- Country or region
- India
- Trade topics
- Negotiations and agreements
Opening a market of 1.45 billion consumers to EU agri-food exports
India has a great potential for EU agri-food exports: In 2024, EU agrifood exports to India amounted to €1.3 billion, or 0.6% of the EU's total agrifood exports.
The agreement removes often prohibitive Indian tariffs while fully respecting sensitive agricultural sectors on both sides.
Improved market access for EU Agri-food exports
The agreement delivers an unmatched agricultural market access, compared to India’s other trade agreements such as with the UK and Australia.
Indian tariffs on agrifood products are 36% on average and can be as high as 150%. The agreement substantially reduces or eliminates them on EU exports of key agricultural goods.
| Product | Current tariffs | Future Tariffs |
| Wine | 150% | 20% (premium range); 30% (medium range) |
| Spirits | Up to 150% | 40% |
| Beer | 110% | 50% |
| Olive Oil, margarine and other vegetable oils | Up to 45% | 0% |
| Kiwis and pears | 33% | 10% in-quota |
| Fruit juices and non-alcoholic beer | Up to 55% | 0% |
| Processed food (breads, pastries, biscuits, pasta, chocolate, pet food) | Up to 50% | 0% |
| Sheep meat | 33% | 0% |
| Sausages and other meat preparations | Up to 110% | 50% |
The agreement establishes a working group on wines and spirits for the EU and India to exchange information and cooperate, for example on oenological practices.
The EU and India are currently negotiating a separate agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs), which will help traditional EU farming products sell more in India, by removing unfair competition in the form of imitations.
Protecting sensitive agricultural sectors
Both sides have agreed to exclude the most sensitive agricultural products from liberalisation. The Agreement balances market access with the protection of sensitive sectors.
- The EU maintains its current tariffs on sensitive products such as beef, sugar, rice, chicken meat, milk powder, honey, bananas, soft wheat, garlic, and ethanol.
- The EU will open calibrated quotas for imports of sheep & goat meat, sweetcorn, grapes, cucumbers, dried onions, rum made of molasses and starches.
The Agreement includes a bilateral safeguard mechanism, providing a targeted response in the unlikely event of market disruption arising directly from the deal.
EU health is not negotiable
The EU has very stringent, science-based standards to protect human, animal and plant health. All products imported from India under the agreement will have to respect these standards.
- We will maintain our robust heath and food safety systems and remain fully independent in adopting safety criteria for products reaching the EU market.
- We will conduct Impact Assessments to analyse potential alignment of production standards between domestic and imported products, notably on pesticides and animal welfare.
- We are also increasing the number of food safety audits to third countries and reinforcing measures to strengthen EU border controls on imported food, animal and plant products.