India-New Zealand FTA Customs Duty Concessions Notified: CBIC Notification No. 32/2026

In a landmark bilateral trade policy development, the Government of India has operationalised the first tranche of preferential customs duty concessions under the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (Ind-NZ FTA), which was formally signed on April 27, 2026.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Ministry of Finance, has issued Notification No. 32/2026-Customs dated October 16, 2026 (F. No. CBIC-190354/82/2025-TRU), which comes into force on October 20, 2026. This tariff notification is synchronised with the formal entry into force of the FTA, the newly notified Rules of Origin, and the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) framework.

Below is our detailed analysis of the regulatory framework, tariff schedules, compliance gates, and action points for Indian importers and supply chain teams.

Key Regulatory Instruments at a Glance

To claim preferential duty benefits from October 20, 2026, importers must comply with three interconnected notifications issued by the Ministry of Finance (CBIC) and the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (DGFT):

Regulatory Instrument	Issuing Authority & Date	Core Scope	Effective Date
Notification No. 32/2026-Customs	CBIC (Dept. of Revenue) | 16 Oct 2026	Prescribes the first tranche of concessional BCD, AIDC, and Health Cess across 4 Tables (8,546 tariff entries in Table I plus specific lines in Tables II to IV).	20 October 2026
Notification No. 82/2026-Customs (N.T.)	CBIC (Dept. of Revenue) | 12 Oct 2026	Notifies the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand) Rules, 2026 vide G.S.R. 878(E).	20 October 2026
Public Notice No. 33/2026-27	DGFT (Ministry of Commerce) | 17 Oct 2026	Amends Para 2.92 and Appendix 2A of the Handbook of Procedures (HBP) 2023 to operationalise online TRQ allocation and ICES debiting.	20 October 2026

Structure of Tariff Concessions under Notification No. 32/2026-Customs

Issued under Section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962 (read with Section 124 of the Finance Act, 2021 for AIDC and Section 141 of the Finance Act, 2020 for Health Cess), Notification No. 32/2026-Customs organises duty exemptions into four distinct Tables (Table I to Table IV):

A. Table I: Broad-Based Concessions Across 8,546 Tariff Entries

• Covers Serial Nos. 1 to 8,546 across HS Headings 0204 to 96190090, spanning agricultural, marine, chemical, textile, industrial, and engineering goods.

• Prescribes ceiling rates for Basic Customs Duty (BCD), Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), and Health Cess.

• Illustrative Highlights:
  • Sheep Meat (HS 0204): Preferential 0% BCD, 0% AIDC, and 0% Health Cess on fresh, chilled, or frozen sheep meat.
    
  • Industrial & Marine Lines: Substantial reductions or complete elimination of BCD alongside Nil AIDC and Health Cess across thousands of industrial inputs and marine products.
    
  • Notable Exceptions with Positive AIDC: Importers must verify column-wise rates carefully, as certain sectors retain specific AIDC rates alongside reduced BCD – such as Raw Cotton (HS 5201: 4% BCD + 4% AIDC), Footwear (Chapter 64), and Bicycles (HS 87120010: 18% BCD + 13.50% AIDC).

B. Table II: Value-Based Concessions on New Zealand Wines

Applies to specified wine tariff lines (HS 22041000, 22042110/20/90, 22042210/20/90, 22042910/20/90, 22043000, 22051000, and 22059000) based on the CIF (Assessable) Value per 750 ml container (determined under Section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962):

• CIF Value of USD 5.00 or above, but below USD 15.00 per 750 ml container: 20% BCD + 75% AIDC.
• CIF Value of USD 15.00 or above per 750 ml container: 20% BCD + 50% AIDC.

C. Table III: Conditional Concessions on Kiwifruit & Manuka Honey

• Kiwifruit (HS 08105000): Where the CIF value is USD 2.50 per kg or above, preferential duty is fixed at 15% BCD and 0% AIDC.

