India's Free Trade Agreement With New Zealand Took Effect on 20 October 2026, With Duty-Free Entry for 100 Per Cent of Indian Exports and Access to About 118 Services Sectors

The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 20 October 2026, according to New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and New Zealand Customs. According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Indian government’s release service, the agreement gives duty-free access to New Zealand for 100 per cent of India’s exports, covering every tariff line, from the day it starts.

All India Radio reported on 20 October that the Commerce and Industry Minister spoke at a ceremony in New Delhi on Dussehra, the day the agreement began. Also on 20 October, the Deccan Herald reported that a consignment of India-made JCB machines was flagged off for New Zealand as the first shipment under the agreement.

Nineteen months from launch to force

Talks opened in March 2025. MFAT’s timeline lists five formal rounds between May and December 2025, held in New Delhi, Queenstown and Auckland and Rotorua, and says negotiators concluded the text on 22 December 2025. At Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, the two trade ministers signed it on 27 April 2026. India has concluded few agreements with a developed country faster, PIB says.

New Zealand’s Parliament passed the implementing legislation by 93 votes to 29, RNZ reported on 17 September. On Monday 21 September, New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment exchanged ratification documents in Parliament with India’s High Commissioner, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) wire service reported. That same day All India Radio reported that India’s Commerce and Industry Minister had announced 20 October as the start date.

New Zealand’s trade minister said on 20 October: “Today, just 19 months after we started, it’s in force and working for exporters.” (RNZ)

What Indian exporters get

Every Indian tariff line goes to zero in New Zealand from entry into force, PIB’s release says. Until then, New Zealand charged peak tariffs of up to 10 per cent on ceramics, carpets, automobiles and auto components. Textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods and processed foods are the labour-intensive sectors the release names as gaining most. India also gets duty-free imports of wooden logs, coking coal and metal scrap for its factories.

India-New Zealand merchandise trade was US$1.3 billion in 2024-25, up 49 per cent on the year before, PIB says. Of that, US$711 million was India’s exports, the Deccan Herald reports. On New Zealand’s side, MFAT puts two-way trade in goods and services at NZ$3.9 billion in the year to June 2026. Both governments aim to roughly double two-way trade by 2030, which All India Radio gives as about ₹35,000 crore.

India’s agreement with the United Kingdom began on 15 July 2026 and is covered in our article on the India-UK deal. The other agreements signed since 2021 are listed in our piece on India’s trade corridors and free trade agreements.

What New Zealand gets in India

India’s schedule is staged. Under PIB’s account, India liberalises 70.03 per cent of its tariff lines, which cover 95 per cent of bilateral trade by value, and keeps 29.97 per cent of lines out. Left out are mainly dairy, animal products other than sheep meat, onions, chickpeas, peas, maize, almonds, sugar, fats and oils, arms, gems and jewellery, copper and aluminium. Duties on 30 per cent of lines go to zero immediately, among them wood, wool, sheep meat and raw hides, and another 35.6 per cent are phased out over 3, 5, 7 or 10 years.

Fruit and honey come in under quotas with a minimum import price, a floor under the declared price of imported goods that protects Indian growers. PIB sets out the terms:

• Apples: the duty is 50 per cent now. Inside a quota of 32,500 tonnes in year 1, rising to 45,000 tonnes in year 6, the duty is 25 per cent, with a floor price of US$1.25 a kilogram and a window from 1 April to 31 August.
• Kiwifruit: the duty is 33 per cent now. A quota of 6,250 tonnes in year 1, rising to 15,000 tonnes in year 6, enters at zero duty, with a floor price of US$1.80 a kilogram.
• Manuka honey: the 66 per cent duty falls to 16.5 per cent from year 5, inside a quota of 200 tonnes a year.

MFAT’s summary says wine, which faced a 150 per cent duty, falls to 25 or 50 per cent over ten years. New Zealand’s trade minister said 57 per cent of New Zealand’s exports to India are tariff-free now, rising to 82 per cent over time, with a second round of cuts due on 1 January 2027 (RNZ). On dairy, MFAT says India agreed to consult New Zealand if it offers dairy access to a comparable economy, and both sides agreed to review the agreement one year after it starts.

Services, visas and investment

New Zealand has opened about 118 services sectors to Indian firms, PIB says, among them computer services, professional services, education, financial services and tourism, and has made most-favoured-nation commitments in about 139 sub-sectors. Under a most-favoured-nation commitment, better terms that New Zealand later gives another partner pass to India too.

A new Temporary Employment Entry visa pathway lets Indian professionals work in New Zealand for up to three years. The quota is 5,000 visas at any one time, PIB says, covering IT, engineering, healthcare, education and construction as well as AYUSH practitioners, yoga instructors, chefs and music teachers. MFAT’s summary adds that the cap equals under 6 per cent of the skilled visas New Zealand issues in an average year. Up to 1,000 young Indians a year can take a working holiday visa, and PIB says there is no numerical cap on Indian students. Both governments’ summaries give post-study work rights of up to four years for doctorate holders.

On investment, MFAT says New Zealand will promote private investment into India with the aim of adding US$20 billion over 15 years, and India will set up a New Zealand investment desk. A rebalancing clause in the text, PIB adds, sets a framework for addressing any shortfall in delivery. For India’s pharmaceutical industry, PIB says New Zealand will accept inspection reports from comparable regulators including the US FDA, the European Medicines Agency and the UK regulator, which reduces repeat inspections.

On geographical indications, the protected names for regional products, PIB says New Zealand committed to amend its law within 18 months of entry into force so that Indian wines, spirits and other goods can register. MFAT’s summary describes a review with a view to matching the protections given to the European Union. The two summaries describe the step differently. India’s pact with Europe is covered in our article on the India-EU agreement.

Apple orchards in Himachal Pradesh

Quota access is paired with cooperation on farm productivity. Each of the apple, kiwifruit and manuka honey quotas is tied, PIB says, to an action plan monitored by a Joint Agriculture Productivity Council.

RNZ reported on 15 October that a New Zealand delegation visited Himachal Pradesh, the apple-growing state in the western Himalayas, in late September and early October. New Zealand is setting up a centre of excellence there with an orchard of different apple varieties, a research centre and links to New Zealand experts. The chief executive of New Zealand Apples and Pears said India relies on imported apples and that she did not expect New Zealand fruit to compete directly with Indian apples, because it sells in a different market segment and in the opposite season. RNZ said new centres for kiwifruit are planned too.

Paperwork and the next dates

Exporters from New Zealand must obtain a certificate of origin from an authorised body, and self-declaration is not yet available, New Zealand Customs says. Both countries committed to release goods from customs within 48 hours, and within 24 hours for express and perishable consignments.

The next scheduled change is the second round of tariff cuts on 1 January 2027, followed by the joint review a year after entry into force. New Zealand’s trade minister, who joined the New Delhi ceremony virtually, said: “The success of the agreement will ultimately be measured by the opportunities it creates and the extent to which businesses use them.” (Deccan Herald)