New Delhi, October 19: The India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will come into force on October 20, 2026, giving all Indian goods duty-free entry into the New Zealand market.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment Todd McClay announced the date at a virtual ceremony on Monday. October 20 is Vijayadashami.
New Zealand has removed customs duties on all tariff lines covering Indian exports, ending peak tariffs of up to 10%. New Zealand has also committed to facilitate USD 20 billion of investment into India, according to the Commerce Ministry.
Who stands to gain
The ministry expects textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, automobiles and auto parts, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, farm products and processed foods to benefit. Duty-free access for wooden logs, coking coal and metal scrap is expected to help manufacturers and small businesses that depend on these inputs.
Pharmaceutical and medical device makers will benefit from simpler regulatory processes, the ministry said.
“For India, 100% duty-free access to the New Zealand market opens significant new opportunities for our exporters, particularly MSMEs, artisans, farmers, and women entrepreneurs,” Goyal said.
Goyal also flagged off the first export of a JCB machine from India to New Zealand. More consignments from the agriculture, gems and jewellery, engineering, sporting goods, footwear and leather sectors are to be flagged off on October 20.
Services, AYUSH and visas
New Zealand has given India its best services offer in any of its trade agreements so far, with market access in about 118 sectors and most-favoured-nation commitments in about 139 sub-sectors. For the first time, it has also opened dedicated access for health and traditional medicine services, covering Ayurveda, yoga and other AYUSH systems.
Indian professionals will have a yearly quota of 5,000 Temporary Employment Entry visas and 1,000 Working Holiday visas. There will be no cap on the number of Indian students. STEM graduates with bachelor’s and master’s degrees will get post-study work rights of up to three years, and doctoral scholars up to four years.
Farm cooperation and safeguards
An Agricultural Productivity Partnership under the agreement includes action plans for kiwifruit, apples and honey. New Zealand will provide technical help to set up Centres of Excellence for these crops.
Under the kiwifruit plan, first-phase sites have been identified at Pfutsero in Nagaland and Magra in Uttarakhand. Two apple centres are proposed in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the honey plan envisages centres in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Tariff rate quotas for New Zealand apples, kiwifruit and Mānuka honey are tied to delivery of these action plans, overseen by a Joint Agriculture Productivity Council.
Dairy, sugar, edible oils and other sensitive farm products have been kept out of the concessions. The ministry said rules of origin, a bilateral safeguard mechanism and anti-circumvention provisions will ensure only genuine Indian exporters benefit. New Zealand has also agreed to help register Indian Geographical Indications.
McClay said the agreement opens a market of 1.4 billion consumers to New Zealand exporters, whose current exports to India will see tariffs removed or substantially reduced.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said the government is working with industry associations to take the agreement’s benefits to every district.
Timeline
Negotiations began on March 16, 2025, and concluded on December 22, 2025. The agreement was signed on April 27, 2026. It supports the India–New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030, which aims to double bilateral trade in goods and services to NZ$7 billion (about ₹35,000 crore) by 2030.
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