India, UAE Discuss Trade, FTA Progress

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) India and the UAE have discussed issues related to market access, data sharing, allocation of gold import quota, and anti-dumping matters, services to boost economic ties, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

These issues were discussed during a meeting of the Joint Committee under the India-UAE CEPA (comprehensive economic partnership agreement).

CEPA is a kind of free trade agreement (FTA).

"The two sides conducted a comprehensive review of progress under CEPA and detailed discussions were held on market access issues, data sharing, allocation of Gold TRQ (tariff rate quota), anti-dumping matters, services, Rules of Origin, BIS licensing," it said.

The India side also briefed the UAE on its recent decision to allocate Gold TRQ through a transparent competitive bidding process.

The two sides also deliberated upon enhancing regulatory cooperation in pharmaceuticals, resolution of issues related to Certificates of Origin, and early signing of the MoU on Food Safety and Technical Requirements between Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), India and Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, UAE.

The bilateral trade has crossed USD 100 billion in 2024-25, which is an increase of 19.6 per cent over 2023-24.

The two have fixed a target to increase non-oil and non-precious metal trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.