 "Chile, flag, India")
Avocados and blueberries from Chile may now hit the Indian markets while the government is pushing for mangoes and pomegranates to be expoted to Chile.
Besides, textiles and chemicals from India would see greater market access in Chile.
This is the outcome of Chile’s agreement with the Union agriculture ministry. Separately, eyeing more trade with South America, India has expanded the trade agreement with Chile, and the new pact, on which discussions had been going on for 10 years, will come into force on Tuesday.
However, shipments will have to go through phytosanitary inspection and certification.
Chile sent more than 35,000 tonnes of fresh fruit in 2016-17, the bulk of which were red apples, apart from table grapes, kiwifruit, pears, and cherries.
Chilean Ambassador Andrés Barbé Gonzalez has highlighted the huge potential that exists for avocados and blueberries. Currently, avocados are imported from New Zealand while blueberries are sourced from the US and Canada. Neither product is grown here.
The expanded trade agreement hints at faster movements to deepen strategic trade engagements with other players in the region like the Mercosur bloc and the Pacific Alliance. More than 10 years after a preferential trade agreement (PTA) was signed with the South American nation in 2006, bilateral trade reached its highest point in 2012 at $3.68 billion.
The countries reached an agreement in September last year to liberalise trade tariffs. Under the expanded PTA, Chile has offered concessions to India on 1,798 tariff lines with the Margin of Preference (MoP), or the rate of concessions, ranging from 30 per cent to 100 per cent.
Likewise, India has offered concessions to Chile on 1,031 tariff lines with the MoP ranging from 10 per cent to 100 per cent.
These included 10 items that could be traded at zero duty and 586 items on which India had given up to 80 per cent MoP, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said. The tariff mechanism now covered 96 per cent of all trade, she added.
India’s bilateral trade with Chile stood at $2.63 billion with $0.68 billion worth of exports and $1.96 billion imports during 2015-16. Among the Latin American and Caribbean Nations (LAC), Chile was India's fourth-largest trading partner during this period.
However, the updated PTA will cover more than 10 times the number of existing tariff lines which are open to concessional rates of trade.
While exports to Chile are heavily diversified across industrial goods like automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and steel, apart from raw materials, imports are extremely concentrated.
As ores and concentrates of naturally occurring minerals like copper, iodine and molybdenum are abundantly found in Chile, these are the predominant imports from the country.
Metal scrap, inorganic chemicals, and pulp and waste paper are also imported. Also on the cards is a free trade agreement (FTA) with South American nation Peru, with both sides examining how ambitious the pact should be. The joint study group report is expected soon.
