New Delhi: India and the EU have closed five chapters including on intellectual property, and customs and trade facilitation of their proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in the 11th round of talks held on May 12-16 in New Delhi. The two sides also discussed the EU’s proposal for easing the process of certification under India’s Quality Control Orders, especially improvements in online application and accreditation of EU Conformity Assessment Bodies, said an official. The 12th round of negotiations is likely in Brussels in July, but intensive intersessional engagement will take place virtually and in person, besides discussions at the political level. The two sides aim to conclude the FTA by the end of 2025. Negotiators also made substantive progress on the text of digital trade facilitation provisions such as e-invoicing, e-authentication, e-contract, paper-less trade, online consumer protection, spam, digital identities and open government data. “The focus of the negotiators was on the core elements of a future agreement. The aim is to get closer to an economically meaningful market access package focused on trade in goods, services, investment and rules of origin,” the official said.
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