India-EFTA TEPA: India is Set to Conclude a Trade Pact with EFTA Bloc

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Last Updated10/03/2024

India and the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) grouping — comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
They are likely to sign a long-negotiated bilateral free trade agreement on March 10
It aimed at increasing trade and investment flows, job creation and economic growth, according to multiple sources.

The EFTA is the intergovernmental organization of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
It was set up in 1960 (by the Stockholm Convention in 1960)by its then seven Member States for the promotion of free trade and economic integration between its members.
The organisation operates in parallel with the European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area.
However, they are not a party to the European Union Customs Union.
The main tasks of the Association are threefold -
- Maintaining and developing the EFTA Convention, which regulates economic relations between the four EFTA States;
- Managing the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement), which brings together the EU and 3 of the EFTA States - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - in a single (internal) market.
- Developing EFTA’s worldwide network of free trade agreements.