In September 2021, Ministers Tehan and Goyal formally re-launched the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations( CECA) and reaffirmed their commitment to conclude a CECA, including to reach an interim agreement by December 2021 to liberalise and deepen bilateral trade in goods and services, and to conclude the negotiations on a full CECA by the end of 2022. This deadline has been and gone, but there are ongoing and positive progression of negotiations for an ‘Early Harvest’ Trade Agreement between Australia and India.
Political relations are very strong and represent an opportunity that hasn’t been as forthcoming in the past. Negotiations on this early agreement are close to a conclusion, although there remain a number of ongoing challenging elements. Wine is a feature of discussions to date and in close contact with the Government effort to negotiate beneficial outcomes on behalf of the sector. While the outcome is unlikely to be as good as we hoped, there is a clear opportunity to break down some of the barriers to trade with India, and give Australian exporters a competitive advantage over the rest of the world.
