India's Trade Agreements: A Buyer's Status Guide
- Updated
A shipment from Karnataka went to the Gulf through a UAE hub in 2026, and everyone involved assumed the India-UAE CEPA rate would apply. It cleared. Then, on post-clearance review months later, customs denied the concessional rate entirely, because the certificate of origin "did not meet the specific rules of origin threshold the agreement actually requires" (United Law Chambers, LinkedIn, August 2026 (opens in a new tab)). The duty came back, and the origin paperwork had to be rebuilt from scratch for every later shipment.
That story is why this page exists. An agreement is only worth something if it's in force for your market, your goods meet its origin rule, and the right person signs the right proof. We cover all three for every Indian agreement a foreign buyer might touch, dated, with what we couldn't confirm said plainly. One caveat up front - the story above is one law firm's summary of one case, not a statistic, but the pattern it shows turns up again and again in our research.
Last researched 28 September 2026 · Next review 20 October 2026 · Written by SourcingFrom
The decision in brief is in the playbook: Exporting and trade → /india/#trade. This page is the list. Each destination page holds the depth.
1. Read The Status Word, Not The Headline
"India signs trade deal" makes the news three or four times a year. Very few of those headlines change the duty you pay next month.
Here's the vocabulary that matters. In force means you can claim the rate at your border today. Signed and concluded mean the text exists but you can't claim anything yet. In talks means nothing exists at all. The EU agreement is the big example right now - concluded on 27 January 2026, not signed, not in force, and no start date is set (Council document ST 13066/26 (opens in a new tab)). A supplier quoting you an "EU FTA price" today is quoting a price that doesn't exist.
The opposite mistake happens too. A month after the UK agreement went live, one reader on a UK small-business forum replied "Oh wow, I didn't actually think it went live yet! I completely missed the news" (r/smallbusinessuk, August 2026 (opens in a new tab)). A 0% rate you don't know about is a 0% rate you don't claim.
2. The Six Agreements That Matter to Our Readers
As of 28 September 2026, a buyer in our core markets can use or plan on six agreements. Everything else is either older and aimed at India's neighbours, or not yet real.
- UAE CEPA, in force since 2022. The general rule is wholly obtained or 40% value addition, as reported in an Indian free-zone FAQ (NSEZ FAQ (opens in a new tab)). The UAE's own pages didn't load for us, so treat the number as Reported. Details on the UAE page.
- Australia ECTA, in force since 29 December 2022, with every tariff line at 0% since 1 January 2026. You need an agency certificate from India, never a self-declaration (ABF rules of origin guide (opens in a new tab)). See Australia.
- EFTA TEPA (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), in force since 1 October 2025 (PIB, 30 September 2025 (opens in a new tab)). See EFTA.
- Oman CEPA, in force since 1 June 2026, with all textile, apparel and handicraft lines at 0% (PIB, 3 June 2026 (opens in a new tab)). See Oman.
- UK CETA, in force since 15 July 2026 (UK Trade Tariff (opens in a new tab)). See the UK.
- New Zealand FTA, ratified on 21 September 2026 and in force from 20 October 2026 (MFAT (opens in a new tab)). Until that date, NZ brokers are telling importers that nothing can be claimed. See New Zealand.
The US has no agreement with India. An interim deal is unsigned, and Indian goods pay MFN plus an extra 10% under Section 301 (91 FR 47318 (opens in a new tab)). The detail is on the US page.
3. Who Signs the Proof Decides More Than the Percentage
People compare agreements by the origin percentage. Honestly, that's the wrong thing to compare first. The practical difference is who signs the proof, because that decides who can get it wrong and how you check it.
| Who signs | Agreements |
|---|---|
| An Indian agency, applied for on DGFT's e-CoO platform | Australia, the UAE, Oman, Mauritius, Singapore, Japan, Korea, SAFTA, APTA, Sri Lanka, Chile, and New Zealand from 20 October |
| The Indian exporter itself (self-declared certificate), or an agency | EFTA (Appendix 2.A.3 (opens in a new tab)) |
| A status holder's declaration, or an agency | New Zealand (FTA text (opens in a new tab)) |
| The exporter's declaration on the invoice, an agency certificate, or your own knowledge as importer | The UK (CETA Chapter 3 (opens in a new tab)) |
So a supplier that offers to "self-certify" for Australia is simply wrong, and the ABF will charge you the general rate. And a supplier that self-declares for Switzerland is doing exactly what TEPA allows, but the certificate is only as good as its bill of materials. Keep a copy.
