India-UAE advance discussions on market access, data exchange and FTA roadmap

India and the United Arab Emirates have stepped up discussions on trade, market access, data exchange, and other key aspects of their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the commerce ministry said on Thursday.

The talks took place during a meeting of the Joint Committee under the India-UAE CEPA, a framework similar to a free trade agreement (FTA).

"The two sides conducted a comprehensive review of progress under CEPA and detailed discussions were held on market access issues, data sharing, allocation of Gold TRQ (tariff rate quota), anti-dumping matters, services, Rules of Origin, BIS licensing," the ministry said.


During the meeting, the Indian delegation briefed the UAE on its recent decision to allocate the Gold TRQ through a transparent competitive bidding process.

The two sides also discussed enhancing regulatory cooperation in pharmaceuticals, resolving issues related to Certificates of Origin, and finalising a Memorandum of Understanding on Food Safety and Technical Requirements between India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.

Bilateral trade between India and the UAE crossed $100 billion in 2024-25, marking a 19.6% increase over the previous year. The two countries have set a target to raise non-oil and non-precious metal trade to $100 billion by 2030.

With inputs from PTI