Have mechanisms in UK, EU FTAs to harmonise svcs sector trade 

--Trade secy: UK FTA has chapter on innovation, previous FTAs didn't 

--Trade secy: FTAs taking time lately on talks of regulatory harmonisation 

--Trade secy: Recent FTAs to facilitate global capability centres

NEW DELHI – The negotiations for free trade agreements, initiated in the recent past, have been taking time as India has also been having discussions to harmonise bilateral regulatory compliances to promote ease of doing business, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday. There is a need to harmonise regulations as trade pacts now cover not just goods but also services, Barthwal said. 

India concluded an FTA with the UK in May, after over two years of negotiations. India and the European Union have been engaged in discussions for an FTA for several years now. 

The FTAs with the UK and the EU are "modern FTAs" and have mechanisms to harmonise the bilateral services sector, which make them enablers of global capability centres, Barthwal said at the GCC Business Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. This approach was not there in previous "traditional FTAs", Barthwal said.

The FTAs with the UK and EU are not confined to goods trade, they also cover the services sector, Barthwal said. The recently concluded FTA with the UK also includes a chapter on innovation, Barthwal said. India and the UK are currently engaged in the legal scrubbing of the text of the FTA. The text of the agreement is likely to be released by September, according to the commerce ministry.   End

Reported by Krity Ambey

Edited by Saji George Titus

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