The second round of talks on the stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which had first started in June 2007, are held here today between the chief negotiators of India and the EU. Though the technical level talks have started on Monday the 3-day discussions between the chief negotiators started yesterday.
According to the source the two sides had discussed all the issues regarding intellectual property rights and investments.
India and the European Union (EU) have been negotiating a Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement ( BTIA) which aims at cutting down or eliminating duties on over 90 per cent of the goods traded between the countries besides liberalising services and investments sector.
EU is pressing for tax reduction in wines and spirits and dairy products and significant duty cuts in automobiles. Also, it is biding for a hike in FDI cap in the insurance sector and a strong intellectual property regime.
On the other side, India wants liberalised visa norms for its professionals, data secure status and market access in services and pharmaceuticals sector.
The total trade between India and the 27-Nation Bloc stood at $94.43 billion during April-February 2012-13 and it had aggregated to $109.86 billion in the entire 2011-12 fiscal year.
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