The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which comes into force on July 15, will provide duty-free access for 99 per cent of India’s exports to the UK.
As per the latest notification from the Ministry of Finance, a product will qualify as originating in India or the UK if the same is completely obtained in either country, produced entirely from originating materials or manufactured using non-originating inputs, besides meeting the product-specific origin requirements prescribed under the agreement, IANS reported.
The rules in this regard have been issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
It establishes the framework to determine whether goods qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the agreement. Further, it lays down compliance requirements for exporters and importers.
“These rules may be called the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between India and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) Rules, 2026. They shall come into force on the 15th July, 2026,” read the official notification.
Allowing cumulative treatment of originating materials, the framework enables inputs originating in either of the partner countries to be treated as originating in the other when used in further production.
Further, it specifies activities like simple repackaging, relabelling, washing, sorting, polishing, simple assembly and other minor operations will not be sufficient to confer originating status on a product, as per IANS.
Notably, Customs authority will hold powers to verify origin claims and accordingly deny preferential treatment wherever products fail to meet the prescribed conditions.
Moreover, the framework provides flexibility to importers who fail to claim tariff benefits at the time of import.