Free Trade Agreements to Expand Export Opportunities, Enhance Market Access and Address Non-Tariff Barriers

Export Promotion Mission, E-Commerce Export Hubs and Logistics Reforms Drive Cross-Border E-Commerce Exports

Government has undertaken several initiatives to diversify export markets in light of evolving global geopolitical and economic developments. These include expanding network of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership/Cooperation Agreements (CEPAs/CECAs); pursuing trade negotiations with major economies and regions to secure preferential market access for exporters; undertaking focused export promotion activities through Export Promotion Mission, Indian Missions overseas, Export Promotion Councils (EPCs), industry associations and other stakeholders; implementing district and sector-specific export promotion initiatives under the Districts as Export Hubs (DEH) initiative; and capacity-building programmes.

A list of trade agreements signed in the past few years is at Annexure I. Further, a list of ongoing FTAs is at Annexure II.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are entered into with the concerned trading partner countries primarily with the aim of increasing bilateral trade through enlarging the scope of market access and building on the trade complementarities for increasing trade and investment, thereby providing enhanced export potential, creating benefits for industry and farmers and enhancing job opportunities. The FTAs facilitate preferential market access for labour intensive sector products to boost growth and employment opportunities in sectors like textile, apparel and leather goods. FTAs endeavor to deliver a comprehensive, balanced, broad based and equitable agreement based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity and overall benefit to all the stakeholders.

The FTAs include provisions on Technical Barriers to Trade to promote mutual understanding of each sides’ standards, technical regulations, and measures to enhance transparency. These provisions facilitate smoother and more effective access to export markets for Indian goods. Government engages with its trading partners through bilateral, regional and multilateral mechanisms to address non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and improve market access for Indian exports. These includes holding regular meetings and direct talks with partners through Joint Committees and Working Groups established under trade agreements to solve specific export problems to align with emerging global requirements, consultations with partner countries to resolve market access issues, technical discussions on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, technical barriers to trade (TBT), standards, conformity assessment procedures and regulatory requirements and continuous engagement with stakeholders to identify and address market access concerns in key export destinations, including the European Union, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Government has undertaken various policy and facilitation measures to promote cross-border e-commerce exports, particularly for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), startups, artisans and other small exporters. Key initiatives include:

1. Export Promotion Mission (EPM): The Export Promotion Mission (EPM) was launched in 2025 to strengthen India’s export competitiveness with a total outlay of ₹25,060 crore for the period FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31. The EPM shall operate through two integrated sub-schemes:

• NIRYAT PROTHSAHAN, focused on improving access to trade finance through instruments such as interest subvention, export factoring, collateral guarantees for export credit, credit guarantee for e-commerce exporters, and credit enhancement support; and
• NIRYAT DISHA, focused on other trade enablers such as export quality and compliance support, international branding and packaging, market access initiatives, export logistics & warehousing, and trade intelligence.

2. Implementation of the E-Commerce Export Hub (ECEH) initiative on a pilot basis to create an integrated ecosystem for e-commerce exports by facilitating logistics, customs clearances and other export-related services.

3. The District Export Hub (DEH) Initiative provides the district-level framework for decentralised export promotion. In each district, the effort is to identify and prioritise 3–5 products/services with viable export potential for targeted interventions.

4. Reforms to simplify exports through courier mode and reduce compliance burden:

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed export reconciliation requirements for small-value exports up to ₹10 lakh by permitting closure of export transactions in the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) on the basis of declarations furnished by exporters and reconciliation undertaken by banks.
• The per-consignment value limit of ₹10 lakh for exports through courier mode has been removed vide DGFT Notification No. 67/2025–26 dated March 27, 2026 and CBIC Notification No. 34/2026 dated March 31, 2026.
• CBIC Notification No. 33/2026 dated March 31, 2026 has simplified reverse logistics by facilitating the re-import of export rejects and returned goods in respect of cross-border e-commerce exports.

5. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) was launched to facilitate data-based decisions related to integrated planning of multimodal infrastructure, thereby reducing logistics cost.

6. Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme aims to refund currently un-refunded duties/taxes/levies borne on the export product, including prior stage cumulative indirect taxes on goods and services used in production of the exported products.

7. The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has established 65 Export Facilitation Centers (EFCs) in its field offices across the country with the aim of providing requisite mentoring and handholding support to MSMEs in exporting their products and services.

8. International Cooperation (IC) Scheme of Ministry of MSME aims to build capacity of MSMEs by facilitating their participation in international exhibitions/fairs/conferences/seminar/buyer-seller meets abroad as well as reimbursement of various costs.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Jitin Prasada in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

Annexure I

India’s recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)

Sl. No.	Name of the Agreement	Date of signing	Date of implementation
1	India - Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA)	22nd February, 2021	1st April, 2021
2	India-UAE CEPA	18th February, 2022	1 st May 2022
3	India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA)	2nd April, 2022	29th December 2022.
4	India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA)	10th March 2024	01st October 2025
5	India – Oman CEPA	18th December 2025	1st June, 2026
6	India - UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)	24th July 2025	15th July, 2026
7	India-New Zealand FTA	27th April 2026	Under ratification process

Note: India-European Union FTA negotiations concluded on January 27th, 2026. Also, India and the United States of America have announced on 7th February 2026 that the USA and India have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement). Negotiations are ongoing.

Annexure II

Free Trade Agreements/CECA/CEPA/ETCA under negotiation

1. India-Eurasian Economic Union (India-EAEU) FTA
2. India – Peru Free Trade Agreement
3. India – Chile FTA
4. India – Israel FTA
5. India – Canada CEPA
6. India – Maldives FTA
7. India – Korea CEPA Upgraded Negotiation (Upgrade)
8. India – Sri Lanka ETCA (Upgrade)
9. India – Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) (Upgrade)
10. ASEAN - India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) (Review)

Free trade agreements and e-commerce export reforms expand preferential market access, address non-tariff barriers, and support small exporters. Export market diversification is advanced through trade agreements, export-promotion measures and capacity building. Free Trade Agreements seek preferential market access, increased trade and investment, and support for labour-intensive exports, while technical barriers to trade provisions and engagement mechanisms address standards, regulatory requirements and non-tariff barriers. Cross-border e-commerce exports are supported through trade-finance and compliance assistance, E-Commerce Export Hubs, District Export Hubs, simplified courier-export procedures, reverse-logistics facilitation, logistics planning, duty-and-tax remission, and MSME export facilitation.