PM's TERC reviews status of free trade pacts

NEW DELHI, 3 Jul 2007 -- The Prime Minister's Trade and Economic Relations Committee on Tuesday reviewed the progress of various free trade agreements the country is negotiating and gave directions to the Commerce Ministry on how to tackle the issues that keep cropping up in the talks.

Commerce Ministry made a presentation before the TERC, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the state of play with regard to FTAs including the ones with Asean, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Gulf Cooperation Council.

The agreements encompass not only trade in goods but also services. In some of these economic cooperation agreements, investment is also included.

According to official sources, negotiators need specific mandate for making offers with regard to market opening and striking the best possible deals for Indian industry.

TERC comprises Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the National Security Advisor.

With WTO negotiations stalled, India is increasingly looking at FTAs to ensure market access for domestic firms and improve political and economic relations with key nations.

Negotiations on an FTA with Thailand are moving slow after the first phase of implementation, while the ASEAN pact is facing issues related to reduction in duties by India on some plantation crops. Talks with Japan are in initial stage but negotiators would like to have a mandate, an official said.