The European Union and India plan to grant each other Most Favoured Nation status after their trade deal takes effect, preventing either from offering better tariff terms to other partners for five years, a draft of the text showed on Friday. India and the European Union struck a long-delayed deal last month aiming to slash tariffs on most goods and boost two-way trade amid growing global trade tensions elsewhere.
The deal, likely to be effective in a year after legislative ratification, is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6% of traded goods by value, and will lead to savings of 4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) in duties for European companies, the EU has said.
India and the EU have said agriculture-related items like soya, beef, sugar, rice and dairy have been left out of the purview of the trade deal.
Both sides have agreed to lock in commitments not to impose new import or export restrictions beyond World Trade Organization rules and to deepen cooperation on digital trade under a proposed free-trade agreement, a draft text released by India's trade ministry showed.
To ease trade flows, New Delhi and Brussels will align food safety and plant health measures with WTO standards and streamline certification and audit procedures.
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