Trade ministers of India, Canada to meet in June

Trade ministers of India and Canada are likely to meet on June 10 for a ‘ministerial dialogue’ to take steps to boost bilateral trade and investment, official sources said.

Market access

While India is expected to demand greater market access in Canada for Indian exports, particularly from sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, textile, clothing, leather and organic products, Canada may stress on the need for signing and early implementation of the proposed bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

The meeting, officially called the ‘annual ministerial dialogue’ on trade and investment, will be held in Canada with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Canadian counterpart, international trade minister Chrystia Freeland, leading their respective officials, the sources said. They said such a meeting was being held after nearly four years.

Finding a huge demand for organic products in Canada, India wants to increase its organic products exports to that country. According to industry estimates, Canada is among the world’s top organic food markets, while India is among the world’s leading countries in terms of the number of organic food producers and the highest growth in organic agricultural land.

However, India’s major concern is the lack of a ‘bilateral equivalence arrangement’ between both the countries to recognise as ‘equivalent’ — under their own rules — each other's organic production norms as well as accreditation and certification systems.