New Delhi: The Department of Commerce has created an FTA Utilisation Cell to explain the benefits and opportunities of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to entrepreneurs across the country, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on Wednesday.
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He said the FTA utilisation cell will work closely with industry associations, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) and state governments to help businesses tap FTAs, identify new market opportunities and make greater use of the agreements.
He added, “The focus will be on working with all EPCs to improve FTA utilisation and ensure that Indian businesses derive maximum benefit from the market access created through these agreements”.
Speaking at the second India-EFTA Prosperity Summit, held to mark the first year of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), Agrawal warned that agreements ‘remain arguments' until they produce measurable results.
India has now concluded deals covering 32 countries, the four EFTA nations, the 27-member European Union and the United Kingdom.
The UK pact has been in force since July 15, he said, while the EU agreement is expected to become operational next year.
Over 99 per cent of India's trade value with EFTA countries now enters at zero tariff, Agarwal said. But he argued the real gain is certainty rather than cheaper duties.
Businesses can now plan investments and build supply chains knowing tariffs will stay stable, he said, and they have a wider choice of partners ‘with more commitment, more reliability and less risk.’
He described the 32 countries as high-income, high-consumption markets that demand quality but reward it. Many Indian exporters, he noted, already fetch up to double the price there that they get elsewhere. Meeting those standards, he said, would prepare Indian firms for any other market.
Agarwal said agriculture holds a ‘huge opportunity’, with the European markets importing farm goods worth trillions of dollars. Tariffs have not fallen to zero in every farm product, but many lines where India is strong have gained zero-duty or preferential access, and the sector must identify these.
He said India's current exports to the bloc are a small fraction of the roughly USD 500 billion import basket. He asked each EPC to prepare a market-wise game plan to close that gap.
Agarwal asked every EPC to draw up a five-year action plan for each agreement. It should cover non-tariff barriers, quality standards, and ‘anchor leaders' in each geography.
He acknowledged that senior leaders often ask whether the deals will deliver, since past FTAs did not make Indian export growth to partner countries notably faster than to other markets.
He said, “The answer lies in complementarity, as these economies have different strengths. The utilisation cell is meant to turn that potential into real outcomes”.
