Switzerland - India Parliament can decide on the EFTA free trade agreement with India

Parliament can decide on the free trade agreement between the EFTA states and India. The Federal Council has adopted the dispatch. The agreement is intended to make Swiss exports more competitive in the world's most populous country.

In a statement on Thursday, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) spoke of a milestone. Negotiations had been going on for 16 years. In addition to Switzerland, the other member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are involved in the agreement: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

India - the most populous country and with growth potential thanks to a growing middle class - currently imposes very high import duties on most goods, wrote the Federal Council. The agreement brings tariff reductions for 94.7 percent of current Swiss exports to India, in some cases with transitional periods.

The agreement includes chapters on investment promotion and cooperation. The EFTA states have committed themselves to promotional activities - a first, according to the Federal Council. Their aim is to increase investment in India and thus create jobs. India, for its part, wants to create a favorable climate for investment.

EFTA and India have also negotiated comprehensive and legally binding provisions on trade and sustainable development. The chapter in the agreement stipulates that there should be no deviation from applicable environmental and labor standards. And a separate subcommittee will be created for trade and sustainable development.

The four EFTA countries are the first European states to negotiate a free trade agreement with India. It was signed last March 10 in Delhi by Minister of Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin, his counterparts from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as India's Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal.