Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, Government of India, on 28th of March 2022 announced the unveiling of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With this, the text of the India-UAE CEPA is now available in public domain.

India-UAE CEPA was signed on 18 February 2022 in New Delhi during the India-UAE Virtual Summit held between Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Executive Council.

India and UAE are two countries that have always seen eye to eye in a tumultuous world. It is very important for the two countries to be extremely transparent with each other based on mutual respect for the bilateral trade to be beneficial.

A Free trade agreement (FTA) takes mutuality of respect and interest to be successful. Failure of SAARC based FTA and success of CEPA and CECA with the ASEAN countries is a testimony to these critical parameters.

India and UAE’s affinity to each other is also a reason as to why the two countries were able to sign a momentous CEPA within three months from the time the critical negotiations started. While on a spectrum of Free Trade Agreements (FTA), it would be reasonable to say that the Early harvest Scheme (where identified tariff based products are up for reduced duties over a period of time) is on the lower end of the totem pole, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement is on a higher plane which includes not just cross border trade in terms of goods but also includes services and contours of investment as well as IP protection.  The negotiations for India-UAE CEPA were concluded in a record span of 88 days. The Agreement is expected to enter into force from 1st May 2022.

It is very important to note that the Energy resources sector that includes Hydrocarbons such as Oil, gas and condensates, derivatives and primary by-products thereof is kept outside the purview of the CEPA arrangement.

Impact and benefits:

The CEPA between India and the UAE covers almost all the tariff lines dealt in by India (11,908 tariff lines) and the UAE (7581 tariff lines) respectively.

As released by the PIB, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97% of its tariff lines which account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms, especially for all labour-intensive sectors such as Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, medical devices, and Automobiles. India will also be offering preferential access to the UAE in over 90% of its tariff lines, including lines of export interest to the UAE.

One of the biggest benefits arising as a result of the CEPA will be to eliminate the Customs duties applied on goods originating from both the countries in accordance with the CEPA per se. It is pertinent to note that the Customs duties for elimination does not include the Charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed (namely the GST in India’s case) as well as the anti-dumping duties or the countervailing duties as per the established WTO agreement.

Objectives of the CEPA:

As could be seen from the preamble of the CEPA, the following are some of the objectives to be achieved through the CEPA.

• To strengthen the friendly ties between the two countries though creation of a free trade area and establishing close and lasting relations.
• To establish a clear transparent and predictable legal framework that support further expansion of trade.
• To strengthen their economic and trade relations for their mutual benefits through trade liberalisation in goods and services.
• To encourage transfer of technology to strengthen their bilateral relationship encourage creation of new employment opportunities and to promote efficient and transparent customs procedures to reduce costs and ensure predictability for the importer and exporters.

The agreement, which is to come into effect from May 1, 2022, shall be valid for an indefinite period subject to termination notification by any of the parties to the agreement, in which case the agreement would stand terminated after 6 months from date of such notification.

The basis of Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ)

Annex 2A relates to schedule of specific tariff commitments of India on trade in Goods is set out in terms of 8-digit HSN coding with the description there to for practically for all the HSN tariff.

The schedule of tariff rate concessions is set out over a period of ten years. The tariff modality offered is on the following basis:

• TEI – Tariff Elimination Immediate
• TEP – Tariff Elimination Phased
• TP – Tariff Reduction
• EXC – Exclusion List
• TRQ – Tariff Rate Quota (In MT)

For instance, wire bars of copper which is at a standard rate and effective rate of 5% is subjected to tariff elimination phase over a period of 5 years.

Copper scrap and other waste and scrap of copper are excluded items from being subjected to a preferential treatment under CEPA.

Rules of Origin

One of the most critical and vital parameters of any FTA is the prescription of  Rules of Origin to determine as to whether the goods have emerged from indeed the exporting country so as to ensure that there is no unnecessary dumping of goods into the trading partner. For instance, manufacturer refers to any kind of working or processing or specific operations that does not include simple assembly.

The Origin Criterion that is laid down in terms of the CEPA are as below-

A product shall be deemed to have originated in a country and shall be eligible for a preferential treatment provided it is wholly obtained or produced in the territory of the country or has undergone sufficient working or production as per the Products Specific Rules.

