Union Minister Piyush Goyal met Australian Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt

New Delhi: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal met Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt on Tuesday, and discussed ways to expand collaboration in the agriculture sector to extract maximum benefits from India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA).

Taking to Twitter, Goyal said, "Delighted to meet Mr. @MurrayWatt, the Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry. Deliberated on ways to expand collaboration in the agriculture sector to maximize benefits from the India-Australia ECTA."

After the meeting, the Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O'Farrell said that New Delhi and Canberra can do much together in the agriculture sector.

He also tweeted that both the leaders discussed potential opportunities under ECTA, and negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAusECTA) came into effect on December 29, 2022. The ECTA was signed on April 2, 2022, and ratified on November 21, written notifications were exchanged on November 29 and after 30 days, the Agreement came into force.

Over 85 per cent of Australian goods exported by value to India are now tariff-free, rising to 90 per cent by 1 January 2026, and high tariffs have been reduced on some further agricultural products. In addition, 96 per cent of imports from India are now tariff-free, rising to 100 per cent by January 1, 2026.

ECTA will also save Australian exporters around USD 2 billion a year in tariffs, while consumers and businesses will save around USD 500 million in tariffs on imports of finished goods and inputs to our manufacturing sector.

Under the India-Australia ECTA, Indian graduates from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) will be granted extended post-study work visas.

Australian businesses have greater access to the Indian market of 1.4 billion people and are one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. A serious window of opportunity has opened for our exporters to move into an export market valued at over USD 24 billion in 2021, ahead of many of our key competitors.

It will boost bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 45-50 billion over five years, up from around USD 27 billion, and generate over one million jobs in India, according to a government estimate.