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Over a period of five years, India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) negotiated a bilateral free trade agreement — with plenty of difficulty.
Under their initial bilateral framework agreement, signed in Bali on 8 October 2003, the India-ASEAN FTA for goods was supposed to be finalised by 30 June 2005. Negotiations on services would start in 2005 and end in 2007. After a year’s delay, discussions ground to a halt in June 2006 when India released its ’negative list’ of items to be excluded from tariff reductions — with 900 products, both industrial and agricultural, figuring on the list. (This was down from India’s initial negative list of 1,410 items.) India’s agriculture ministry, in particular, was arguing hard to exclude commodities like rubber, pepper, tea, coffee and palm oil from the deal. Rules of origin have been the other thorny issue. Two months later, in August 2006, Delhi issued a revised list, pruned down to 560 items. However, tremendous fears about the impacts of the India-ASEAN FTA on farmers continued to rattle the discussion. By early 2007, in the midst of the new biofuels boom, palm oil became a central blockage point as Indonesia and Malaysia, both top palm oil exporters, struggled to get India to lower its tariffs. On 28 August 2008, a deal was finally concluded. The agreement is supposed to be signed in 2009. last update: April 2009 Articles
Govt to soon implement FTA with Indonesia, Cambodia
| 30-August-2010
India will soon implement the free trade agreement (FTA) in goods with two more Asean countries — Indonesia, Cambodia — by slashing duties on hundreds of products including seafood, chemicals, apparel and tyres. In turn the two countries will also slash import duties on hundreds of Indian goods.
India-ASEAN services, investment pact negotiations reviewed
| 27-August-2010
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma met commerce ministers from ten ASEAN Member States at Da Nang, Vietnam, today to review India-ASEAN services and investment agreement negotiations.
In pursuit of mutual prosperity
| 16-August-2010
Asia’s re-emergence as a global economic powerhouse is creating a greater degree of economic interdependence while at the same time helping to increase regional security among the Asean member nations.
Goods pact in hand, Asean goes slow on services deal
| 21-April-2010
Having secured a good deal in merchandise trade in the free trade agreement, the ten-member Asean is dragging its feet on meeting India’s demand for liberalising trade in services and investments, especially movement of professionals.
Indian FTAs may hit SE Asian ryots
| 22-February-2010
While India mulls another free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia and New Zealand, its FTAs with European Union and Japan remains shrouded in uncertainty with its decisions regarding intellectual property (IP) rights likely to impact not just India, but other developing South East Asian countries as well.
FTA with ASEAN to be widened
| 16-February-2010
India and the ten-member ASEAN block will hold parleys on ways to conclude talks before the August 2010 deadline to widen the scope of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to include services and investment expected to provide huge opportunity to Indian professionals to work in Southeast Asia.
India to fast-track talks to sew up ASEAN services trade pact
| 27-January-2010
India will try to expedite negotiations on opening up trade in services with the 10-member ASEAN at a senior officials meeting next week in Jakarta.
India seeks demand list from Asean nations
| 14-December-2009
India has taken the first concrete step towards concluding a deal with the Asean for liberalising trade in services, including cross-border movement of professionals, sending a request list to all Asean members pointing out where exactly the country wants greater access.
Only half Asean members ratify FTA with India
| 29-November-2009
India’s trade with South East Asia will be liberalized only partially from January 2010, as half of the 10-nation bloc has not received parliamentary approval for the Free Trade Agreement signed in August. 
Hundreds of farmers from across the State led by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha blocked the main entrance of the New Mangalore Port on Monday in a symbolic protest against the Union Government’s policy allowing the duty-free import of edible oils. |
Le stand de l’UE à la conférence sur le sida "saisi" par des militants défenseurs des génériques
| 21-July-2010
Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on the U.S.- South Korea Trade Agreement
| 30-June-2010
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