The India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations are likely to be held in November 2024 which will witness senior officials from both the countries engaging in talks for a compressive free trade agreement, the Commerce ministry said.

As per the information shared by the ministry, the 10th Round of India-Australia CECA Negotiations was held from 19-22 August 2024 in Sydney in the areas of Goods, Services, Digital Trade, Government Procurement, Rules of Origin and Agri tech.

Intense discussions were held on each of these tracks bringing in clarity and understanding for convergence in the remaining provisions.

The 10th Round was held after a gap of around 5 months from the concluded 9th Round.

However intersessional meetings were held between these two rounds to bring in convergence on all these tracks as well as under other remaining tracks.

For these rounds, all the five negotiating tracks reported the outcomes of their discussions to the Joint meeting of the Chief Negotiators which provided them further guidance to steer their future work.

It was decided that given the clear understanding of each other’s proposals under the five tracks, track leads from both the sides would work out an action plan for negotiations through virtual mode intersessionally before the next round, likely to be held in India.

The Chief Negotiators reviewed the bilateral trade and investment relations between India and Australia and underscored commitment to strengthen and enhance the economic partnership between India and Australia through building up on the positive effects of India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which entered into force on 29 December 2022.

Both sides made efforts to ensure that the CECA negotiation delivers meaningful benefits and balanced outcomes for both sides.

Notably, both the countries implemented an interim trade agreement in December 2022 and are now under negotiations to expand its scope.

On the sidelines of the roundtable, discussions were held with AIBC National Chair, Jodi McKay, CEO Grain Trade Australia Pat O’Shannasy and others, the Commerce Ministry said.

The Consulate General of India in Sydney also participated in the discussions. It was also brought to light by the Australian side that they are proposing to hold the first meeting of the India-Australia Agri Tech Forum (IAATF), a newly constituted forum by Australia, in New Delhi on 23 September 2024, with the Indian agricultural stakeholders namely industry, research institutions and Government for building on mutually beneficial relationship by exploring opportunities for focused activity around technology transfer and knowledge sharing in agriculture and horticulture sectors.

The Indian delegation was led by Rajesh Agrawal, the Chief Negotiator and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, GOI, and the Australian delegation was led by Ravi Kewalram, the Chief Negotiator and First Assistant Secretary in DFAT, Australia.