India and New Zealand will sign a free trade agreement on April 27 at Bharat Mandapam, more than four months after negotiations were declared complete on December 22. The ceremony will be attended by India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment Todd McClay. The pact aims to double bilateral trade to USD 5 billion within five years and is expected to attract about USD 20 billion of New Zealand investment into India over the next 15 years. The agreement will remove or reduce tariffs on roughly 95% of New Zealand exports to India, covering products such as wool, coal, wood, wine, avocados and blueberries, while kiwifruit and apples will receive quota-based tariff reductions. New Zealand will secure duty-free access for a range of Indian-market products including sheep meat, wool, coal, most forestry and wood articles, and will obtain concessions for kiwifruit, wine, some seafood, cherries, avocados, persimmons, bulk infant formula, Manuka honey and milk albumins. India has protected several politically sensitive and domestic sectors by excluding them from tariff cuts: dairy items (milk, cream, whey, yoghurt, cheese), onions, chana, peas, corn, almonds, sugar, artificial honey, animal/vegetable/microbial fats and oils, arms and ammunition, gems and jewellery, copper and its products, aluminium and articles, as well as spices, edible oils and rubber. The pact is intended to help Indian exporters diversify into Oceania amid global uncertainties. Bilateral merchandise trade was USD 1.3 billion in 2024–25, while total trade in goods and services was about USD 2.4 billion in 2024; services alone reached USD 1.24 billion, led by travel, information technology and business services. On services and mobility, New Zealand will create a temporary employment entry visa pathway for Indian professionals in skilled occupations, with an annual quota of 5,000 visas and permitted stays of up to three years. The pathway covers AYUSH practitioners, yoga instructors, Indian chefs, music teachers and high-demand sectors such as IT, engineering, healthcare, education and construction, strengthening workforce mobility and services trade. Agricultural cooperation includes a dedicated Agri-Technology Action Plan focused on kiwifruit, apples and honey to boost Indian farmers’ productivity and quality through centres of excellence, improved planting material, capacity building, technical support for orchard management, post-harvest practices, supply-chain performance and food safety. New Zealand has also agreed to facilitate registration of Indian wines and spirits by amending its Geographical Indications law. Beyond tariff cuts, the agreement addresses non-tariff barriers through enhanced regulatory cooperation and streamlined customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and technical barriers to trade disciplines. India’s pharmaceutical and medical devices sector will benefit from faster regulatory access in New Zealand via acceptance of GMP and GCP inspection reports from comparable regulators and recognition of approvals by agencies such as the US FDA, EMA and UK MHRA, reducing duplicate inspections, lowering compliance costs and accelerating approvals. Under the current NDA government, India has finalised or implemented several FTAs: UAE (implemented May 2022), Australia (implemented December 2022), Mauritius (in force April 2021), and deals with the UK (signed July 2025), EFTA (implemented October 2025), Oman (signed December 2025) and the European Union (closure of negotiations announced January 2026). With this pact India has finalised FTAs with three members of the Five Eyes grouping—Australia, the UK and New Zealand—and continues talks with the United States and Canada.
