India and Brazil on Thursday agreed to significantly expand their existing trade agreement between India and the MERCOSUR bloc, aiming to enhance bilateral trade and investment. The understanding was reached during a meeting held in New Delhi between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Vice President of Brazil and Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services Geraldo Alckmin.
The two leaders welcomed the mutual interest of India and MERCOSUR member states in deepening the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). Recalling the original Framework Agreement signed on 17 June 2003 to strengthen economic ties, they agreed to take concrete steps to broaden the agreement’s scope.
As part of the new roadmap, both sides decided that:
* The expansion of the pact should be substantial, ensuring a significant share of bilateral trade benefits from tariff preferences.
* It should address both tariff and non-tariff issues, including broader economic partnership areas.
* There will be active engagement with private sector stakeholders to support negotiations.
* A technical dialogue will be launched soon, including an early meeting of the Joint Administration Committee established under Article 23 of the PTA, to define the scope of the expansion.
* Both parties will endeavour to conclude negotiations within one year from their formal launch.
The Brazilian side also assured that it would coordinate closely with its MERCOSUR partners to ensure that the deepening of the trade agreement is swift, substantial, and mutually beneficial.
