Business Standard | 1 April 2021

India, Mauritius FTA to come into effect from Apr 1

Several Indian products will enjoy the benefit of greater market access at concessional duties in Mauritius as the free trade agreement signed between the two countries will come into effect from April 1, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.

India and Mauritius signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), a kind of free trade pact, on February 22.

"Both sides have completed their internal legal procedures and the India-Mauritius CECPA will enter into force on Thursday, 01 April 2021," the ministry said.

The pact covers 310 export items for India, including food and beverages, agricultural products, textile and textile articles, base metals, electricals and electronic item, plastics and chemicals, and wood.

It said that Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic drinks, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel.

As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have access to around 115 subsectors such as professional services, computer related services, research and development, telecommunication, construction, education, environmental, financial, tourism, yoga, and audio-visual.

On the other hand, India has offered around 95 sub-sectors from the 11 broad services sectors, including R&D, telecommunication, financial, distribution, higher education, environmental, health, and transport services.

It added that Indian exporters have to obtain a Certificate of Origin (CoO) from the authorised Indian agencies to avail the preferential benefits under the agreement.

An exporter has to submit this certificate at the landing port of the importing country. The document is important to claim duty concessions under a free-trade agreement. It is essential to prove where their goods come from.

"The online application for CoO for the India-Mauritius CECPA can be made from 01 April 2021 through the common digital platform for issuance of certificate of origin of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)," the ministry said.

In such an agreement, two trading partners cut or eliminate duties on a host of products besides liberalising norms to promote services trade.