• Manuka Honey (HS 04090000): Where the CIF value is USD 30.00 per kg or above, preferential duty is fixed at 51% BCD and 0% AIDC, subject to producing a mandatory certificate issued by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirming the imported product is Manuka honey.

D. Table IV: Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) Concessions

Grants in-quota duty relief up to specified annual volumetric ceilings (read with DGFT Public Notice No. 33/2026-27):

• Manuka Honey (HS 04090000): With a CIF value of USD 20.00/kg or above, but below USD 30.00/kg – Initial Quota of 40 MT in Year 1 (scaling to 200 MT from Year 2 onwards) at 51% In-Quota BCD and 0% AIDC (requires both an NZ MPI Certificate and a DGFT TRQ Authorisation).

• Albumins (HS 35021100, 35021900, 35022000, 35029000): Initial Quota of 200 MT in Year 1 (scaling progressively up to 3,000 MT by Year 5) at 10% to 11% In-Quota BCD and 0% AIDC.
  
  (Note: Under DGFT Public Notice No. 33/2026-27, seasonal TRQ schedules for Apples [HS 08081000] and Kiwifruit [HS 08105000] have also been incorporated into Para 2.92 of the HBP 2023, with physical quota allocations commencing from Year 2 onwards).

Mandatory Compliance Gates for Importers

Preferential tariff treatment is not automatic merely because goods are imported from New Zealand. Importers must satisfy three strict statutory conditions:

Rules of Origin & CAROTAR, 2020 Compliance:

Goods must qualify as originating in New Zealand under the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand) Rules, 2026 (Notification No. 82/2026-Customs (N.T.)), either via the Wholly Obtained (WO) route or by meeting Product Specific Rules (PSR) and Qualifying Value Content (QVC) thresholds.

Valid Proof of Origin must be presented to the satisfaction of the Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Customs in accordance with the CAROTAR, 2020 guidelines, and supporting records must be retained for at least 5 years.

Mere transhipment through New Zealand or minimal operations (such as packaging, labelling, or simple assembly) do not confer originating status.

Electronic DGFT TRQ Authorisation & ICES Debiting (For Table IV Goods):

New Zealand’s competent authority allocates export certificates identifying the designated Indian importer and communicates these details to the DGFT.

The Indian importer must file an online application on the DGFT Portal (Services -> Import Management System -> Tariff Rate Quota -> Apply for TRQ) referencing the New Zealand export certificate.

The DGFT issues an electronic TRQ Authorisation (containing IEC, Notification No., tariff item, quantity, and validity) transmitted directly to the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES), and imports are cleared only upon electronic quantity debiting in ICES.

Timing of Clearance:

The concessional rates apply strictly to Bills of Entry presented for customs clearance on or after October 20, 2026, with no retrospective benefit for prior clearances. For TRQ purposes, “Year 1” runs from October 20, 2026 to December 31, 2026, and subsequent quota years follow the calendar year starting January 1.

MCS Advisory: Action Checklist for Importers

• 8-Digit HS Classification Audit: Cross-verify the exact 8-digit ITC(HS) classification of all New Zealand-sourced SKUs against Tables I to IV of Notification No. 32/2026-Customs to determine exact BCD, AIDC, and Health Cess incidence.

• CIF Valuation Benchmarking: For value-sensitive imports (Wines, Kiwifruit, and Manuka Honey), review contract pricing and Section 14 assessable value calculations to ensure shipments meet the statutory USD CIF thresholds.

• CAROTAR Documentation File: Obtain supplier origin declarations, QVC calculations, and valid Proofs of Origin prior to filing Bills of Entry on ICEGATE.

• DGFT TRQ & MPI Coordination: For Table III and Table IV products, align with New Zealand exporters on MPI certificates and quarterly TRQ allocation references for timely DGFT portal filing.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Official Reference Links & Downloads

• 🌐 View Notification No. 32/2026-Customs on the Official CBIC Portal

Also Try: Custom Import Duty Calculator India