India is highly protective of its dairy farming industry. Photo: 123rf
New Zealand and India are slowly expanding economic ties following a recent visit by India's commerce secretary.
Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal met Brook Barrington, acting secretary of foreign affairs and trade, and members of the India-New Zealand Business Council at the end of April as part of ongoing Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meetings between the two countries.
Barthwal also met Trade Minister Todd McClay during his visit.
"The JTC is the central piece of bilateral architecture in India and New Zealand's trade and economic relationship and is a mechanism for taking stock of our trade and economic ties," McClay said.
"We discussed a number of topics, including our bilateral trading relationship and the global trading environment."
Both sides discussed the creation of working groups in sectors focussed on agriculture, food processing, storage and transportation, forestry and pharmaceuticals, a statement from India's government said.
The working groups would facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues, the statement said.
Discussions included cooperation in horticulture, highlighting the kiwi fruit and dairy sectors.
"Once working groups are established, India and New Zealand will review the progress made by those working groups and the recommendations thereof at regular intervals," the statement said.
McClay said the talks were preliminary in nature.
"Our discussions covered a range of topics, including working groups," McClay said. "But no final decisions were taken on that during the meetings."
India's government confirmed that collaboration on pharmaceuticals and medical devices in the health sector was raised.
"This includes the adoption of fast-tracking regulatory process[es] and quality assessment of manufacturing facilities," the statement said. "Greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in [the] medical device sector was also discussed."
The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to resolve issues related to market access, non-tariff barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures on some products, and mutual recognition arrangement in organic products through the existing JTC mechanism, the statement said.
Collaboration on digital trade and cross-border payment systems, co-operative engagement within the G-20, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, and other plurilateral and multi-lateral associations were also included in the agenda, the statement said.