Services, duties remain contentious issues in Indo-Canada FTA

Services and phasing out of tariffs remain among the contentious issues in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Canada, Parliament was informed today.
India and Canada have agreed on a roadmap to expedite the negotiations.
The 10th round, slated in Canada, could not be held on account of elections there and lack of traction on some key issues which need to be resolved, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The last round was concluded here in March last year.
The minister said that certain contentious issues in the agreement's negotiations are in the area of "finalisation of modalities on services as well as phasing of agreed tariff elimination, especially at entry into force".

The negotiations for the agreement, which is officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), were launched by both the countries in November, 2010 to further boost bilateral trade and investment.

The proposed pact seeks to eliminate or reduce duties on goods, open services sector and facilitate investment proposals.
"The contentious issues are mutually discussed through inter-sessional work and negotiating rounds both negotiating teams," she added.
The bilateral trade between the two countries was at USD 5.94 billion in 2014-15.