A historic India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on December 22, 2025 has provided India’s farmers with preferential treatment.
While New Zealand will allow 100% duty-free imports, India will only give market access to 70.03% of imports.
However, Delhi has excluded 29.97% of bilateral goods from any duty concession, including ammunition, dairy, sugar, peas, chana and corn, among others.
Chief among the exclusion list is dairy, constituting whole milk, whey, cheese, cream and yoghurt.
The exclusion aims to advance national agricultural productivity and boost farmers’ revenue through minimum prices of produce, possible only through limiting imports.
According to India’s Commerce Department, the 70.03% FTA-applicable products cover 95% of bilateral trade value.
Of these, 30% will have immediate duty elimination while 35.6% will undergo phased tariff removal extending from 3 to 10 years hence.
The 30% that will gain immediate FTA treatment include wood, sheep’s mutton, wool, textiles and raw hides.
Agricultural goods in the phased removal group range from vegetable oils to malt extract, while the non-agricultural are mostly electrical.
New Zealand’s Total Concession
Auckland in its part offered no trade barriers by allowing all of Delhi’s exports there free access.
Beforehand, NZ had maintained some 10% duty on such agri-processing goods as apparel and textile, among other merchandise.
Free market access ensures India’s exports gain competitiveness within the Oceania nation by giving them parity with international goods enjoying similar treatment.
New Zealand will also serve as India’s launching board to other markets nearby such as Australia and the South Seas. To learn more on the finer particulars of the India-New Zealand FTA deal pertaining agriculture, skim the below stats.
India-New Zealand Agriculture FTA Statistics
The December 22, 2025 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) offers 100% duty-free market access for India’s goods in Zealand. India however treats some 35.6% of tariff lines from New Zealand as still applicable to phased duty, to protect farmers’ interests. The table below offers succinct details on some of these agricultural imports, an interpretation from India’s governmental portal:
| Import from NZ | Current Duty | 2025 Quota [tonnes] | Annual Import Totals [tonnes] | Import Price |
| Manuka honey | 66% | 200 | 14.2 | US$20/kg |
| Apples | 50% | 32,500 | 31,392.6 | US1.25/kg |
| Kiwi Fruit | 33% | 6,250 | 5,840 | US1.80/kg |
| Albumins such as milk albumin | 22% | 3,429.7 | – |
How will India phase out duties of the above imports?
To meet the primary goal of the FTA, i.e. duty elimination, India will gradually phase off import duty on the above products. Manuka honey ($0.3 million in annual import value from NZ), will lose 75% of current duty in 5 years’ time. However, any purchases beyond the changing annual quotas will see import prices rise from $20/kg to $30/kg. NZ’s apples, valued at $32.4 million annually, will see reduction of current duty by 25% in 6 years. Kiwi fruit ($16.9 million in import value), on the other hand, will realise 0% duty by the 6th year. Albumins ($28.9 million in import value) will also gain standard minimal duty by year 5 from now.