India-UAE partnership: CEPA review to focus on key data sharing

India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are gearing up for a review of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that may see discussions towards integration of key portals of both nations to boost trade, a senior commerce department official said.

The review is expected to take place in May, a year after the trade agreement kicked in.

“We will see how to integrate our portals. They have a single window portal; we have ULIP (Unified Logistics Interface Platform). We are talking to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade regarding this. This will help in real-time sharing of data, regarding movement of container ships, berths can be prioritised, and entry into the port can be prioritised,” the official cited above said.

“Such trade facilitation can also help in enhancing our exports; logistics cost will also come down,” the official said.

According to the provisional data compiled by the commerce department, India exported goods worth $2.72 billion in February, up 5 per cent year-on-year (YoY), at a time when the country’s overall merchandise exports contracted 10 per cent at $33.9 billion.

The commerce department is hoping that exports to the UAE will be the highest ever at around $32 billion in FY23 compared to $28 billion in FY22, due to higher demand for sectors, such as gems and jewellery, machinery and automobiles.

Electrical machinery, gems and jewellery, cereals, automobiles were the top gainers from the FTA during June-February. Export of products, such as iron and steel and textiles, witnessed a contraction during the same time period.

Similarly, non-oil exports to the UAE grew nearly 19 per cent YoY at $2.14 billion, while global non-oil exports contracted 4.2 per cent at $28.8 billion.

As many as 6,944 certificates of origin were issued in February to exporters to avail concessional duty advantage under the trade pact. The number is expected to cross 7,500 by the end of the current fiscal year.

A certificate of origin is a crucial document that declares in which country a good was manufactured. An exporter has to submit the certificate at the landing port of the importing country. The document is important to claim duty concessions under free trade agreements.