Iceland under India–EFTA Trade and
Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA)
Key Exemptions
and Conditions
The notification
provides exemptions on imported goods from Iceland for the following duties and
cesses:
1. Basic Customs
Duty (BCD): Exemption from the duty of customs leviable in excess
of the rate specified in Column (4) of the appended TABLE.
2. Agriculture
Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC): Exemption from
AIDC leviable under the Finance Act, 2021, in excess of the rate specified in
Column (5) of the TABLE.
3. Health Cess: Exemption from
Health Cess leviable under the Finance Act, 2020, in excess of the rate
specified in Column (6) of the TABLE.
The primary
condition for availing this exemption is that the importer must
prove to the satisfaction of the Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs
that the goods are of the origin of Iceland, in terms of the Customs
(Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020.
Scope of Goods
(Tariff Items)
The TABLE
appended to the notification lists thousands of goods (over 10,000 line
items, with a continuous numbering up to 10063 in the end snippet) across
numerous Tariff Items of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975,
with their respective reduced duty rates.
Based on the
snippets, the exempted goods span a wide range of categories, including but not
limited to:
·
Live Animals and Animal Products (Chapters 01, 02,
03): This includes goods like live horses, cattle, swine, sheep, goats,
poultry, meat (e.g., sheep, goats), fish, and crustaceans.
o
For example, under Tariff Item
01012100 ("All
Goods"), the BCD rate is set to 0.00%, and both AIDC and Health
Cess are 0.00%.
o For many other
items in these chapters (e.g.,
03021100 for certain
fish), the BCD rate is 25.71%, with AIDC and Health Cess at 0.00%.
·
Prepared Foodstuffs and Beverages (Chapter 21, 22): Including
various food preparations, extracts, concentrates, and vinegar.
·
Residues and Waste from Food Industries (Chapter 23): Such as
residues and waste from food industry.
·
Mineral Products (Chapter 25): Including
various salts, earths, and stones.
·
Plastics and Articles Thereof (Chapter 39): Including
waste, parings, and scrap of plastics, and certain tubes, pipes, and fittings.
·
Machinery and Mechanical Appliances (Chapter 84): Including parts
of engines, pumps, compressors, and various types of machinery.
·
Electrical Machinery and Equipment (Chapter 85): Including
electric motors.
·
Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles (Chapter 95, 96): Such as fishing
rods, fish-hooks, and other articles for outdoor games.
·
Works of Art (Chapter 97): Including
paintings, drawings, and sculptures.
The majority of
items listed in the table, including those that are not fully exempt, show an
AIDC rate of 0.00% and a Health Cess rate of 0.00%. The Basic
Customs Duty (BCD) varies from 0.00% to 47.50% across different
tariff items.
[Notification No. 43/2025-Customs dated 30 September,
2025]
G.S.R..…(E).- In exercise of the powers
conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of
1962), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the
public interest so to do, hereby exempts goods of the description as specified
in column (3) of the TABLE appended below and falling under the Tariff item of
the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) as specified in
the corresponding entries in column (2) of the said TABLE, -
(i)
from
so much of the duty of customs leviable thereon, as is in excess of the amount
calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entries in column (4) of
the said TABLE;
(ii)
from
so much of the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) leviable
under section 124 of the Finance Act, 2021 (13 of 2021), as is in excess of the
amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding entries in column
(5) of the said TABLE;
(iii) from so much of the Health
Cess leviable under section 141 of the Finance Act, 2020 (12 of 2020), as is in
excess of the amount calculated at the rate specified in the corresponding
entries in column (6) of the said TABLE,
when imported into Republic of India
from Iceland:
Provided that the exemption shall be
available only if importer proves to the satisfaction of the Deputy
Commissioner of Customs or Assistant Commissioner of Customs, as the case may
be, that the goods in respect of which the benefit of this exemption is claimed
are of the origin of Iceland, in terms of the Customs (Administration of Rules
of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 and rules as may be notified in
this regard by the Central Government by publication in the official Gazette.