Are You Actually Getting Zero Duty on Indian Goods in Australia?

Not automatically, no. Since 1 January 2026 every tariff line from India can enter Australia at 0% under ECTA, but only when the shipment comes with a certificate of origin issued by a designated Indian agency. Without one the Australian Border Force charges the general rate by default, and nobody rings you to say so.

I'm writing this because the data tells a strange story. Australia cut its tariffs on Indian goods and the goods didn't come.

Nearly four years in, India's share of Australia's non-fuel imports sits where it was before the agreement. The data can't tell us why, and I won't pretend it can, but one likely reason is sitting in your own import entries and you can check it this week.

1. Why Zero Duty Isn't Automatic

A trade agreement is an offer you have to take up, not a switch someone flips for you. ECTA has no self-declaration and no "importer's knowledge" route. The ABF grants the preference against a certificate of origin from a designated Indian agency, valid for 12 months and for one importation (ABF ECTA rules of origin guide (opens in a new tab)). One trade compliance adviser summed it up in August 2026 - "No certificate, no preference. Customs in Australia charges the standard rate by default" (LinkedIn, August 2026 (opens in a new tab)).

So your zero depends on three people doing their jobs. The supplier has to apply for the certificate, the Indian agency has to issue it against the right invoice and your broker has to claim it on the entry. Miss any one of them and you pay the general rate on goods that qualified.

There are two exceptions you should know. The ABF has waived the certificate for Australian Trusted Traders importing under ECTA, though they still have to keep evidence of origin for at least five years and show it if asked. And no certificate is needed when the customs value of the originating goods is AUD 1,000 or less, unless the shipment was split to dodge the rule (section 8.7 of the ABF ECTA rules of origin guide (opens in a new tab), version as at 17 March 2023, read 13 October 2026).

For most importers neither applies, so the certificate is still the whole game.

2. What the Trade Data Actually Shows

Here's the part nobody selling ECTA mentions. Take petroleum out and India's share of Australian imports barely moved - 1.93%, 1.92%, 1.92%, 1.97% across 2022 to 2025, and 1.73% in January to July 2026 against 2.00% a year earlier (our analysis of ABS data). The final phase-out on 1 January 2026, which took the last lines to zero, shows no visible lift in any consumer category in the first seven months of 2026.

Did ECTA do anything at all? To find out, we compared Australia with four markets where India had no trade agreement over the same years, on the logic that if ECTA mattered then India should have gained more in Australia than anywhere else. In knit apparel it did, by 0.68 points, and in articles of iron or steel by 0.54. In home textiles, carpets, leather goods and ceramics India actually did worse in Australia than in markets that gave it nothing (our analysis of UN Comtrade).

I want to be careful here. A flat share fits three stories - importers not claiming, tariff cuts too small to matter, or duty never being what held buyers back. The data can't pick between them.

What it does tell you is that "ECTA made India cheaper" isn't something to assume for your own goods. Check it.

3. How to Check Whether Your Entries Claimed It

Start with your last few India entries, not with the supplier. Your import declaration carries preference fields, and the ABF's guide lists the codes an importer uses to claim ECTA, the preference scheme and the origin rule. Ask your customs broker for the full entry print for each India shipment and look at two things on every line. Was a preference claimed, and what duty was actually paid?

If duty was paid on a line that should be zero then you've found money. If the preference field is blank, ask your broker why. The honest answer is usually one of three - no certificate arrived, the certificate didn't match the invoice, or nobody asked. I'd much rather you hear the third one from your broker now than from your accountant at year end.

The codes sit in section 1.3 of the ABF's ECTA guide (opens in a new tab), which we read on 13 October 2026. A claim shows preference scheme type IECT, preference origin country IN and a preference rule type of WO for goods wholly obtained in India or PSR for goods made from imported materials. A line with no IECT on it did not claim ECTA, and your broker can confirm how these codes show up on the prints they send you.

4. The Common Mistakes

The certificate is raised on the proforma. Since April 2026 India's trade authority has required the invoice number on a preferential certificate to match the shipping bill exactly (DGFT Notification No. 05/2026-27 (opens in a new tab)). As one trade adviser put it - "one mismatch and the duty benefit is denied at destination" (LinkedIn, April 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Ask for the certificate against the final commercial invoice, every single time.

One certificate, many shipments. A certificate covers one importation. If a supplier emails you last month's certificate for this month's container, you've got a piece of paper and no preference.

The product doesn't qualify. The certificate states an origin criterion and the goods have to meet it. Spices are where this bites hardest. Under ECTA's product rules, pepper, chillies, cumin, turmeric and the other single spices must be wholly obtained in India or Australia, so ground cumin made from imported seed can't qualify however tidy the paperwork is (India to Australia has the detail). Garments made from imported fabric are the other common case, covered in rules of origin explained.

The supplier is new to ECTA. Plenty of Indian makers, especially smaller ones exporting for the first time, have never applied for an ECTA certificate. Nothing wrong with that, but it means you have to name the step in the purchase order, along with the issuing agency, so it gets done before the goods sail.

5. Can You Get the Duty Back?

Yes, if you move quickly on the Indian side. If you paid the general rate, you can claim a refund for up to four years from the date of entry once you hold a valid certificate for that shipment. The refund reason code is 23A10A, set out in section 1.3 of the ABF's ECTA guide (opens in a new tab), and practitioners put the condition plainly - "importers should have a valid COO or a copy of one at the time of seeking a refund" (LinkedIn, Australian freight industry association, December 2022 (opens in a new tab)).

The catch is in India, not Australia. The Indian agency can issue a certificate retrospectively only up to 12 months after export, so your four-year window is really a 12-month window that started the day the goods left. Every month you wait eats into it. How refunds work in each market is on duty refunds.

6. What to Change on Your Next Order

Write three things into the purchase order. First, the ECTA certificate as a shipping document, issued against the final commercial invoice. Second, the origin criterion the supplier is claiming. Third, where the main inputs come from (fabric, seed, components), because that's what decides whether the criterion holds.

Then tell your broker in writing that every India entry should claim ECTA and that you want to hear about it whenever one can't. It's one email, and it's the difference between a tariff that's zero on paper and a duty bill that's zero in your account.

Related reading: Certificate of origin · FTA duty phase-down · Same spice, three borders · Indian food failures at Australian border tests

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