Under the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), India has granted quota-based tariff concessions to certain Omani goods, and that includes dates, marble, copper weld wire, aluminium ingots, billets and wires, and certain petrochemical products such as ethylene glycol, linear alkylbenzenes, and low-density polyethene.
“The procedure for allocation of Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) under the India-Oman CEPA is hereby notified,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a public notice.
Import duty on dates is 30 per cent, and it will be eliminated for up to 2,000 tonnes of dates annually.
Similarly, on marble and travertine blocks, the current duty is 40 per cent, but under the pact, a 25 per cent tariff will apply to imports priced at a minimum of USD 150 per metric tonne, subject to an annual import quota of 100 kilo tonnes (one lakh tonnes).
The DGFT said that at the time of clearance of the import consignment, the importer in India will produce a Certificate of Origin issued by the competent authority in Oman.
“The year for the purposes of these imports shall be the period from April 1 to March 31, i.e., the financial year in India,” it said.