India-Japan free trade pact comes into effect
01 Aug 2011
India and Japan today started the first phase of a comprehensive economic partnership, taking a major step towards a Greater East Asian Partnership.
The agreement will provide a big boost to India's exports of textiles, seafood and spices to Japan, as duties on these products would be eliminated.
The comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) provides for phasing out duties on almost 90 per cent of the products traded between the countries.
India's major agricultural products such as mangoes, citrus fruit, spices as also manufactured products such as instant tea, spirits, chemicals, cement and jewellery would
make immediate gains from the CEPA.
Indian professionals, including those in the information technology sector, will also gain under the CEPA.
