Marking the beginning of yet another successful FTA, Union Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off the first consignment under the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement or ECTA on December 29, 2022 at Mumbai. Dispatchment of consignments under India-Australia ECTA was held simultaneously from Mumbai, Surat and Chennai. Jewellers who are members of the GJEPC exported consignments on December 29, 2022 under India-Australia ECTA include Jewelex India Pvt. Ltd., Venus Jewel and ZenStar, Jewellery from Mumbai, Emerald Jewel Industry India Ltd from from Chennai, Jafarbhai Salehbhai Daginawala from Surat.

Held at the Grand Hyatt, the flag-off ceremony had the august presence of Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce; Monideepa Mukerjee, Director General, PIB, Mumbai; Shyam Jagannathan, Zonal Development Commissioner, SEEPZ, Mumbai; R.K Mishra, Additional DGFT , Mumbai; Tapan Mazumder, Additional DGFT, Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC, Chairmen of Several EPCS, other governmental officials and representatives of media.

Agarwal delivered the welcome address and informed how two international trade agreements had taken place this year. He noted that this trade agreement was one of a kind as India being the 5^th largest economy and Australia being the 14^th largest had a combined GDP of over 5 billion USD and that would mean greater leverage to newer markets and higher potential. He added, “ECTA brings together two largest economies of the world. Two countries are hugely complimentary to each other in nature. Import of raw materials on nil duty will boost our manufacturing sector immensely.”

Majumdar gave a small presentation and noted that on November 20 the exchange of documents took place and December 29, the first consignment was being flagged off, yet, the date of the launch was to be finalised. He mentioned the Supply Chain Resilience draft being potentially under engagement and that talks were on with the Indo-Pacific Association as well. He mentioned that, “There is a presence of over 7 lakh Indian diaspora in Australia. This agreement is complimentary wherein we import only what we need and they import what they do not produce so there is no competition of threat to the local businesses. Our merchandise exports which stand at about 6.7 million USD are anticipated to reach 10 million USD in the next 3-5 years. This agreement would create 10 lakh jobs in India, help students to gain study visa and work permits from 8 months to 14 years, upgrade our technical expertise among many other benefits. There are 135 sub-sector commitments which will boost the manufacturing community. The digital portal is open for all to access the benefits.”

The ECTA is effective mainly in four to five sectors, namely gems and jewellery, textile, IT, pharma, engineering and auto components industries. Certificates were handed out to members of the four sectors who would be initiating trade with Australia. From the gem and jewellery sector, Ashish Kothari, director Jewelex India Pvt. Ramniklal Shah, Partner and founder Venus Jewel and Sahil Jain director at ZenStar.

Piyush Goyal, the commerce and industry minister started the address to the gathering by saying, “The ‘IndAus ECTA’ also phonetically pronounced as ‘Indus ekta’ is also called the ‘Unity Agreement’ and comes into force on the auspicious day of Guru Gobind Singhji’s Jayanti just like the UAE agreement that came into force on Gudipadva day; both claiming 88 working days. He explained how PM Modi refuted the RCEP treaty that had the trade petrified and listed the advantages of the India-Australia ECTA. Goyal said, “With this agreement with Australia entering into force, that makes it two agreements within a calendar year. It's a matter of great joy and celebration for all of us. There is a lot of potential for exporting finished products to Australia as they're largely a raw material and intermediate producing country. So, it's a complete win-win. Since the production of many goods is in India, it will create immense job opportunities for businesses in both merchandise manufacture and service sector.”

Jagannathan, said, “The signing of the Indo-Australia ECTA is an opportune moment for accelerating growth in G&J exports from SEZs. It will be instrumental in harnessing the idle capacity in export zones and realising the untapped export potential of G&J from India.”

Shah, said, “This is yet another commendable achievement by the Government of India that will be instrumental in accelerating growth for Gem & Jewellery sector. The India-Australia ECTA will boost the bilateral gem and jewellery trade to double from the present value of US$ 1.27 billion to US$ 2.5 billion over the next 3 years. 0% duty on jewellery products made up of gold, silver and imitation Jewellery exported to Australia will provide a fillip to these products. An additional trade of US$ 1 billion is likely to generate employment for 88,000 workers in India. While the gem & jewellery products have got free access to Australia, the Govt. has protected the domestic industry by not decreasing import duty on gold/silver/platinum jewellery.”

Mishra, said, “The swift pace of change in the regulatory environment for international trade is providing a strong tailwind to the export sectors in India. It is incumbent on the trade to now draw maximum value from the government's supportive foreign policy framework.”

First Jewellery consignment Exporter under Ind-Aus ECTA Ashish Kothari, Director Jewelex India Pvt Ltd said, “We’re honoured to be the first company from SEEPZ to export under the Indo-Australia ECTA. I’m sure there will be many more to follow and benefit from this game-changing policy that gives Indian gems and jewellery zero duty market access and creates vast opportunities for our exporters.” First Jewellery consignment Exporter Ramniklal Shah, Partner & founder, Venus Jewel said, “FTAs would really bring a boost to the exports from the country as it will give a competitive edge to India exporters catering to Australia and for that matter to UAE. I do hope we have similar FTAs with other leading countries soon which have large gem and jewellery trade with India.” The India-Australia ECTA aims to significantly enhance bilateral trade in goods and services, create new employment opportunities, raise living standards, and improve the general welfare of the people of the two countries.

Indian exports will benefit from preferential zero duty market access in Australia for 100% of its tariff lines, which will benefit India’s labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and automobiles. On the other hand, India has provided preferential access to Australia on over 70% of its tariff lines, which are primarily raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores etc., which are required for our domestic manufacturing industry. The negotiation with Australia for an FTA was based on the suggestions and recommendations taken from every stakeholder across the industries. It is expected that it will yield similar result as we get to see from India-UAE CEPA, which helped India achieve overall exports growth of 20% growth to UAE. Gem and jewellery exports to UAE has seen a growth of 25% till date.