An agreement with India on customs co-operation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters was signed in Brussels on 28 April 2004 .
The priority areas are:
- simplification of customs procedures including exchanges on the difficulties encountered by the economic operators and
- sharing experience and expertise to develop procedures and modern control methods compatible with international standards and with the party's concerns.
In this context, the role of the customs within the framework of the fight against piracy and counterfeiting and to facilitate trade is a priority for the EU. Another area of focus is the discussions on the respective approaches of India and the Community to reconcile the facilitation of trade and the security of the international logistical chain to face terrorism threats.
Finally, the agreement puts into operation a mutual administrative assistance mechanism that covers information regarding activities detected or planned which are or could be operations in breach of customs legislation. This includes information regarding activities that may result in offences within the territory of the other Party, such as incorrect customs valuation, classification or declarations and certificates of origin, invoices, or other documents known to be, or suspected of being, incorrect or falsified.
The Commission has negotiated the agreement with India on behalf of the European Community on the basis of the mandate it received from the EU's Council of Ministers on 28 January 2003 . The agreement, which is very close to other agreements concluded by the EC with its major trading partners, has been published in the Official Journal L 304 of 30 September 2004. The first meeting of the Indian Joint Customs Co-operation Committee took place on 22 and 23 March in New Delhi and the second meeting took place on 4 December 2006 in Chenna.