Commerce Department Sets Up an FTA Utilisation Cell to Help Exporters Tap Trade Pacts
The Department of Commerce has set up an FTA Utilisation Cell to help Indian businesses actually use the tariff concessions in India's free trade agreements. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal announced it at the 2nd India-EFTA Prosperity Summit in New Delhi. The cell will work with Export Promotion Councils, industry associations and state governments, and draw up market-specific action plans spanning four to five years. India has concluded trade agreements with EFTA, the UAE, Australia, Mauritius, Oman, New Zealand, the UK and the EU, giving preferential access to about 32 countries — a footprint whose low utilisation rate the cell is meant to fix.
EFTA, the European Free Trade Association, has four members - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - and signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement with India in March 2024 | The India-EFTA TEPA is the first Indian trade pact to carry a binding investment commitment, with USD 100 billion promised over 15 years | The Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Commerce Ministry administers India's Foreign Trade Policy, the current one effective from 1 April 2023