Product Specific Rules based Products.

Product specific Rules has laid down two methods of computing the value addition criterion namely

1. Ex works price less value of non-originating material with the denominator of ex works price.
2. Cost of originating material added to the direct labour cost and added to direct overhead cost with the Ex works price as the denominator.

In addition to the above two methodology the common caveat that the final manufacture before export must have occurred in the country of export.

Wholly Obtained or Produced Product.

As regards the Wholly obtained or Produced Product, it is again pertinent to mention that the Energy resources are not covered as part of the CEPA. The Wholly obtained inter alia will refer to product wholly obtained or produced in the country of export namely plant and plant products grown and harvested, live animals born and raised, and products obtained from liver animals, waster or scrap resulting from consumption or manufacturing operation conducted in the country of export fit only for disposal or recovery of raw materials and products produced in the territory of that country exclusively from products.

De Minimis

Even if the materials do not meet the required change in tariff classification if applicable in the product specific Rule shall be deemed origination if their total value does not exceed ten percent of the FOB value or Ex works price of the exported product or in case of textiles and

clothing under HS chapter 50-63 the weight of the non-originating material is less than seven percent of the total weight of the materials used in the products of the exported product or ten percent of the FOV value or ex works price.

In case of a wholly obtained products, a de minimis value of not exceeding one percent of the FOB value or Ex works price of the exported product is allowed.

Caveats to ensure a standardised Rules of Origin.

It is very pertinent to note that the concept of rules of origin is mandated by excluding the following activities to be considered just by merely doing the activities such as preservation, packaging, washing and cleaning, attaching straps bands beads cord to textile articles, simple painting and polishing, husking polishing of cereals and rice, calibration testing and certification other such simple operations.

In fact, the CEPA explains the words simple to describe an activity that needs neither special skills nor machines apparatus or equipment especially produced or installed to carry out the activity.

Similarly, the mere dilution with water or another substance that does not materially alter the characteristic of the product is also kept as a non-qualifying operation.

In a very clear attempt at de segregating the confusion as to what are the originating materials or otherwise, the CEPA sets out an accounting segregation methodology where the fungible products or materials are originating products shall be made ordinarily by physical segregation of each products or material an inventory management method such as averaging is also permitted. Last In First Out or First In First Out recognised by GAAP of the country of exports are also acceptable. The accounting methodology to permit a clear distinction to be made between originating and non-originating materials including materials so undetermined origin acquired or kept in stock to be distinguished and guarantee over the relevant accounting period for 12 months that no more products receive the originating status that would be the case if the material had been physically segregated.

The above said inventory management becomes critical that are necessary for the competent authority of the party concerned to verify compliance with the provisions of the chapter. The Competent authority may require from its exports that the application for the method for managing stock will be subject to prior authorisation.

As regards the transport of the products are concerned, the CEPA mandates that the product retain the originating status even if the products are transported outside the territories of the parties,  if the product remains under the customs control in the territory of a non-party and has not entered the trade or consumption in the non-party and does not undergo an operation outside the territories of the parties other than unloading, relating or separation from a bulk shipment storing labelling or marking. 

Proof of Origin

The Certificate of Origin plays a vital role in ensuring that the fair ness in terms of the nature of the originating material and as to which particular categorisation the same would fall under is mentioned.

The Certificate of Origin (COO) in case of CEPA is envisaged as valid under three categorisation namely

1. A paper COO in electronic or hard copy format issued by the competent Authority
2. A fully digitised COO issued by the competent authority and exchanged by a mutually developed electronic system
3. An origin declaration made out by an approved exporter when it comes to origin declaration.

The Format of the COO has been prescribed and is sought to include the HS Code, the description and quantity of the products name of consignment, name of exporter or producer or manufacturer, country of origin, origin criterion such as value content or CTC. The COO is to be valid only for one exports and shall include one or more products. The COO shall be issued prior to at or within five working days of the date of exportation. Under exceptional cases if the COO has not been issued within five days from the date of shipment due to involuntary errors the same to be issued as under “retroactive” methodology.

In an interesting move, the CEPA allows for third party invoicing by saying that the importing party shall not deny a claim of preferential tariff treatment for the sole reasons that an invoice was not issued by the exporter or products of a products Provided that it meets the requirement of the FTA as laid down.

