Amid growing concern over the opening up of the agricultural sector to the US, the government on Monday clarified that market access for agricultural products has been calibrated based on the sensitivity of items, with phased duty elimination of up to 10 years built into the offer to safeguard domestic interests.
The government said agricultural items have been classified into four broad categories, with duties imposed, reduced, or eliminated depending on the sensitivity of each segment.
“In line with India’s approach in previous trade agreements, agricultural market access has been structured based on product sensitivity. The offer is categorised into immediate duty elimination, phased elimination (up to 10 years), tariff reduction, margin of preference, and tariff rate quota mechanisms,” a government release stated on Monday.
Phased tariff elimination over periods of up to 10 years will be available for select intermediate inputs used by India’s food processing industry and sourced from multiple countries. These include albumins; coconut, castor, and cottonseed oils; hoofmeal, lard, stearin, modified starches, peptones and their derivatives, and certain plant-based materials. The extended phase-out period aims to provide adjustment time for domestic producers while ensuring input availability for processors.
“This extended timeline provides adequate adjustment space for domestic stakeholders,” the release said.
For highly sensitive segments such as meat, poultry, and dairy products, genetically modified food items, soyameal, maize, cereals, millets such as jowar, bajra, and ragi, and fruits including bananas, India has retained full tariff protection, with no commitments made.
For certain sensitive items, India has opted for tariff reductions rather than full elimination to ensure a degree of protection. Products in this category include parts of plants, olives, pyrethrum, and oil cakes. Alcoholic beverages have also been placed under tariff reduction, combined with minimum import price-based mechanisms and quotas, to prevent dumping.
Some highly sensitive commodities have been partially liberalised through Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs), under which limited quantities are allowed at reduced duties while higher tariffs apply beyond the quota. These include in-shell almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and lentils—products where domestic supply gaps coexist with farmer sensitivities.
Immediate duty elimination, the government said, has been offered only for select non-sensitive products that are already liberalised under other FTAs and are therefore considered low-risk for domestic producers.