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India and ASEAN countries participated in the 4th Joint Committee meeting for the review of AITIGA (ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement) in Putrajaya, Malaysia on 7-9 May, according to a release by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The meeting was co-chaired by Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, India, and Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, Deputy Secretary General (Trade), Ministry of Investment, Trade & Industry, Malaysia. During the meeting the delegates discussed and reviewed the AITIGA, to make it more trade-facilitative and beneficial for businesses across the region. "The Joint Committee undertaking the review work has met four times so far. The Joint Committee finalised its Terms of Reference and the Negotiating Structure for the review negotiations in its first two meetings and initiated the negotiations for review of AITIGA from its third meeting held from 18-19 February 2024 in New Delhi" said the ministry. The AITIGA was signed in 2009. In September 2022, both sides tasked the AITIGA Joint Committee to undertake the review to make the Agreement more trtrade-facilitativend mutually beneficial. A total of eight Sub-committees have been constituted under the AITIGA Joint Committee for undertaking negotiations on different policy areas related to the Agreement and out of these, 5 Sub-Committees have started their discussions. All the 5 Sub-Committee reported the outcomes of their discussions to the 4th AITIGA Joint Committee. Four of these Sub-Committees dealing with 'National Treatment and Market Access', 'Rules of Origin', 'Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures' and 'Legal and Institutional Issues' also met physically in Putrajaya, Malaysia alongside the 4th AITIGA Joint Committee. The Sub-Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary had met earlier on 3rd May 2024. The Joint Committee provided necessary guidance to the Sub-Committees. ASEAN is one of the major trade partners of India with a share of 11 per cent in India's global trade. The bilateral trade stood at USD 122.67 Bn during 2023-24. The upgradation of AITIGA will further boost bilateral trade. Both sides would next meet for the 5th Joint Committee meeting from 29-31 July 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (ANI)
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