India-Australia free trade agreement to be effective Dec 29

The India-Australia Free Trade Agreement will come into force from December 29, allowing duty-free access to more than 96 percent of India’s exports, including labor-intensive items such as apparel, leather goods, many engineering products, gems and jewellery, on the day The first to implement.

India and Australia deepen their longstanding partnership. The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which was achieved under the guidance of leaders in both countries, comes into force from December 29, 2022. It is the dawn of a whole new era for our companies and our people,” Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal tweeted on Wednesday.

The Australian parliament earlier this month approved the interim ECTA, which is expected to increase bilateral trade to an estimated $45-50 billion in five years from an existing $31 billion.

India will provide tariff-free market access to 85 per cent of Australian goods, such as wool, sheep meat, coal and specified minerals, on the first day of implementation, increasing it to 91 per cent in 10 years while Australia will provide tariff-free access to 100 per cent of Indian commodities in five years.

Negotiations for a comprehensive ECTA between India and Australia is now likely to be launched during the Joint Ministerial Committee meeting in January 2023. The comprehensive agreement will cover areas not fully included or excluded in the interim deal such as digital trade, government procurement, specific product (rules of origin) and market access. for some commodities.

Free Trade Agreement negotiations between India and Australia first began in 2011 but were suspended in 2015 as talks stalled on issues such as market access for dairy products in India and visa liberalization for Indian professionals.

The two countries resumed their free trade agreement negotiations in September 2021, and this time things were done in record time and the agreement was signed in just over six months.

Visa facilitation

Australia has agreed to liberalize the visa regime for Indians in a number of areas as part of ECTA. It approved an annual quota of 1,800 visas for Indian yoga teachers and chefs. It will also allow post-study work visa (18 months – 4 years) for Indian students who are likely to benefit from more than one Indian student, according to government estimates.