​The 7th Meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers was held in Shanghai from 1-2 August. A six-member delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Ambassador J.S. Deepak, PR to WTO participated in the meetings.Mr. Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce from China, presided over the meetings. The other delegations were represented by Mr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry (South Africa), Mr. Marcelo Maia Tavares de Araujo, Secretary of Commerce and Services of Ministry of Industry (Brazil) and Mr Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development (Russia).

A collective courtesy call on Vice Premier Wang Yang was also organized for the BRICS Trade Ministers on 2nd August forenoon. Separately, a bilateral meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister (CIM) and Chinese Commerce Minister was also held on 1st August forenoon.

The Ministers adopted the following documents at the conclusion of the meeting:

• 7th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Joint Statement
• BRICS Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap
• BRICS E-Commerce Cooperation Initiative
• BRICS IPR Cooperation Guidelines
• Framework on strengthening the Economic and Technical Cooperation of BRICS Countries
• Terms of Reference (ToR) of BRICS Model E-Port Network
• Outlines for BRICS Investment Facilitation

BRICS trade cooperation deepened through coordinated frameworks for services, e commerce, IPR and investment facilitation. Ministers adopted a coordinated suite of instruments to advance BRICS cooperation on trade, services, digital commerce, intellectual property and investment. Key adopted instruments include a Trade in Services Cooperation Roadmap, a BRICS E Commerce Cooperation Initiative, BRICS IPR Cooperation Guidelines, a Framework on Strengthening Economic and Technical Cooperation, Terms of Reference for a BRICS Model E Port Network, and Outlines for BRICS Investment Facilitation to guide implementation, capacity building and cross border procedural coordination.