India-New Zealand FTA: NZ can bring in dairy inputs, process and export 100% products

New Delhi: The India-New Zealand free trade pact has an investment arrangement under which firms from the island country can bring raw materials or ingredients from the dairy sector into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100% of those goods, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Monday. The arrangement, he said, will help India increase exports to New Zealand and other parts of the world.

The agreement includes a commitment to implement a dedicated fast-track mechanism to facilitate the supply of New Zealand products duty-free to India for further manufacturing and export.

Separately, in a side-letter, India also committed to consult with New Zealand to extend similar treatment if it offers dairy access to “comparable countries” in the future.

Goyal said it was to take care of New Zealand’s concerns that in case India ever gave dairy concessions to a country with a comparable economy (to that of New Zealand), it, too, should get an opportunity to discuss similar benefits.

“You all know that we have not opened the dairy sector in any FTAs for anybody … India is never going to open dairy, so that concern really does not matter. It is a (side letter) only a consultation, not commitment,” he said.

A comparable economy is one where per capita GDP, size of the economy, and the dairy production levels are similar to those of New Zealand.- Our Bureau