Govt considering forming units to build expertise in Free Trade Agreements

The Department of Commerce is considering the formation of dedicated units called “subject matter divisions” to build expertise in industries like services, agriculture, medicines, trade remedies, and digital trade as part of a more aggressive approach to free trade agreements, Livemint reported. India wants to be able to negotiate agreements with other nations at the World Trade Organization from a position of strength.

It is also considering hiring industry experts, including those from the private sector, who will contribute their knowledge and experience during discussions. The general idea behind the plan is to fortify the infrastructure for negotiations with the appropriate knowledge, reliable end-to-end procedures, and a clearly defined goal.

A government official said that the move aims to participate in negotiations fully prepared. With the free trade agreements being comprehensive nowadays, it is important to have experts from different domains, who have insights and so it is important to bring in people, if required, from outside the bureaucracy, the official added.

India is negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, EU, and Canada while it has already struck a free trade agreement with the UAE and an interim accord with Australia.

While the experts have welcomed the move, they have cautioned that the approach might only succeed if there is a clean break from business-as-usual. Vijay Kalantri, chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Centre, Mumbai said to Livemint, “Getting subject-matter experts is a step in the right direction, but the problem is, will it be implemented? Private sector experts will always give practical approaches but bureaucracy always tends to complicate things. And they are people who will take the decision.”

Creating separate negotiating teams for bilateral and multilateral agreements is another idea being considered by the ministry.