A team of Indian officials is currently in the UK to discuss the Double Contribution Convention (DCC), which was agreed upon by both countries as part of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). “So those negotiations (on DCC) have also been launched and we hope to complete them soon so that both (CETA and DCC) can be launched together,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday.
Agrawal stated that both sides are already working toward the operationalisation of CETA, which was signed in July this year. The agreement must now be ratified by both countries to take effect. The ratification process is expected to take longer in the UK, as it requires approval from Parliament.
The DCC will exempt Indian professionals and their employers from social security payments in the UK for up to three years. It will ensure that employees moving between the UK and India, and their employers, are required to pay social security contributions in only one country at a time.
It will also allow employees temporarily posted in the other country for up to three years to continue contributing to social security in their home country, preventing gaps or fragmentation in their social security records. On free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union, Agrawal said the talks are now in their final phase. “But the last phase is always hard,” he said. Both sides are aiming to conclude negotiations by the end of this year.
Agrawal added that negotiations for a trade pact with New Zealand are also nearing completion. “We hope that we will achieve closure (of the talks) in the shortest possible time,” he said. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday held a bilateral meeting in Mumbai with New Zealand’s Minister for Trade, Todd McClay, to advance discussions on the proposed FTA. Talks focused on key areas of convergence relating to trade in goods and services.
Both sides acknowledged that the recent round of negotiations brought substantive progress, with several elements closed and a clear shared understanding emerging on the path toward an early and mutually satisfactory conclusion, the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
Further, Agrawal said negotiations with two South American countries—Peru and Chile—are also progressing. With Peru, “progress is there and we hope to see progress in this”, he said, adding that talks with Chile are advancing at a good pace, with the fourth round scheduled for December in India.
Regarding the review of the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA), he acknowledged that it is a challenging process, but “we are progressing”. Another round of talks is likely in December, “where we may see some more positive progress”, he said.
The 10 Asean member states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In October, Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, was admitted as Asean’s 11th member.
