RAJYA SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2342

TO BE ANSWERED ON 1^ST DECEMBER 2010

IMPACT OF FTA ON DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES

2342. SHRI SITARAM YECHURY:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state:

a) the number of countries with which India entered into Free Trade Agreements since January 2004 to December 2009;

b) the details of commodities that are supposed to enter into Indian market as a result of these Free Trade Agreements; and

c) the possible impact of domestic industry which is producing the same commodities?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

(SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA)

(a) Following is the list of countries with which India entered into Free Trade Agreements since January 2004 to December 2009.

S.No	Name of the Agreement	Date of Signing of the Agreement	Date of Implementation
1	Agreement on South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA)	04.01.2004	01.01.2006
2	Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) under the Framework Agreement between India and Thailand	01.09.2004	01.09.2004
3	India - Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement	29.06.2005	01.08.2005
4	Trade in Goods under the India - ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement	13.08.2009	01.01.2010
5	India - Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement	07.08. 2009	01.01.2010
6	India - MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement	25.01.2004	01.06.2009
7	India - Chile Preferential Trade Agreement	08.03.2006	11.09.2007

(b) No commodities can enter the Indian market if they are prohibited under the Foreign Trade Policy. Whether a product is prohibited from imports or requires prior permission before imports or is freely importable is decided by the Foreign Trade Policy. Free Trade Agreements can only offer duty reduction on specific products and cannot change the import policy for any product/commodity.