Trade and Investment Opportunities between India and Mauritius

India and Mauritius enjoy excellent bilateral relations, which are based on historic & cultural affinities, frequent high-level political interactions, development cooperation, defence and maritime partnership, and people to people linkages.

?Since 2005, India has been among the largest trading partners of Mauritius, and has been one of the largest exporters of goods and services to Mauritius.

India and Mauritius have signed a wide range of bilateral agreements. Some of the other important agreements are the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (1982), Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (1998), MoU on Air Services (2005), Agreement on Cooperation in Information Technology (2000), MOU on Cooperation in Biotechnology (2002), Extradition Treaty (2003), MOU on Cooperation against Terrorism (2005), MOU on Cooperation in the field of Environment (2005), Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters (2005), Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (2005), MOU for Cooperation in the field of Hydrography (2005), MOU for Cooperation on Consumer Protection and Legal Metrology (2005), MOU Concerning Cooperation in the Exchange of Finance Intelligence Related to Money Laundering & Financing of Terrorism (2008), Protocol on the Sale of Navigational Charts; Agreement on Cooperation for the establishment of telemetry, tracking and telecommand station for satellites and launch vehicles and for cooperation in the fields of space research, science and applications; Supply Contract for the Coastal Radar Surveillance System (2009), MoU on the supply of an Offshore Patrol Vessel; Agreement on Early Warning of Coastal Hazards (2010), MOU on Science and Technology Cooperation (2012), MOU on Sports and Youth Affairs (2012), Educational Exchange Programme (2012), MOU on Textiles (2012), MOU between RGSC Trust Fund and NCSM for setting up a hybrid planetarium (2012), and MoU on Cooperation in Election Management and Administration. In addition, Cultural Exchange Programmes have been regularly concluded since 1971.

More recently Mauritius and India signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22 February 2021, It came into force on 1 April 2021. The India-Mauritius CECPA is the first trade agreement signed by India with an African country.

TheAgreement is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Tradein Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures,Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, CustomsProcedures and Cooperation in other Areas.

The India-Mauritius CECPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage andimprove trade between the two countries. The CECPA between India and Mauritius covers310 export items for India, including food stuff and beverages (80 lines), agricultural products (25 lines), textile and textile articles (27 lines), base metals and articles thereof (32lines), electricals and electronic item (13 lines), plastics and chemicals (20 lines), wood and articles thereof (15 lines), and others. Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic drinks, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel.

As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have access to around 115 subsectorsfrom the 11 broad service sectors such as professional services, computer relatedservices, research & development, other business services, telecommunication,construction, distribution, education, environmental, financial, tourism & travel related,recreational, yoga, audio-visual services, and transport services.India has offered around 95 sub-sectors from the 11 broad services sectors, includingprofessional services, R&D, other business services, telecommunication, financial,distribution, higher education, environmental, health, tourism and travel related services,recreational services and transport services.

Details of the India-Mauritius CECPA can be obtained at the following link from 01 April 2021:?https://commerce.gov.in/international-trade/trade-agreements/

Indian exporters have to obtain a Certificate of Origin (CoO) from the authorised Indian agencies to avail the preferential benefits under the CECPA. The online application for CoO for the India-Mauritius CECPA can be made from 01 April 2021 through the common digital platform for issuance of certificate of origin of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce at?https://coo.dgft.gov.in/

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