If a claim of preferential treatment is made without producing the original copy of the COO, the Customs authorities may deny the preferential treatment and request a guarantee in any of its modalities or may take any action to preserve its fiscal interests. The CEPA also lays down modalities and conditions for verification of the COO per se. It is heartening to see that the rules laid down in term of CAROTAR rules in India has almost been imbibed as part of the verification process to ensure that the rule of origin is not being misused towards the imports into the Country.

The CEPA also envisages an electronic system within two years of the data of entry from the time the CEPA comes into effect to exchange information to ensure the effective and efficient implementation particularly on transmission of electronic COO.

The Minimum Required Information (MRI) is set out in Annexure 3A

The Product Specific Rules based detailing are set out in term of Annexure 3B. It is interesting to note that in case of some of the products that are falling under PSR, a value addition is also mandated. For instance, in case of coffee, tea, preparation of meats, et call, in addition to a Chapter heading change, a value addition of 40% is mandated. Similar is the case of apparel and textile article that a CTH plus 40% addition is mandated. In case of article of Jewellery of gold silver or platinum, a CTH plus 3.5% to 7% value add is mandated. In case of bars, rods profiles, wires of copper a CTSH plus 40% value add is caveated.

Annexure 3E sets out the format of the COO per se.

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures

The sanitary and phytosanitary measures were introduced by the WTO to ensure that the consumers are supplied with produce/food that is safe to eat based on the standards prescribed by laws. It basically sets out the rules for food safety and animal and plant health standards.

SPS has paved its way into the UAE India CEPA agreement as well. This chapter is set out to protect the human, animal, plant life or health and to encourage the development and adoption of science based international standards, guidelines and recommendations.

There should be a measure of equivalence that is both the importing and exporting country should be able to demonstrate objectively that the same level of protection measure. Both Importing and exporting party must recognise regional conditions including pest and disease free areas.

The parties must conduct a risk analysis in accordance with the SPS Agreement (Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary measure) and ensure that the same is documented and consider risk management option that do not restrict the trade arrangements while upholding the appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection.

Audit, Certification and Import checks- Audits shall be system based and designed to check the effectiveness of the regulatory controls. Where a certification is mandated for trading in a particular product, the importer shall ensure that such certification includes the SPS conditions. Import checks shall be applied where animals, animal products, plants and plant products are traded.

In case any emergency measure is adopted which is necessary for the protection of human, animal or plat life the same shall be communicated by both parties at the earliest to avoid impact on trade.

The exporting party is expected to notify importing party the significant SPS risk related to the exported goods, any urgent situation where there is a change in animal or plant health status or change in regional pest and disease area, scientific findings or significant changes in food safety, pest pr disease management and control policies.

Technical Barriers to Trade (Agreement) [TBT]

The objective of the TBT provisions of the agreement is to facilitate trade in goods among the parties by furthering cooperation, promoting transparency, facilitating information exchanges and by ensuring that no obstacles are created in trade by way of standards, technical regulations and assessment procedures.

The technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures prepared by each party shall be in adherence to the international standards as set out by WTO and in cases where it does not then the concerned party shall provide reasons as to why the standard has been judged as inappropriate or ineffective at the time of discussion. Both parties have to ensure that the regulations prepared is acceptable to the other party and no regulation is adopted which is favourable to one of the parties.

A subcommittee shall be constituted to monitor the implementation of standards and regulations, and to facilitate technical discussions.

The trade in Annex on organic products are to be finalised within a year of entry into force of this agreement.

Bilateral cooperation on Pharmaceutical Products (BCPP)

On recognising the differences between the health care systems in the parties, the agreement sets out a commitment to facilitate access to finish pharmaceutical products (FPPs) and certain marketed biological products for human use.

Each party shall define what pharmaceutical products mean and include, along with the relevant laws and regulations on pharmaceuticals, regulatory bodies of the party and shall notify the same to the other party.

Human blood, human plasma, human tissues, and organs are specifically excluded from BCPP.

The BCPP applies not only to products but also includes technical regulations, standards, conformity assessment procedures, marketing authorisations, notification procedures and inspections of good clinic practises (GCP) and good manufacturing practises (GMP) in relation to pharmaceutical manufacturers in the parties.

