India-UAE CEPA to come into force from today, to improve trade between the two nations

In the latest development from India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) relations, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two nations will enter into force on May 1, 2022. CEPA would establish a framework for encouraging and improving trade between the two nations. According to a press release from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the CEPA between India and the UAE covers nearly all of India's 11,908 tariff lines and the UAE's 7581 tariff lines. In addition, India would grant the UAE preferential access to over 90% of its tariff lines, including lines of export importance to the UAE. 

India and UAE had inked the CEPA in New Delhi on February 18, 2022, during the India-UAE Virtual Summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, as per the release.   

India-UAE CEPA is India's first comprehensive free trade agreement with any nation in the last decade

The India-UAE CEPA is considered to be India's first comprehensive free trade agreement with any nation in the last decade. The deal would cover "Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Customs Procedures, Pharmaceutical Products, Government Procurement, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Investment, Digital Trade, and Cooperation" among other areas, the release further added.  

Furthermore, India will be benefitted from the UAE's preferential market access on more than 97% of its tariff lines, which nearly account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in terms of value, particularly in labour-intensive industries like gems and jewellery, textile products, leather, footwear, sporting equipment, plastics, furniture, agricultural as well as wood products, industrial equipment, medical devices, and automobiles. 

Apart from this, both parties have also decided on a separate Annex on Medicines to help Indian pharmaceuticals get access to the market, including automatic registration as well as marketing authorization in 90 days for items that fulfill certain conditions, as per the release.  

India-UAE bilateral relation

In addition to this, the growing economic and commercial ties between India and the UAE contribute stability and sustainability to the two nations' rapidly expanding and developing bilateral relations. India and the United Arab Emirates have long been each other's most important commercial partners. 

According to the press release, India-UAE bilateral trade has consistently expanded from US$ 180 million per year in the 1970s to US$ 60 billion (or ₹4.55 lakh crore) in the fiscal year 2019-20, making the UAE India's third-largest trading partner. It is worth noting that close cultural and civilizational similarities, regular high-level political encounters, and strong people-to-people links have nourished India and the UAE's good bilateral relations.  

(Image: PTI/ AP)