Cabinet approves trade pact between India and Mauritius

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved signing of the Comprehensive Economic, Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius, aimed at encouraging and improving trade between the two countries.
It would cover 310 export items for India, including food stuff and beverages (80 lines), agricultural products (25 lines), textile and textile articles (27 lines), base metals and articles thereof (32 lines), electricals and electronic item (13 lines), plastics and chemicals (20 lines), wood and articles thereof (15 lines), and others, an official statement said.
The pact would cover trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, dispute settlement, movement of natural persons, telecom, financial services, customs procedures and cooperation in other areas.
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.
Both sides have also agreed to negotiate an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) for a limited number of highly sensitive products within two years of the Signing of the Agreement.
A mutually convenient date would be finalised for signing of the agreement, and it will come into force from the 1st of next month. It would be India”s first such trade pact with an African nation.
India and Mauritius enjoy excellent bilateral relations, sustained by historic cultural affinities, frequent high-level political interactions, development cooperation, defence and maritime partnership, and people to people linkages.
The bilateral trade between India and Mauritius has registered a growth of 233 per cent from USD 206.76 million in Financial Year (FY) 2005-06 to USD 690.02 million in FY 2019-20.
India’s exports to Mauritius surged 232 per cent from USD 199.43 million in FY 2005-06 to USD 662.13 million in FY 2019-20, while India’s imports from Mauritius increased 280 per cent from USD7.33 million in 2005-06 to USD 27.89 million in FY 2019-20.With agency inputs