In cases where the party does not have a prescribed standard, the parties shall accept the goods, if they satisfy the standard set out by the regulatory bodies of Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, the United States of America, or the United Kingdom.

The same shall be applicable from an inspection perspective i.e., if the products are approved by any of the above mentioned bodies, the parties shall accept the same without inspection. It is important to note that the parties have a right to conduct its own inspection of the manufacturing facilities in cases of quality defects or specific evidence observed.

Under the agreement, the importing party shall accept test resulted conducted by labs accredited by the exporting party’s accreditation body.

The BCPP as part of the provisions also sets out Fast track procedures for pharmaceutical products having approvals from above mentioned bodies with the exception of breakthrough or rare medicines.

In terms of marketing authorisations administered by the parties shall adhere following timelines as set out in the agreement for issuance and the same shall be revoked on noncompliance of mandated GMP/GCP requirement:

• For goods approved by the above mentioned bodies, a period of 90 days.
• For goods requiring inspection within 270 days.

Both parties shall maintain an alert system to proactively inform the other party of quality defects, shortages, noncompliance to GCP/GMT requirements.

Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation

This chapter provides for definitions and the custom procedures that are to be followed along with various trade facilitation measures. In UAE, the Custom Administration would be the Federal Authority of identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs for lndia.

As per Chapter 6, the one must be aware of the following terms.

• Custom procedure- means the measures Administration of a Party to goods and to the means its customs laws and regulations.
• Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement- the agreement that further enhances customs cooperation and exchange of information between the Parties to secure and facilitate lawful trade through enhancing assistance in administration of customs matters for proper application of customs law and for the prevention, investigation and combating of customs offences and to ensure the security of the international trade supply chain, signed on 01 April 2012.
• AEO (Authorized Economic Operator)- in accordance with the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation, set out in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement (TFA), the program which recognises an operator involved in the international movement of goods in whatever function that has been approved by the national Customs Administration as complying with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) supply chain security standards

Both parties must ensure that the laws, regulations and guidelines, procedures and administrative rulings governing customs matter to be published. For facilitating ease of trade there must be a system pf paperless communication as the time is of essence.

Advance Ruling- the parties shall provide for issuance of advance ruling, prior to importation of goods and such ruling shall be apply on the date of ruling or a later date if the ruling mentions so. The advance ruling is binding only on the person to whom the ruling is issued.

In order to facilitate trade and enhance compliance and risk management between them, the Parties shall work towards negotiating, finalizing and implementing the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) between the two Parties.

Parties will place procedures for those goods that are transported through air cargo facilities and may choose to minimise the documentation procedure by maintain appropriate custom control.

Trade Remedies

Trade remedies are actions that are taken in response to subsidies, sales at less than fair value and import surges. Naturally so, Chapter 7 of the agreement delves into Anti-Dumping Agreement, Safeguarding Agreement and Subsidies and Countervailing measures.

Anti-dumping measures concern border measures applied to imports of a product from an exporter, whose imports are causing injurious dumping to the domestic industry producing the like product, or to third countries’ exporters of that product.

The Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (“SCM Agreement”) addresses multilateral disciplines regulating the provision of subsidies, and the use of countervailing measures to offset injury caused by subsidized imports.

Bilateral Safeguard measures are put in place to keep a check on the injury caused to the domestic markets by importing goods in large quantities as a result of reduction or elimination of a customs duty under the agreement. In such scenario there will be suspension of further reduction in duties, increase in rate of customs duty on such commodities, quantitative restrictions.

A few definitions one must know are the following-

• Domestic Industry- with respect to an imported good, the producers as a whole of the like or directly competitive good operating within the territory of a Party, or those producers whose collective production of the like or directly competitive good constitutes a major proportion of the total domestic production of that good
• Serious Injury- means a significant overall impairment in the position of a domestic industry
• Threat of serious injury- serious injury that, on the basis of facts and not merely on allegation, conjecture or remote possibility, is clearly imminent

In case of serious injury or threat caused by increased imports, consultations shall be initiated immediately after the measure is taken. When a definitive safeguard measure is applied the same shall provide for an adequate opportunity prior to taking such a measure and to review the information.

