NEW DELHI: India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) offering zero duty access to a range of Indian labour-intensive exports, will kick in from Monday.
The Finance Ministry on Sunday issued notification on duty concessions on Omani goods under trade pact with India, which will come into effect from June 1. India and Oman signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in December last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Muscat.
Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed in December last year.
"Provided that the (duty) exemption shall be available only if the importer proves to the satisfaction of the Deputy Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may be, that the goods in respect of which the benefit of this exemption is claimed are of the origin of the Sultanate of Oman," the finance ministry stated. This notification will come into force on June 1, 2026, the finance ministry said.
Oman has offered zero-duty access on 98.08 per cent of its tariff lines, covering 99.38 per cent of India’s exports to Oman. All major labour-intensive sectors including Gems & Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural products, engineering products, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and Automobiles receive full tariff elimination.
India is offering tariff liberalisation on 77.79 per cent of its total tariff lines which covers 94.81 per cent of India’s imports from Oman by value. For the products of export interest to Oman and which are sensitive to India, the offer is mostly a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) based tariff liberalisation.
To safeguard its interest, sensitive products have been kept in the exclusion category by India without offering any concessions, especially agricultural products, including dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products; gold and silver bullion, jewellery; other labour-intensive products such as footwear, sports goods; and scrap of many base metals.
The Services sector, a strong driver of India’s economy, will also see wide-ranging benefits. Oman’s substantial global services imports amounting to $12.52 billion, with the share of India's exports in Oman's global imports basket as 5.31 per cent, indicating significant untapped potential for Indian service providers. (IANS)