Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal hands over the ‘certificate of origin’ to an industry participant during an event to operationalise India – Australia Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement in Mumbai on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: KUNAL PATIL
The first consignment under the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) was flagged off on Thursday from Mumbai by Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal, marking a new beginning in trade between India and Australia.
The consignments of gem and jewellery were simultaneously dispatched from Mumbai, Surat and Chennai, the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said.
“There is a lot of potential for exporting finished products to Australia as they’re largely a raw material and intermediate producing country. So, it’s a complete win-win,” said. Mr Goyal.
“Many of the products being manufactured in India, are providing huge amount of work and job opportunities for businesses both in merchandise and in services,” he added.
Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC said, “The India-Australia ECTA will boost the bilateral gem and jewellery trade to double from the present value of $1.27 billion to $2.5 billion over the next three years.”
“Zero percent duty on jewellery products made up of gold, silver and imitation Jewellery exported to Australia will provide a fillip to these products. An additional trade of $1 billion is likely to generate employment for 88,000 workers in India,” he said.
“While the gem and jewellery products have got free access to Australia, the government has protected the domestic industry by not decreasing import duty on gold/silver/platinum jewellery,” he added.
The India-Australia ECTA aims to significantly enhance bilateral trade in goods and services, create new employment opportunities, raise living standards, and improve the general welfare of the people of the two countries.
Indian exports will benefit from preferential zero-duty market access in Australia for 100% of its tariff lines, which will benefit India’s labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and automobiles.
On the other hand, India has provided preferential access to Australia on over 70% of its tariff lines, which are primarily raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores which are required for the domestic manufacturing industry.
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