India Pursues MRAs with 30 Nations for Trade Facilitation

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal on Thursday said India is actively pursuing negotiation for signing of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with customs authorities of about 30 countries.

Mutual recognition agreements help ease overseas trade by avoiding dual certifications. It thus reduces compliance cost, simplifying compliance requirements by adhering to only one regulation and enhancing trade opportunities.

India is proactively engaging with its trading partners to broaden and deepen the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) program.

India has successfully signed MRAs with several key trading partners including the US, South Korea, UAE, Taiwan, Australia and Malaysia, he said.

"Negotiations are ongoing with over 30 countries with promising progress and discussions with Japan and South Africa," he said while addressing the Global Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Conference here.

The AEO programme enables the Customs administration to identify safe and compliant exporters and importers and to provide them with better facilitation.

He further said India continues to demonstrate its commitment to digital and sustainable trade facilitation, as evidenced by improved performance in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission Asia Pacific's Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.

India has also shown improvement in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index, he said.

In the era of an increasingly connected world, he said, the coming together of global fraternity is extremely crucial to foster trust, cooperation and Innovation.

The AEO programme is central to this vision symbolising partnership between customs and businesses, he said, adding, it is built on mutual respect and a common goal of secure and efficient trade.