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The Parliament of New Zealand passed legislation on 16 September 2026 to give effect to the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, signed in New Delhi on 27 April 2026.
The Agreement gives duty-free access to 100 per cent of Indian exports to New Zealand from the date it enters into force, and preferential access in India for New Zealand wood, wool, sheep meat and leather raw hides.
It also provides for facilitating USD 20 billion of investment into India, along with services, investment and professional, student and youth mobility pathways.
Both sides are still completing their domestic procedures, so this is a step towards entry into force rather than implementation itself.
Negotiations formally launched by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand's Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay.
Negotiations concluded after five formal rounds and several intersessions.
India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement signed in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits New Zealand - the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit in four decades; both leaders press for early implementation.
Parliament of New Zealand passes legislation giving effect to the Agreement.
| Agreement | Signed | Entry into force | Headline feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| India-New Zealand FTA | 27 April 2026 | Not yet in force | Duty-free access for 100% of Indian exports; USD 20 billion investment facilitation into India |
| India-UK CETA | 24 July 2025 | 15 July 2026 | 99% of Indian goods duty-free in the UK; accompanied by the Double Contribution Convention on social security |
| India-EFTA TEPA | 10 March 2024 | 1 October 2025 | Binding USD 100 billion FDI commitment over 15 years; EFTA = Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland |
| India-Australia ECTA | 2 April 2022 | 29 December 2022 | Interim agreement; negotiations for a fuller CECA continue |
Rules deciding which country a good genuinely comes from, so an FTA's tariff concessions reach only goods actually produced in the partner country. The usual tests are wholly obtained, a change of tariff heading, or a minimum local value addition.
Requires a WTO member to extend any trade advantage given to one member to all others 'immediately and unconditionally'. A bilateral FTA is by design a departure from this non-discrimination rule.
The exception that lets members form free-trade areas and customs unions, and interim agreements leading to them, with preferential tariffs among themselves - the legal basis on which FTAs like this one sit inside the WTO system.
Notified in August 2020 and in force from 21 September 2020; makes the importer responsible for the origin information when claiming a preferential FTA duty rate, and was framed to stop third-country goods being routed through FTA partners.
GS Paper 2 > International Relations > Bilateral agreements involving India; GS Paper 3 > External sector
General Awareness > International trade agreements and India's external sector
The WTO's core non-discrimination rule, in Article I of GATT 1994: a concession given to one member must be extended to all, immediately and unconditionally. Free-trade areas are a permitted exception under Article XXIV.
Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, in force from 21 September 2020, placing the burden of substantiating origin on the importer claiming a preferential FTA rate.
The date a signed treaty becomes legally operative, after both parties complete domestic procedures such as enabling legislation and ratification. Signature alone does not create the tariff benefits.