India and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement

India and New Zealand signed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) after the nine-month negotiations started in March 2025. Both prime ministers described it as comprehensive. Balanced and forward-looking agreement. The FTA would act as a catalyst for higher trade, investment, innovation and people-to-people connections between the two countries, which will benefit exporters, MSMEs, farmers, students, manufacturers and professionals.

Key Highlights of the India and New Zealand Free Trade Agreement:

The Agreement stands out as one of India’s fastest-concluded FTAs, aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. 

Zero-duty market access:

• Zero duty market access on 100% of India’s exports. India has offered tariff liberalisation in 70% of lines, covering 95% of New Zealand-India bilateral trade.

• Duty-free inputs for India’s manufacturing sector: wooden logs, coking coal, and waste and scraps of metals.

• High note for all Indian exports, including textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather, engineering goods, and Agricultural products

Best market access and services:

• New Zealand offered the best market access and services to India, covering 118 service sectors, including computer-related services, professional services, telecommunication services, construction services, etc.

• Most-Favoured Nation Commitment in about 139 sub-sectors.

Student Mobility: 

• Boosts student mobility through post-study work visas and professional pathways in New Zealand, with no numerical caps.

• Students can convert global learning to global experience with post-study work rights of up to 3 years for STEM bachelor’s and master’s graduates and up to 4 years for doctoral scholars.

Employment Quota: 

• A dedicated quota of Temporary Employment Entry visas for 5,000 professionals and 1,000 Work and Holiday Visas.

Investment: 

• Zealand has committed to facilitate investments of USD 20 billion into India over the next 15 years, thereby supporting manufacturing, infrastructure, services, innovation and employment under India’s Make in India vision. 

Agricultural Productivity Partnership: 

• Establishes Agricultural Productivity Partnerships through Centres of Excellence for Apples, Kiwifruit, and Honey to boost productivity and farmer incomes.

• Productivity cooperation is paired with restricted market access for apples, kiwifruit and honey linked to quotas and minimum import prices, aligning knowledge transfer with safeguards for domestic producers.

• To ensure protection for farmers and the domestic industry, market access excludes dairy products, coffee, caseins, onions, sugar, spices, edible oils, and rubber.

Boost to Pharma and Medical Devices: 

• Faster regulatory access by enabling acceptance of GMP and GCP, including approvals by the US FDA, EMA, UK MHRA, and other comparable regulators to reduce duplicative inspections, lower compliance costs, and expedite product approvals, thereby facilitating the growth of India’s pharmaceutical and medical device exports to New Zealand.

Extension on Geographical Indications:

• Law to facilitate the registration of India’s wines, spirits and ‘other goods’, a benefit that was accorded to the EU by New Zealand – to be completed under defined timelines.

Cooperation with AYUSH: 

• The FTA promotes India’s AYUSH systems internationally, encourages medical value travel, and positions India as a global wellness hub.

• FTA includes provisions to address non-tariff barriers through enhanced regulatory cooperation, transparency, streamlined customs, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, and Technical Barriers to Trade disciplines. 

• All systemic facilitations and fast-track mechanisms for imports that serve as inputs for our manufactured exports ensure that tariff concessions translate into effective and meaningful market access.

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Significance of the Free Trade Agreement: 

• The FTA establishes a high-quality economic partnership that promotes employment, facilitates skill mobility, drives trade and investment-led growth and enhances MSME participation to strengthen long-term economic resilience.

• Elimination of tariffs on 100% of its tariff lines provides duty-free access for all Indian exports and enhances the competitiveness of India’s labour-intensive sectors.  

• India has secured commitments across a wide range of high-value sectors, including IT and IT-enabled services, opening substantial new opportunities for Indian service suppliers and high-skill employment.

• Establishment of dedicated Agri-Technology Action Plans on productivity enhancement, technology, research collaboration, quality improvement and value-chain development, to strengthen domestic capabilities and support income growth for Indian farmers. 

• Strengthens investment partnership between two countries by supporting manufacturing, infrastructure, services, innovation and employment under India’s Make in India vision. 

• Facilitating the growth of India’s pharmaceutical and medical device exports to New Zealand through faster regulatory access to reduce duplicative inspections and lower compliance costs. 

India and New Zealand have signed a comprehensive, balanced, and forward-looking Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which represents a significant economic and strategic milestone in India's involvement with the Indo-Pacific region. It is a new-generation trade pact which is based on a people-centred, job-driven strategic partnership for Viksit Bharat 2047.

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