SCIENCE FOR A NEW TRADE ERA

WITH the draft text of the India-European Union free trade agreement now public, attention must shift from the headlines to the regulatory architecture shaping India’s agricultural engagement with one of the world’s most standardsintensive markets.

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Its provisions span sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, sustainable food systems (SFS), climate action, gender equality, biodiversity and marine resources, signalling deeper integration where systems credibility matters as much as tariffs.

The FTA reflects a shift from production-centric agricultural science to regulatory- and sustainability-oriented science. Competitiveness will increasingly depend on surveillance, traceability, risk assessment, sustainability metrics and alignment with global benchmarks. For India, this places the agricultural research and innovation system, led by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, at the centre of implementation. Science, in effect, becomes trade infrastructure.

SPS credibility: Despite India’s price competitiveness in several commodities, access to the EU has often been shaped less by tariffs than by SPS requirements. Concerns over residues, pest status, disease outbreaks and approvals have shaped trade continuity.

The negotiated text responds through clearer regulatory disciplines. Import approvals must rest on transparent risk assessment and scientific reasoning.