Switzerland has completed the ratification process of the trade agreement signed between India and four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in March last year. The ratification clears the way for implementation of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and EFTA, which includes Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
The agreement is expected to come into force from October this year, Swiss ambassador to India Maya Tissafi was quoted by PTI as saying.
The national parliaments of all four EFTA members – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland – had already approved the agreement. The last hurdle of a referendum in Swiss cantons (equivalent to states in India) has also been crossed clearing the decks for TEPA implementation. In India, the ratification of the international agreements is done by the Union Cabinet.
The TEPA is different from traditional trade agreements as in return for access to Indian markets, the four nation group has promised direct investments in India to the tune of $100 billion over the next 15 years which will facilitate creation of one million direct jobs.
In February this year, a large business delegation from EFTA countries visited India to look for investment opportunities. A delegation from India also made a return visit to Switzerland in June to explore tie-ups.
The biggest trading partner of India in the group, Switzerland, already has zero tariffs for all manufactured products for all countries. It could not offer anything India-specific in the manufactured goods category and in the agriculture sector it had expressed some sensitivities. Other economies of the association already have lower tariffs and even their populations are small.
EFTA is offering concessions in 92.2% of its tariff lines which covers 99.6% of India’s exports. The EFTA’s market access offer covers 100% of non-agri products and tariff concession on Processed Agricultural Products (PAP).
As part of the deal, India is offering 82.7% of its tariff lines which covers 95.3% of EFTA exports, of which more than 80% import is gold. The effective duty on gold remains untouched. Sectors such as dairy, soya, coal and sensitive agricultural products are kept in the exclusion list.
India runs a massive trade deficit with EFTA. In 2024-25 India’s exports to the group stood at $1.96 billion while imports were $22.4 billion. A large part of the deficit is due to imports of gold from Switzerland. Last financial year, India imported $18.1 billion dollars of gold from Switzerland.