Kolkata, Jul 15 (PTI) West Bengal Industry and Commerce Minister Tapas Roy on Wednesday said the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) would make the state more competitive in exports, and he would take up with the Centre measures to further enhance the competitiveness of Bengal's products in the British market.

Speaking after flagging off the state's first export consignments to the United Kingdom under the trade pact via air freight, Roy said products shipped from West Bengal on Wednesday included tea, mangoes, betel leaves and jewellery. Officials said 550 kgs of Darjeeling tea was exported in this air-cargo consignment.

While agricultural products such as tea, mangoes and betel leaves already enjoy duty-free access to the UK, the agreement eliminates import duties on jewellery, which earlier attracted tariffs of 2-4 per cent, he said.

Roy said the biggest gains for West Bengal would come in labour-intensive sectors such as leather, jute and gems and jewellery.

Leather products earlier attracted import duties of 8-16 per cent in the UK, while jute products faced tariffs of 4-12 per cent. Seafood also attracted a high import duty.

"These duties have now been removed under the agreement, making our products more competitive," an official said.

He said leather, jute and jewellery are among the state's largest employment-generating sectors and the tariff concessions under CETA are expected to improve export prospects and create more jobs.

Roy said he would also discuss with the Centre additional measures required to make West Bengal's products more competitive in overseas markets so that exporters can fully utilise the opportunities created by the trade pact.

Earlier in the day, Kolkata flagged off its first jewellery export consignment to the UK under CETA, with six city-based exporters shipping jewellery worth USD 2.7 million as part of a nationwide inaugural consignment valued at USD 10 million.

Meanwhile, an official of the Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port Kolkata said several UK-bound containers of cotton and rubber were loaded since Tuesday.

CETA grants zero-duty access on nearly 99 per cent of India's exports, covering almost 100 per cent of the trade value. PTI BSM NN