New Delhi. The Australian Parliament on Tuesday approved the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India. Now both the countries will decide with mutual consent from which date this agreement will come into force.
Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese gave this information in a tweet. He wrote, ‘Big news: Our Free Trade Agreement with India has been passed by Parliament.’ The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) required approval by the Australian Parliament before it could come into force. In India, such agreements are approved by the Union Cabinet.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet, ‘Glad that the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement has been passed by the Australian Parliament.’ He further wrote, “Given our deep friendship, it sets the stage for us to grow our trade ties to their full potential and drive economic growth on a large scale.” An official said that now both the parties will decide with mutual consent from which date the agreement will come into force. The Customs authorities will issue a notification in this regard.
Once the FTA comes into force, over 6,000 Indian products including textiles, leather, furniture, jewelery and machinery will get duty-free access to the Australian market. Under the agreement, Australia is offering zero customs duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of its exports (by value). There are many products in this, which currently attract customs duty of four to five percent in Australia.
In the financial year 2021-22, India exported goods worth $ 8.3 billion to Australia and imported $ 16.75 billion.
