India Protects Farmers, MSMEs in Oman Trade Pact

• No duty concessions on dairy, tea, coffee and other farm products
• Jewellery, footwear, sports goods and metals kept in exclusion list
• TRQ-based concessions offered on select Oman exports like dates and marbles
• Oman allows export of marble blocks to India under pact

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 19th Dec: India has safeguarded the interests of its domestic farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by not extending any duty concessions on a range of sensitive products under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with Oman in Muscat on Thursday.

The Ministry of Commerce said several products have been placed in the exclusion category to protect domestic industries, including key agricultural items such as dairy, tea, coffee, rubber and tobacco. Other excluded items include chocolates, gold and silver bullion, jewellery, footwear, sports goods and scrap of several base metals.

The ministry said these sectors are either sensitive or labour-intensive and any tariff concessions could have adversely impacted domestic producers and employment.

For products of export interest to Oman that are also sensitive for India, New Delhi has largely opted for tariff-rate quota (TRQ)-based liberalisation. Under this mechanism, duty concessions are allowed only up to a specified import volume, beyond which normal import duties apply.

Goods covered under the TRQ system include dates, marbles and certain petrochemical products. An official said Oman has permitted Indian companies to import marble blocks, which are otherwise a banned export item in the Gulf nation.

Under the CEPA, the annual duty-free quota for dates imported into India from Oman has been capped at 2,000 tonnes.

The government said the calibrated approach ensures market access for Omani products while protecting India’s domestic agriculture and MSME sectors, maintaining a balance between trade liberalisation and economic safeguards.