India and New Zealand hold the 11th Joint Trade Committee to forge deeper trade ties

New Delhi: India and New Zealand convened for the 11th India-New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) Meeting, hosted in New Zealand. The meetings, convened from April 26th to 27th, 2024, aimed to bolster bilateral relations, with a focus on enhancing collaboration across various sectors such as Pharma, Agriculture, and Food Processing Industries.

The Indian delegation, led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, engaged in productive discussions with key figures including New Zealand's Minister for Trade, Todd McClay, and Acting Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr. Brook Barrington.

Recognizing the untapped potential in both economies and the complementarity of mutual trade, discussions were centred on ways to amplify trade and people-to-people connections. Emphasis was placed on reviewing progress on market access issues, economic cooperation projects, and exploring avenues for new initiatives. Both parties discussed establishing robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture, proposing the creation of working groups to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues.

Key discussion areas included addressing bilateral trade matters such as market access, non-tariff barriers, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Additionally, the services sector emerged as a focal point, with discussions highlighting opportunities for scaling bilateral trade through enhanced business-to-business and people-to-people contacts.

The official release from the Ministry of Commerce stated, "Both sides discussed the establishment of robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture and the creation of working groups on sectors like Agriculture; Food Processing, Storage & Transportation; Forestry and Pharmaceuticals to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues. Notably, discussions also included cooperation in the horticulture sector, including cooperation in kiwi fruit sector (quality & productivity, proper storage in pack houses and their suitable transportation) as well as the dairy sector. Once working groups are established, India and New Zealand will review the progress made by those working groups and the recommendations thereof at regular intervals.

The meetings addressed bilateral trade matters of mutual interest, including issues related to market access, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on products like grapes, okra and mangoes, Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) in Organic products, simplified homologation including through mutual recognition of comparable domestic standards for vehicles, etc. Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to resolve these issues through constructive dialogue and cooperation under the existing mechanism of JTC."

Collaboration in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector was extensively deliberated, with a focus on streamlining regulatory processes and quality assessment of manufacturing facilities. The potential for greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in the medical device sector was also explored.

Opportunities for collaboration in digital trade, cross-border payment systems, and engagement within platforms such as the G20 and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) were briefly discussed. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to uphold a rules-based international trading system.

India and New Zealand expressed a common understanding of the potential for further cooperation and committed to regular meetings to address issues and explore collaborative activities in both existing and unexplored areas.