New Delhi: India has signed mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with customs authorities of nine countries and is looking at inking such pacts with 10 more nations by December this year, a government official said on Tuesday. Under this agreement, trade facilitation is extended reciprocally.

Akhil Kumar Khatri, Principal Commissioner, Directorate of International Customs (DIC), said these MRAs help promote two-way trade.

“We have signed these agreements with nine countries and by December this year, we are looking at signing with 10 more nations,” Khatri told PTI on the sidelines of an event on ‘Unlocking Global Trade Synergies: First India-Russia AEO Seminar in association with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)’. It was organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) here.

Last year, the CBIC and the Russia’s Federal Customs Service signed the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) MRA to provide reciprocal benefits to accredited and trusted exporters of both countries in the clearance of goods by the customs authorities of the importing country. India has already signed such pacts with with the customs administrations of South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US, the UAE, Australia, and Russia.