One more rule applies to every agency certificate. Since April 2026, the invoice number on a preferential certificate has to match the shipping bill exactly (DGFT Notification No. 05/2026-27 of 7 April 2026 (opens in a new tab)). We could confirm the notification is listed, but the PDF is a scan, so we read the rule only through a trade adviser's reproduction. Ask your supplier to check that the certificate, the shipping bill and your commercial invoice carry the same number before the container is stuffed.
4. The Older Agreements, and When They Beat the New Ones
India also has a long tail of older agreements. They matter if you import into Asia, Africa or South America, and hardly at all if you're in London or Sydney.
In Asia, there's ASEAN (AITIGA, under review, see ASEAN), bilateral deals with Singapore and Malaysia, and CEPAs with Japan and South Korea that both use a 35% value plus change of subheading test (Japan basic agreement (opens in a new tab), Korea CEPA text (opens in a new tab)). Neither official Indian page gives an entry-into-force date, which tells you something about how the listings are kept. In South Asia there's SAFTA, the Sri Lanka FTA and separate treaties with Nepal and Bhutan. Across the region runs APTA, the old Bangkok Agreement.
Further out, Mauritius has a CECPA in force since 1 April 2021 (CECPA text (opens in a new tab)). Chile has a PTA expanded in 2017 that asks for a government certificate plus the producer's sworn declaration. And MERCOSUR has had a small PTA since 2009, which on 14 September 2026 gained a protocol accepting electronic certificates and a launch of expansion talks.
Where two agreements overlap, the newer or bilateral one usually has the better rate and a certificate your supplier has issued before. That's the one to start with. The GSTP, a preference scheme among developing countries, has no member in our core markets, so we give it this line and no page.
5. Why the Official List Can Mislead You
You'd expect India's own Department of Commerce to be the place to check status. It's where you find the texts, and that's all it's good for.
The ministry lists in-force, signed and legacy agreements together under one heading, "Agreements already concluded" (commerce.gov.in, read 23 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)). Its "Current Engagements in RTAs" page describes the Canada, GCC and Israel talks as they stood between 2013 and 2017, and doesn't mention Peru, Qatar or the Eurasian Economic Union at all (engagements page, read 25 September 2026 (opens in a new tab)). So we check status against the destination government, the gazette notification or both, and date every line.
6. Markets With No Agreement, and Talks to Watch
If you import into Canada, Saudi Arabia or the rest of the GCC outside the UAE and Oman, you pay your normal tariff on Indian goods. India and the GCC signed a framework agreement on 25 August 2004 and held two rounds, in 2006 and 2008, and the ministry records no third (engagements page (opens in a new tab)).
Talks are live with Canada, where the Commerce Minister said in July 2026 that a pact "may close in 6 months" (Business Standard, July 2026 (opens in a new tab), Reported). Peru is paused to late 2026 in the same report. The ASEAN review met in New Delhi from 6 to 10 July 2026 and targets conclusion this year (ANI, 8 July 2026 (opens in a new tab), Reported). Chile is upgrading its PTA to a CEPA. Israel, Qatar and the EAEU are reported in the press with no official status. Until any of these is signed, price on your normal tariff. A deal that "may close" is not a deal.
7. Back to Karnataka
The shipment through the UAE didn't fail because of the route or because CEPA isn't real. It failed because nobody checked, before the goods moved, that they met the origin rule and that the certificate proved it. The denial arrived months later, after the duty saving had already been counted as margin.
That's the whole lesson of India's agreements. Pick the one that's in force for your market, check your product against its rule at the RFQ stage, ask who will sign the proof, and match the numbers on the paperwork. If any of those four is shaky then price on your normal tariff and treat the preference as a bonus.
Next Step
Open your destination's page from the list above. The Indian issuing agencies and the export documents are on Exporting from India.
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