By Martin Shwenk Leade
Copyright indiatimes
India and the European Union did not make much progress in sensitive areas such as automotives and agricultural products in the 13th round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA), the EU said in a statement on Tuesday.The latest round took place in New Delhi on September 8-12 wherein negotiators reached clarity on their respective interests in market access for both industrial and agriculture goods. “While some progress was made in certain outstanding areas, in particular on rules of origin, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and investment, no additional chapter could be closed this time,” the EU said.While in depth discussions were held based on the market access offers for services and investment exchanged in July, the EU said in the rules of origin chapter, sectors including agriculture, chemicals, machinery, steel and cars are yet to be agreed upon.The EU’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic and Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food visited India for the talks.High-level interventions of the EU trade negotiators team with Indian authorities were “useful to better understand each side’s position but did not allow to make sufficient progress in sensitive areas such as automotives and agricultural products” as of September 11, per the statement.Live EventsThe 14th round of negotiations will take place in Brussels in the week starting October 6 even as intense intersessional engagements have started to prepare for the round. On trade in goods, the EU said both sides indicated their priority requests that would require high-level interventions.”Discussions will continue at the next round with the aim to make further progress on all remaining issues,” it said.Discussions were held on trade facilitating measures to address quality control orders, one of the remaining open provisions but an “acceptable compromise solution” couldn’t be reached, according to the statement.Negotiators also discussed the automotive and pharma annexes, on which both sides are still far apart. Although some progress was achieved on a possible mechanism to avoid duplication of tests for some automotive standards, negotiators did not manage to agree on a concrete solution. In services, only a few issues remain to be resolved though they are critical for the EU.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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