Signed, Sealed and Exporting

Key Highlights:

• India's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) journey is shifting from network expansion to fuller utilization of market access.
• Combined merchandise and services exports reached a record US$ 863.1 billion in FY 2025-26, with merchandise exports at US$ 441.8 billion.
• Exports to FTA partners are growing, with early success seen in India-UAE CEPA and India-Australia ECTA.
• Government initiatives like e-CoO 2.0 and Trade Connect facilitate exporters' access to FTA benefits.
• Recent FTAs provide preferential market access across labor-intensive sectors and expand opportunities for Indian services and professionals.
• India is pursuing new FTA negotiations and upgrading existing agreements to further expand its global trade network.

Detailed Insights:

• The focus is on translating market access into wider export participation, investment, and employment, contributing to Viksit Bharat by 2047.
• The India-UAE CEPA, effective May 2022, made UAE India's largest individual FTA export market, with bilateral trade crossing US$ 100.06 billion in FY 2024-25.
• The India-Australia ECTA, effective December 2022, is India's first trade agreement with a developed economy in over a decade, providing 100% duty-free access for Indian exports from 2026.
• Preferential Certificate of Origin (CoO) issuance has increased significantly under new agreements like UAE CEPA, Australia ECTA, EFTA TEPA, and Oman CEPA.
• e-CoO 2.0 provides end-to-end digital issuance of CoOs, while simplified rules under FTAs allow self-declaration of origin and waive documentation for small consignments.
• Product diversification is evident, with an increase in exported tariff lines to markets like UAE, Australia, Mauritius, and Oman.
• FTAs offer preferential access to a substantial share of partner-country tariff lines, including nearly 99% for the UK and 97% for the EU.
• Opportunities for services include dedicated pathways for skilled professionals in the India-New Zealand FTA and commitments across numerous sub-sectors in India-EU FTA and India-EFTA TEPA.
• Mobility provisions in agreements like India-UK CETA facilitate the movement of professionals and include social security agreements.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Free Trade Agreement (FTA): A pact between two or more countries to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them.
• Certificate of Origin (CoO): A document certifying that goods in a particular export shipment have been wholly obtained, produced, or manufactured in a particular country.
• Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) treatment: A principle of non-discrimination in which all trading partners of a country are treated equally.