Swiss parliament approves free trade agreement with India
Parliament approves free trade agreement with India
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Listening: Swiss parliament approves free trade agreement with India
Switzerland will be able to ratify the free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and India. Both chambers of the Swiss parliament have now given their go-ahead. The left had wanted to exclude investments causing environmental and social damage.
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Le Parlement approuve l’accord de libre-échange avec l’Inde
Original
After sixteen years of negotiations, Switzerland signed the agreement with India a year ago, along with the other members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. A total of 94.7% of Swiss exports to India will benefit from customs relief. India currently levies very high customs duties on most imported products.
Some parliamentarians used words like “historic agreement”, “diplomatic feat”, and “milestone” to talk about the vote results, which will enable Switzerland to diversify its access to foreign markets, among other things. The left was not satisfied with the chapter on investment promotion and cooperation, despite the inclusion of a section on sustainable development. It abstained in part.
Translated from French by DeepL/jdp
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