India-New Zealand FTA to take effect October 20:Kiwi fruit, clothes to get cheaper in India; all Indian goods to get duty-free access

The India-New Zealand free trade agreement will come into force at 12:01 a.m. on 20 October. Under the agreement, all Indian goods will receive 100% duty-free entry into New Zealand. New Zealand will invest $20 billion, or around ₹1.90 lakh crore, in India over the next 15 years. Announcing the trade agreement, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said its aim is to increase trade between the two countries from the current $2.4 billion to around 7 billion New Zealand dollars, or approximately ₹38,000 crore, by 2030. Indian exporters to get 100% duty-free access New Zealand is offering zero import duty on 100% of tariff lines, covering all product categories, for India. This is the first FTA in India’s history to provide completely duty-free access for all products from the very first day of its implementation. This move will eliminate the losses suffered by Indian exporters because of tariffs of up to 10% imposed before the FTA. These key sectors will benefit directly from the FTA Sectors such as dairy not included in FTA India has kept its sensitive products out of the FTA, keeping domestic interests in mind. Benefits for the services sector, visa rules and agriculture New Zealand has opened 118 service sectors/sub-sectors to Indian service providers. These include IT, professional services, telecommunications, construction, education, financial services and tourism. An Agriculture Productivity Partnership has been established to boost agricultural productivity. Under this partnership, dedicated action plans for kiwis, apples and honey will be prepared to improve productivity and quality in India. What New Zealand stands to gain from the FTA India is offering concessions on 70% of its tariff lines, covering around 95% of the current trade value between the two countries. The remaining 29.97% of tariff lines have been placed on the exclusion list. For apples, kiwis, manuka honey and albumin, India has set duty-based quotas (TRQs), a minimum import price (MIP) and safeguard measures. This will protect the interests of domestic farmers while ensuring phased imports. Simpler rules will reduce costs What is a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ)? Under this arrangement, imports of a particular product up to a specified quantity attract low or zero duty, while imports beyond that limit are subject to the normal or higher tax rate. This protects the domestic market while also meeting demand.