Therefore, a measure shall be applied only after an investigation and shall be applied only to the extent and for such time as may be necessary to prevent such injury or for a period of two years (may be extended by two more). Further, no bilateral safeguard measure shall be applicable for import of an originating good for a period of one year from the date of commencement of tariff reduction or tariff elimination for that originating good.

No bilateral safeguard measure shall be applied again to the import of a product that has been previously subject to such measure for a period of time equal to the period during which the previous measure was applied or one year since the expiry of such measure, whichever is longer.

Provisional Measures-

In case of a critical situation where delay would cause damage that would be difficult to repair, a Party may apply a bilateral safeguard measure on a provisional basis pursuant to a preliminary determination by its competent authorities that there is clear evidence that imports of an originating good from the other Party have increased as the result of the reduction or elimination of a customs duty under this Agreement, and such imports have caused serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry.

The duration for such provisional measure shall not exceed 200 days and a refund of increased duty shall be processed if the investigation does not result in findings.

Trade in services

The trade in Services is defined under the agreement as the supply of a service:

1. from the territory of a Party into the territory of the other Party (“cross border”);
2. in the territory of a Party to the service consumer of the other Party (“consumption abroad”)
3. by a service supplier of a Party, through commercial presence in the territory of the other Part (“commercial presence”)
4. by a service supplier of a Party, through presence of natural persons of a Party in the territory of the other Party (“presence of natural persons”)

The trade in services provisions under the agreement applies to measures taken by a Party affecting trade in services and does not apply to the following:

• Procurement of services by government agencies
• Subsidies and grants
• Services provided in exercise of government authority
• Measures affecting air traffic rights subject to certain exclusions
• Measures affecting natural persons seeking access to employment market, pertaining to citizenship, permanent residency or permanent employment

The trade in services provisions shall be in line with that of GATS in terms of financial services and the same is said to have been incorporated into the agreement.

The agreement adopts the most favoured nation treatment to maintain overall balance of commitments undertaken by each party in case where a party enters into an agreement on trade in services with a non-party.

The benefits under the trade in services provisions is majorly towards market access and national treatment where market access commitments are undertaken along with specific commitments where each party shall accord services and service suppliers of the other party treatment no less favourable than that provided under the terms of the agreement subject to certain conditions.

In addition to the market access and specific commitments the parties may negotiate additional commitments such as those regarding qualifications, standards or licensing matters and the same shall be inscribed in the schedule of specific commitments.

The trade in services provisions also set out that the parties shall ensure that the monopoly supplier in the party’s territory does not abuse its monopoly position or act in a manner inconsistent with that party’s specific commitments.

In case of serious balance of payments, the parties shall adopt or maintain restrictions in a manner, that the other party is not treated any less favourably than any country that is a non-party, consistent with the articles of agreement of IMF, that does not provide unnecessary damage to the commercial, economic and financial interests of the other party.

The detailed set of specific commitments have been set out in Annex 8A and 8B whereas Annex 8C sets out provisions relating to telecommunication services. Provisions relating to movement of natural persons have been set out in Annex 8D and shall be read with the provisions of GATS.

Either of the parties may deny the benefits under the trade in services provisions if any of the above mentioned provisions have not been adhered to.

Digital Trade

A digital trade is a concept that involves both supply/sales of goods over the internet and also supply of services. Digital trade is important as it ensures a global market access and reach, reduces transaction costs and improves supply chain.

To understand this concept better, it is imperative to know the following terms-

1. Authentication- process of verifying or testing an electronic statement/communication or claim, in order to establish a level of confidence in the statement’s or claim’s reliability and ensuring the integrity of an electronic communication.
2. Electronic transmission or transmitted electronically- means a transmission made using any electromagnetic means, including by photonic means.

As the times have changed, with digitization, the ways of conducting trade have also undergone a magnitude change. The objective of digital trade is to be in the forefront to recognize economic growth and opportunity and to offer a conducive environment to advance digital transformation and electronic commerce.

To begin with, paperless trading to be promoted that is all the administrative work to be conducted in electronic form. Authentication of documents to be validated by electronic/digital signatures.

