India, Brazil conclude social security agreement

NEW DELHI: India and Brazil on Thursday initialed the finalised text of the Social Security Agreement taking forward the spirit of the Goa Declaration at the 8th BRICS Summit, outcomes of the meetings of BRICS Labour & Employment Ministers held on 9 June 2016 in Geneva and on 27-28 September 2016 in New Delhi,

As per the agreed text, detached workers of the two countries are exempted from making social security contributions in either countries so long as they were making such contributions in their respective countries.

The text establishes the rights and obligations of nationals of both countries and provides for equal treatment of the nationals of both countries and unrestricted payment of pensions even in the case of residence in the other contracting state (benefits export principle).

The requirements to be entitled to a pension can be met by aggregating the periods of insurance completed in India and Brazil, whereby each country pays only the pension for the insurance periods covered by its laws.

As on date, India has signed and operationalized Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with 18 countries - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea.

The SSA between India and Brazil once brought into force after completion of the ratification process in the respective counties will favorably impact the profitability and competitive position of Indian and Brazilian companies with foreign operations in either countries by reducing their cost of doing business abroad. The SSA will also help promote more investment flows between the two countries.

The SSA between India and Brazil once in force (by early 2018) will also be the first such agreement between the BRICS countries.

The Indian delegation was led by K. Nagaraj Naidu, Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy) of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Brazilian delegation was led by Benedito A. Brunca, Secretary, Social Security Policies, Government of Brazil.