Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal visiting UK for FTA talks

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Britain, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal is visiting London this week to take stock of the negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, an official said. During the visit (July 17-18), the secretary will hold discussions with senior officials of the UK about the proposed trade agreement, which both the countries are negotiating. The negotiating team of India is already there in London for the eleventh round of talks.

Goyal concluded his Britain visit on July 12. The official said that both the visits are important as the talks are at a crucial stage. With the FTA negotiations gaining momentum, the visit aims to further propel the discussions and pave the way for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement that would drive economic growth and strengthen ties between the two countries.

India and the UK are working to iron out differences on issues like intellectual property rights (IPRs) and rules of origin under the agreement, negotiations for which were started in January 2021. Out of 26 chapters in the agreement, 14 have been closed. In five chapters there are certain important contentious issues pertaining to environment, labour, and digital trade.

This agreement is the «most complex» one which will be going to be signed by India, Barthwal has said recently. The 'rules of origin' provision prescribes minimal processing that should happen in the FTA country so that the final manufactured product may be called originating goods in that country. Under this provision, a country that has inked an FTA with India cannot dump goods from some third country in the Indian market by just putting a label on it.