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24th RCEP Auckland Round
- 6thRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial Meeting was held on 30-31 August, 2018, in Singapore, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu, led the Indian delegation.
- The Chair of the Trade Negotiating Committee, Mr. Pak Iman Pambagyo, made a detailed presentation on the state of play of RCEP negotiations and sought ministerial guidance and direction on pending issues.
- The Ministers acknowledged the good progress made in the negotiations so far with successful conclusion of 4 chapters, namely (i) Economic and Technical Cooperation; (ii) Small and Medium Enterprises; (iii) Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation; and (iv) Government Procurement.
In Goods:
- The negotiators have been tasked to work on the ASEAN’s Non-Paper on Trade in Goods Market Access Negotiations, which is to be considered as the working assumption paper. Commerce Minister reiterated the need for providing adequate flexibilities on various elements of the Non-Paper, such as exclusion, reduction, staging and deviations.
In Services:
- Suresh Prabhu emphasised on the importance of maintaining quality and commercially meaningful offers across all Modes. In a significant development, all member countries agreed to establish the linkage between Mode 4/ MoNP and the Services text.
In Investment:
- The Commerce Minister underlined the importance of negotiations focussing on the application of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) and mentioned that clarity on its application would lead to further movement in the Investment Chapter. At India’s behest, it was agreed that ISDS will not apply to MFN and PPR.
Background:Â
- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a mega regional free trade agreement being negotiated amongst 16 countries, comprising 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and six ASEAN FTA partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. So far 6 Ministerial Meetings, 5 Inter-sessional Ministerial Meetings and 23 Rounds of the Trade Negotiating Committee at the technical level have been held.
Rashtriya Poshan Maah
Event Details:
- When: Sep 01, 2018 09:00 AM to Sep 30, 2018 05:00 PM
- Where: Across the country
About:
- Rashtriya Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) is being observed during the month of September 2018.
- The programme-an initiative of Ministry of Women and Child Development and NITI Aayog is supported by 18 line Ministries/Departments/Government Organizations.
- It seeks to synergise all efforts by leveraging technology and intends to take nutrition awareness to the level of Jan Andolan or People’s Movement.
- The programme focuses on 8 themes – Antenatal Care, Optimal Breastfeeding (Early & Exclusive), Complementary Feeding, Anemia, Growth Monitoring, and Girls-education, diet, right age of Marriage, Hygiene & Sanitation, and Food Fortification.
- Various activities are planned for to the month of September which will be celebrated nationwide as Poshan Maah. Activities like- Prabhat Pheri, POSHAN Melas, POSHAN Rallies & Walks, Nukkad Nataks, Yuva Shakti Rallies, School Based Events, Recipe Demonstration, Public Events are planned.
- The People’s Movement intends to reach 11 crore beneficiaries during the Nutrition Month itself.
- The speciality of the programme is that activities are to be updated by all the Ministries on the Jan Andholan Dash-board for continuous monitoring.
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