India-ASEAN free trade pact comes into effect
01 Jan 2010
An Asian free-trade agreement between India and three key countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as also a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with South Korea came into effect today.
Under the FTA, the parties will slash import duties on several products like seafood, chemicals and apparels among others.
China has also concluded a free-trade agreement with the ASEAN, which comes into effect today.
India and the ASEAN signed a free-trade agreement in August 2009, aimed at breaking duty barriers on goods traded. However, only Malaysia has ratified the agreement so far.
The FTA would result in elimination of tariffs on more than 4,000 products, ranging from electronic goods and textiles to chemicals and capital goods over six years.
Bilateral trade between India and the 10-member ASEAN now stands at $48 billion annually.
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