Indian Tariff Reduction to Boost Australian Citrus

Josh McGill International, Trade

Tariffs on Australian citrus exported to India will be cut in half Dec. 29 following the finalization of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA), Citrus Australia announced. Both the Australian and Indian governments have ratified the agreement.

Photo by Lara Jameson

The agreement will allow Australian citrus exporters to export oranges and mandarins to India under a tariff-reduced quota system. The current 30% tariff will reduce to 15% once the agreement begins. The reduced tariff applies to the first 13,700 tons annually.

The quota system will be managed by the Australian government. More details will be provided to industry when available.

Exports of Australian citrus have been as high as 7,800 tons in the past. Citrus Australia expects to see improvement on that figure in the coming years and will continue to work with the Australian government to seek further reduction in the tariff.

“A 50% reduction is a step in the right direction, but we feel significant growth in exports will be achieved when the tariff is further reduced or eliminated altogether,” said Citrus Australia CEO Nathan Hancock.

India is a key focus for Citrus Australia and several exporters. Earlier this year, Citrus Australia was awarded a grant from the Department of Agriculture under the Agriculture Trade and Market Access Cooperation program to help industry identify and develop opportunities for Class 1 citrus in India.

While initial investigations have showed a number of challenges for industry in increasing exports to India, Citrus Australia is confident the market will develop and prove to be an important destination for Australian citrus exports in the future.

The tariff reduction will help drive growth opportunities by making Australian citrus more competitive against other suppliers, including South Africa.

Read more details about the trade deal here.

Source: Citrus Australia

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