December 27, 2022

 

Committee:

Dear Sirs/Madam,

 

Sub.: India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) – reg.

 

This is to inform you that India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) will come into force on December 29, 2022.The ECTA will open new doors of opportunities for Indian exporters as Australia is offering 0 duty rate for all textile & apparel items (HSN 50 to 63) from the date of enforcement of this ECTA.

The trade data shows that during 2021, Australia imported Textile & Apparel (T&A) commodities worth US$ 645.5 Mn from India while exported T&A commodities worth US$ 181 Mn to India during the same year.

Ministry of Finance vide Notification No. 112/2022-Customs (N.T.) dated 22^nd December 2022, issued the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) Rules, 2022 which will come into force from 29^th December 2022.

The major highlights of the Customs Tariff Rules 2022 pertaining to the Textile & Apparel Industry are as below:

 

De Minimis: A good classified in Chapters 50 to 63 of the Harmonized System that does not qualify as originating good because certain non-originating materials used in the production of the good do not fulfill the requirements set out in Annexure-B of the attached notification, shall nonetheless be an originating good if the total weight of all such material does not exceed ten percent. of the total weight of that good.

If a good described in the above rule is also subject to a qualifying value content requirement, the value of those non-originating materials shall be included in the value of non-originating materials for the applicable qualifying value content requirement.

 

Minimal Operations: Attaching accessory articles such as straps, beads, cords, rings, and eyelets; ironing or pressing of textiles will be considered as minimal operations.

 

Certificate of Origin: The Certificate of Origin shall be issued by an issuing body or authority, as appropriate, of an exporting Party, upon an application by an exporter, producer, or their authorized representative.

A Certificate of Origin shall not be required if the importing Party has waived the requirement or does not require the importer to present a Certificate of Origin, as per their national laws.

 

Claims for Preferential Tariff Treatment: Except as otherwise provided, each Party shall grant preferential tariff treatment in accordance with these rules to an originating good on the basis of a Certificate of Origin.

Annexure A of the attached document gives the Minimum Required Information to be filled by the exporter, while Annexure B gives the details of the Product Specific Rules of Origin.

For all T&A items except a few (as mentioned in Section B of Annexure B) the rules of origin criterion are “CTSH + QVC 35 Build-up” or “CTSH + QVC 45 Build-down”, as the case may be.

This is for your information.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Chandrima Chatterjee

Secretary General