India’s free trade agreement with New Zealand opens limited market access for apples, kiwifruit and Manuka honey, but does so through a tightly controlled framework that reflects New Delhi’s growing caution on agricultural liberalisation. Rather than across-the-board tariff cuts, the agreement embeds quotas, minimum import prices and productivity-linked conditions, signaling a shift towards conditional market opening aimed at protecting sensitive domestic farm sectors.

Under the pact, India has granted New Zealand quota-based duty concessions that are explicitly linked to the delivery of agriculture productivity action plans. These commitments will be monitored by a Joint Agriculture Productivity Council, institutionalizing oversight and tying trade benefits to on-ground outcomes. The approach underscores India’s intent to balance consumer access to premium imports with long-term capacity building for domestic growers.

New Zealand has committed to sector-specific productivity initiatives in apples, kiwifruit and honey, focusing on improving planting material, orchard management, post-harvest practices, food safety systems and supply chains in India. The cooperation framework also includes the creation of centres of excellence, technical support for growers, and targeted projects for premium apple cultivation and sustainable beekeeping, aimed at raising domestic quality and productivity benchmarks rather than merely facilitating imports.

Apples remain the most politically sensitive element of the agreement. India currently imposes a 50 per cent import duty on apples, reflecting the crop’s importance to growers in hill states. Under the FTA, concessional duty access will be permitted for 32,500 tonnes of apples from New Zealand in the first year, with the quota rising gradually to 45,000 tonnes by the sixth year. Imports within this quota will attract a 25 per cent duty and be subject to a minimum import price of $ 1.25 per kilogram, while any shipments beyond the quota will continue to face the full 50 per cent duty, preserving a strong safeguard for domestic producers.

In trade terms, the immediate impact is contained. India’s total annual apple imports stand at over 519,000 tonnes, valued at about $ 424.6 million, while imports from New Zealand currently account for just over 31,000 tonnes worth $ 32.4 million. The phased expansion of the quota suggests incremental access rather than a disruptive surge, even as New Zealand positions itself as the first country to secure duty concessions for apples in the Indian market.

Kiwifruit and Manuka honey will be governed by similar tariff rate quota mechanisms, combining concessional duties with minimum import prices and quality safeguards. The commerce ministry has emphasised that market access for these products, along with albumins, will be managed to ensure traceability, quality assurance and price stability, while preventing unfair undercutting of domestic producers.

Strategically, the agreement marks an evolution in India’s FTA playbook. Market access is no longer treated as a standalone concession but as part of a broader bargain that includes technology transfer, institutional cooperation and productivity enhancement. For New Zealand, the deal secures a foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing food markets. For India, it tests a model of agricultural trade liberalisation that is open yet guarded, and increasingly shaped by the imperatives of farmer protection, supply chain upgrading and long-term rural resilience.