EU liquor cos for 50% cut in tariff

Liquor makers in European Union (EU) have pressed for a halving of India’s import tariff in their free trade discussions, a top EU liquor industry executive said.

- Dhirendra Kumar

According to Pauline Bastidon, director of trade & economic affairs at spiritsEUROPE, an apex body of multiple liquor manufacturers in the EU, the share of European spirits in the Indian market was a mere 2.5% of the total alcohol market of 385 million cases in 2022. India currently levies 150% tariff on imported liquor.

Negotiators in India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) talks should address regulatory issues at federal and state levels since alcohol is a state subject in India, the spirits industry body chief suggested. Also, spiritsEUROPE has sought protection of intellectual property (IP) and geographic indication (GI) rights for its products in the proposed FTA with India. GI rights refers to protection of the geographical origin of the product, such as Scotch in the case of whiskey, from false claims to the attributes of that region.