Summary of the 12th Round of Negotiations on the Japan - India Economic Partnership Agreement

October 1, 2009

The 12th round of negotiations on the Japan - India Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) was held from September 29(Tue) to October 1(Thurs), 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Japanese delegation was led by Mr. Masato Takaoka, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (coordinator for the Japanese co-chairs), and the Indian delegation was led by Mr. Dinesh Sharma, Joint Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Indian co-chair). Experts from relevant ministries and agencies from both sides also participated in the meetings.
At the round, the overall negotiations were assessed in the plenary meeting and issues such as market access and rules of origin on trade in goods, trade in services, investment, cooperation, other areas (including competition, government procurement, non-tariff measures), and general/final provisions were discussed in the sessions either at co-chair or expert-level. Progress was made in many areas negotiated during this round through discussions on the draft texts of the Agreement.
Both sides decided to continue to work towards further progress in their negotiations.

(END)