In addition to expressing concerns over child labour in India, Australia’s joint standing committee on trade and investment growth advised that its government include human rights, labour, and environmental chapters in its trade agreements.
The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was signed by Australia and India 1.5 years ago, is unlikely to be affected by the recommendation.
Australia may choose to concentrate on these modern trade concerns, such as labour and the environment, in the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), or the comprehensive trade agreement that both nations have been negotiating since February 2023.
Before this, representatives of the Indian government had stated that during exploratory talks, convergence had been reached in areas such as labour, gender, sports, innovation, micro, small, and medium-sized companies (MSMEs), competition policy, and sports.
Trade experts stated that during free trade agreement discussions, government representatives usually get in touch with their counterparts to talk about any significant issues brought up by the parliament of the trade partner. The process for India to ratify an FTA is not too complicated. Before the FTA language is finalized, the Department of Commerce holds several rounds of interministerial and stakeholder discussions.
To achieve a comprehensive trade agreement, India is aggressively negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with the EU, UK, Oman, Sri Lanka, Australia, and Peru. In March 2024, India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) inked a trade agreement. The Parliaments of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Lichtenstein must ratify it.