India and Canada have decided to restart talks for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and will strive to seal an investment-protection agreement as well, the countries’ trade ministers said, following a bilateral ministerial dialogue on Friday.
CEPA talks with Canada had got derailed amid the COVID-19 pandemic but were expected to restart after the Canadian elections concluded in September 2021. Bilateral goods trade between the two nations stood at $6.3 billion in 2021 and the two sides agreed that a comprehensive trade agreement would help bolster trade and investment flows.
CEPA negotiations will be formally relaunched, and the two countries will consider an interim agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that could be concluded early as a transitional step. India is eyeing market access for its sweet corn, baby corn and bananas in Canada, while Ottawa is keen to export its cherries and lumber to India.
The EPTA shall include ‘high level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, and may also cover any other areas mutually agreed upon’, a joint statement said.
“Furthermore, Canada and India agreed to promote and protect bilateral investment, including through the intensification of negotiations toward a Bilateral Investment Agreement, while considering options to achieve this goal alongside CEPA,” it added.
Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, and Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, co-chaired the bilateral dialogue on trade and investment in the capital on Friday.
