India briefed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the recent changes in the way it allocated quota for imports of gold on concessional duties under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to make the process more transparent. Through this briefing at the third meeting of the Joint Committee under the India–UAE CEPA the Indian side also sought to allay any concerns that UAE might have on the new process impacting its gold exports to India.
New Gold Quota Rules for Transparency in Concessional Imports
Under the CEPA India allows import of gold from UAE at duties which are 1% less than what it charges on imports from other locations. The amount of gold that can enter India through this route is capped at 200 metric tonnes under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ). In October-end by changing the rules India decided to allocate limits to authorised imports through competitive bidding or tender process.
Before the recent shift to a competitive online bidding process, the allocation of the gold TRQ was more discretionary, allocated to specific authorized entities.
Gold is the second biggest import from UAE after petroleum and its products. In April-September this year precious metal imports from UAE stood at $ 10.65 billion, which was 13% lower than what was imported in the same period last year. Petroleum imports on the other hand were at $ 13.02 billion, up 10.86%.\
Boosting Non-Oil Trade
At the joint commission meeting India and UAE conducted a comprehensive review of progress under CEPA and detailed discussions were held on market access issues, data sharing, anti-dumping matters, services, Rules of Origin and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) licensing.
Discussions also covered regulatory cooperation in pharmaceuticals, resolution of issues related to Certificates of Origin.
“Early signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Food Safety and Technical Requirements between Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE), UAE were also discussed.” a statement by the ministry of commerce and industry said. The MoU will make the trade in food products between the two sides easier.It was also agreed to strengthen trade facilitation, regulatory collaboration, data sharing and convening of Services Subcommittee meetings.
Since the CEPA came into force in 2022, India-UAE trade has more than doubled. From $ 43.3 billion in 2020-2 – before the CEPA came into force – it has reached $ 100 billion in 2024-25. India’s exports to UAE last fiscal stood at $ 36.63 billion while imports were $ 63.40 billion. Both sides have set an aim of taking the non-oil trade to $ 100 billion by 2030.