With introduction of digital trade, there is a huge risk of fraud, to tackle the same and provide consumer protection, the parties shall maintain and adopt measures and draft laws where consumer can pursue remedies. Personal data protection is also of utmost importance and the parties will adopt or maintain a legal framework that provides for the protection of the personal data of the users of digital trade. In furtherance to the above, there is a vision to promote secure digital trade and recognise that threats to cybersecurity undermine confidence in digital trade by-

1. building the capabilities of their appropriate competent authorities responsible for computer security incident response; including through exchange of best practices
2. using existing collaboration mechanisms to further cooperate on matters that affect the cyber security of the digital infrastructure of the Parties with an aim to build safe and secure cyber space and
3. promoting the development of a strong public and private workforce in the area of cybersecurity, including possible initiatives relating to mutual recognition of qualifications.

Technology today plays an important role in trade and is enabling the governments to improve the quality and reliability of government services and enable governments to better serve the needs of their citizens and other stakeholders and increasing the efficiency of government

functions. Thus, proper process, channels and communication gateways will be established for ease of conducting trade.

As we are going paperless, digital and electronic invoicing has also received a thumbs up to fasten the process, increase accuracy and reliability of documents. Similarly, electronic payments, in particular those provided by non-bank, non-financial institutions and financial technology enterprises, shall endeavour to support the development of efficient, safe and secure cross-border digital and electronic payments.

MSME Provisions

Both the parties have taken cognisance of the importance of MSME’s for maintaining the dynamism and enhancing the competitiveness of their respective economies and undertaking the following measures to foster close cooperation between SMEs of the parties.

The agreement speaks about setting up of a free, publicly accessible website by both parties containing all the necessary information regarding this agreement as well as the information from each party such as government websites of parties which may be required from an SME perspective, the regulations pertaining to customs, intellectual property, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, foreign investment, trade promotions, SME investment and financing programs, taxation and employment and other information useful for SMEs. The information disclosed on the website shall be reviewed by each party to ensure the same is up-to date and accurate

A committee for SMEs shall be constituted containing representatives from both parties which shall aim to facilitate promotion, development of procedures and provisions relating to SMEs and collaborate with experts in carrying out the programs and activities. The committee shall convene within a year of entry into force of the agreement.

General Exceptions

The agreement specifies certain exceptions and also sets out that the General exceptions provided under GATT 1994 and the GATS shall apply mutatis mutandis to this agreement.

The exceptions specified sets out the provisions of the agreement shall not be construed to disclose any information or take any actions which shall be considered matters of national security such as in matters of fissionable fusionable materials, activities pertaining to military activities, critical public structures, regulations in time of emergency and war and such activities which violates the obligations of parties under United Nations Charter for maintenance of International peace and security.

The agreement also sets out that none of the provisions of the agreement shall apply to any direct taxation measures of either of the parties and in such a case that it does, the domestic direct tax convention shall prevail over the provisions of this agreement

Novello Comments

From our shades of history, India has actually been at the receiving end of any FTA agreement it has signed. While there are unseen multiplier benefits of a CEPA or CECA such as getting more work Visas and the eventual repatriation that can be expected, it is very important that the FTA benefits are not mis-utilised. With this view,  the Government of India had rightly so recontoured the CAROTAR Rules couple of years back and even in the CEPA arrangement with UAE has laid down the concept of Accounting as a concept to ensure that the origination materials can be verified as long as the exporting country has the wherewithal to verify the same. It is also relevant to mention that in the world of digitised economy, the CEPA rightfully expect a vibrant electronic data exchange system to understand the effects of the CEPA within two years form the time it is conceived.

There are as usual subtleties in the CEPA which will impact different stakeholders in different ways. Based on the trigger as to when the preferential treatment based on TRQ, India Inc needs to prepare itself very diligently on both the exports and imports facets of the Cross border trade with UAE using the CEPA. As much as the Basic Customs duty which is otherwise a cost can be waived either partly or fully based on where it falls under the TRQ, it is equally pertinent to note that India Inc needs to have a dynamic conversation with the Importers at the UAE end to ensure that more exports of goods that enjoy preferential tariff can be exported out of India  since there is a waiver of Customs duty that will lead to beneficial enjoyment of doing better and more business on both ends.

We will be more than delighted to have a coffee and conversation with you on this topic. Do reach out to us at [email protected]