India has not offered any tariff concessions in dairy sector under any FTA: Piyush Goyal

India has not offered any tariff concessions in the dairy sector under any free trade agreement so far, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday, including pacts with the European Union, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

India has not offered any duty concessions in the dairy sector under any of its free trade agreements so far, including those with the European Union, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday. He said India's dairy sector is driven by very small and marginal farmers with limited landholdings who own only a few cattle. These farmers has a "very" low production and needs to be protected against large farms that Europe, America, Australia, or New Zealand have.

"India has had a very consistent stand in all our FTAs across the world, whether it is European Union, Switzerland... UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand. Never has India opened the dairy sector. Everybody in this room knows it. Everybody in the world knows it," he told reporters here after signing a trade pact with New Zealand.

This is a known position, and there is nothing new in this, he said. However, he added that as per India's foreign trade policy, the government allows foreign firms to bring raw materials or ingredients into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods. That product is not allowed to be sold in the country, he said.

"So it doesn't hurt the Indian market, doesn't hurt the Indian farmers, but adds to our foreign exchange income, adds jobs to our youth, provides opportunities for our farmers also to possibly supplement for further re-export. So it's a win-win for both countries," Goyal said.

The India-New Zealand trade pact has an investment arrangement under which firms from the Oceania country can bring raw materials or ingredients from the dairy sector into India, process them to make high-quality products and then re-export 100 per cent of those goods. These dedicated fast-track arrangements will be used exclusively for the manufacture of products destined solely for export, thereby safeguarding the interests of the domestic industry.

New Zealand is one of the world's largest dairy exporters. Its dairy exports to India in FY25 totalled just USD 1.07 million, consisting of milk and cream (USD 0.40 million), natural honey (USD 0.32 million), mozzarella cheese (USD 0.18 million), butter (USD 0.09 million) and skimmed milk (USD 0.08 million).

Under the FTA, India would grant quota-based duty concessions on Albumins (a milk protein product) and bulk infant formula from New Zealand with Minimum Import Price and other safeguards. Tariffs on bulk infant formula and other dairy-based preparations, and peptones (a dairy-based product) would be phased out by India in over seven years, according to New Zealand's Foreign Affairs and Trade ministry statement.