The recently released full text of India’s proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union laid out a detailed roadmap for how the two sides will handle online commerce and protection of ideas, brands and technology.
On digital trade, the draft text said that the aim is to “facilitate digital trade” and ensure an “open, secure and trustworthy online environment” for businesses and consumers.
It covers any trade done using electronic means, such as online sales of goods or services, but keeps out audio‑visual services and government procurement. Both sides keep their full right to regulate the digital economy to meet their own policy goals, including privacy and data protection.
The deal promotes paperless trade at the border, acceptance of e‑contracts and electronic signatures, and the use of electronic invoicing. It also commits India and the EU not to demand access to the source code of software as a condition for market entry, except in limited cases like critical infrastructure or competition investigations, with safeguards against unauthorised disclosure.
There are specific rules against spam, requirements for honest online commercial practices, and cooperation on cyber‑security, digital identities and consumer protection to build trust in cross‑border digital trade. At the same time, each side’s right to set its own level of personal‑data protection is explicitly preserved.
On intellectual property (IP), the FTA’s objective is to ensure “appropriate and effective protection and enforcement” of IP rights in order to promote innovation and creativity, support trade in innovative goods and services, and encourage investment in a “more sustainable and inclusive economy”. The terms of the deal come on top of the existing WTO TRIPS Agreement and WIPO treaties, and confirm the commitments of boht India and the UK under key agreements such as TRIPS, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, the Marrakesh Treaty and the Madrid Protocol for international trademarks.
The deal also reaffirms the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health and clearly says nothing in the IP chapter can limit either side’s rights to use TRIPS flexibilities on compulsory licences, including for exports under Article 31bis. It leaves India and the EU free to decide their own rules on exhaustion of IP rights and recognises the importance of technology transfer, including protection of trade secrets against dishonest acquisition or misuse.
