'Including social, environmental issues may delay India-EU FTA'

The European Union's rigid stand on inclusion of social and environmental issues in a free trade agreement (FTA) with India may delay finalisation of the pact.     

"I think it will be a big mistake to ignore social and environmental implications of a trade agreement. This is an issue which is going to impact India and EU (free trade pact)," EU's chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero said at a workshop jointly organised by the European Economic and Social Commitee, a civil society organisation, and Ficci here.     

India has been opposing inclusion of social and environmental issues in any multilateral and bilateral trade talks — be it FTAs or under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation as there are other international fora to deal with non-trade matters.     

However, the European Parliament was pressing the EU to include the issues like child and bonded labour and environment and in FTA negotiations with India.     

"We have to address these issues and I hope that we can address this during negotiations," said Daniele Smadja, Ambassador, Head of Delegation, EU.       

Talks on the trade pact was started in 2007. Seven rounds of negotiations have been held but the two sides have not been able to arrive at a consensus on the level of trade to be covered under the FTA that will eventually eliminate duties on goods traded.

The European Parliament had said that the pact should conform to the WTO agreement on standards relating to packaging, marking and labelling, besides its benchmarks to protect human, animal and plant life.

The European Parliament had also asked the European Commission to conclude the agreement by 2010.

According to Ficci, India’s trade with the EU has the potential to reach $572 billion by 2015 once the FTA is implemented.      

India’s exports to the EU were $34.5 billion in 2007-08, while imports were $38.43 billion.      

Major items of exports to the EU include coffee, tea, mineral fuels and apparels. India’s major imports include organic chemicals, pearls and precious stones.