Staff cuts, red tape may derail India FTA gains, warns UK Parliament panel

Billions of pounds of tariff savings from Britain's free trade agreement with India could be jeopardised by deep cuts to UK export support staff helping firms use the deal in practice, an influential Parliament panel cautioned in a report on Wednesday.

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, with a remit to scrutinise the country's trade deals, released its analysis as the government tables the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in Parliament for ratification.

It finds that initial duty savings for UK exporters to India could total400 million pounds a year, potentially rising up to 3.2 billion pounds after 10 years as export volumes increase.

"This is the biggest free trade deal since Brexit with the potential to deliver billions in tariff savings for UK exporters, boosting growth and creating new jobs," said committee chair Liam Byrne.

"But Parliament is being asked to ratify a deal promising billions in tariff savings while the government is simultaneously cutting nearly 40 per cent of the export staff needed to help exporters make the most of this new bargain. That is a serious delivery risk," he said.

"Ratification is only the start of turning a promise on paper into the prize of new profits. So, ministers must now table a clear plan backed with real resources to make access on paper into exports in practice," the Labour MP added.

The cross-party committee's report calls on the Prime Minister Keir Starmer government to take an active role in driving implementation of the CETA by supporting exporters, monitoring how the deal is being used and intervening to resolve barriers as they emerge, including through effective trade remedies. It flags India's "sprawling administrative system and complex and evolving red tape" that would make potential gains from the pact difficult to realise.

"India's extensive non-tariff barriers, including regulatory opacity, inconsistent implementation, state-level frictions, export health certification requirements and the expanding use of Quality Control Orders, pose a material risk to UK exporters. The government must work to get all unreasonable barriers lifted," the report states.

The 11-member committee, including Indian-origin Labour MP Sonia Kumar, also cautions that the deal did not go far enough on services or access for skilled professionals.

"The absence of a concluded bilateral investment treaty (BIT) means that greater certainty for investors remains an ambition rather than a secured outcome. Ministers should set to the work of creating an ambitious compelling vision for the potential of a BIT to help re-energise these talks," it states.

The parliamentary panel calls on the government to move quickly on a timeline for FTA implementation to reduce uncertainty and allow businesses to begin to act on the terms of the deal, stressing that ratification should not be treated as the conclusion of the process.

"In the absence of binding human rights protections in the CETA, government must set clear and enforceable expectations for UK business setting up supply chains with Indian companies," it concludes.

The CETA, signed off during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UK in July last year, is described as a "landmark" pact that is expected to enhance annual bilateral trade by25.5 billion pounds a significant increase on the47.2 billion pounds logged in 2025by the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT).

The British Parliament will soon begin its formal ratification process, when MPs will debate all aspects of the FTA before it can be implemented in the coming months.