Indian Express ASEAN, India signs FTA at AEM meeting in Thailand

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ASEAN and India, have signed a long-awaited free trade agreement after more than six years of negotiations. The deal was signed during the ASEAN Economic Ministers' meeting in Thailand.

ASEAN economic ministers and India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma, signed the free trade agreement on Thursday in Bangkok.

The agreement will take effect from January 1st, 2010. The ASEAN member countries and India will lift import tariffs on more than 80 percent of traded products between 2013 and 2016. These include electronics, chemicals, machinery and textiles. But the deal does not embrace software and information technology.

Tariffs on sensitive goods will be reduced to 5 percent in 2016, while the agreement excludes nearly 500 very sensitive products from tariff cuts.