India also explores a bilateral agreement on the protection of investments and the recognition of geographic indications (GIS) with the block of 27 members.
Negotiations cover 23 political areas, including trade in goods and services, investment protection, customs procedures, technical obstacles, intellectual property rights and sustainable development. The 11th round of India-UE FTA talks was held in New Delhi from 12 to 16 May.
While the EU has requested changes to the Patent Act of India to allow a “ persistence ” of patents in pharmaceutical products, India has already refused to accept similar requirements of the United Kingdom and Switzerland for the exclusivity of data to protect the generic pharmaceutical industry within the framework of the ALE with the United Kingdom and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
During the financial year 2023-24, the trade in bilateral products of the EU in India was $ 137.41 billion, with Indian exports worth $ 75.92 billion and imports worth $ 61.48 billion making the largest trading partner in India. The EU represents almost 17% of total exports from India, while EU exports to India represent 9% of its total sales abroad.
(Edited by: Akanksha Upadhyay))
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