Beyond Market Access to Transformation - India-EU Strategic Agri Trade Partnership

As India and the European Union approach the final stretch of their long-anticipated Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the spotlight is turning to one sector that will truly test the depth of this “strategic partnership” — agriculture.

- By Dr. Smita Sirohi and Luv Tyagi

Trade in food and farm products has long served as both a bridge and a barrier between the two regions. Even without a formal deal, India–EU agri-food trade has grown steadily. Our agri-exports (HS Chapters 1—23) to the EU rose from €2.5 billion in 2013 (when FTA talks stalled) to €3.3 billion in 2021 (just before talks resumed), reaching €4.2 billion by 2024. Imports from the EU remain modest but have expanded at 11-12 percent a year. This trajectory highlights complementary strengths of diverse production systems and large consumer bases. The challenge now is to ensure that the FTA becomes not just a deal on market access, but a framework for transformation; one that balances farmer livelihoods, food safety, and Sustainability, and deepens cooperation on resilient food chains, investment flows, and innovation linkages.

While the final tariff package remains to be seen, the low-hanging fruit is likely limited: the EU's applied tariffs on many agricultural products are already modest. Drawing from the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, sensitive agri-products like dairy, milled rice, and sugar are expected to remain largely excluded, capping headline market-access gains. In effect, the depth of the partnership will hinge less on tariff schedules and more on reducing non-tariff frictions, aligning standards, and enabling investment and innovation across agri-food value chains.

Building Resilient Value Chains