The free trade agreement signed between the EU and India, opening the way for broader access of European exports to one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing markets, creates a historic opportunity for agri-food products from the European Union and Greece. Under the agreement, India will proceed to eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs on 96.6% of European Union goods exports. For its part, the EU will liberalize 99.5% of its tariff lines for products imported from India, within a seven-year timeframe.
The European Commission estimates that the savings for European exporters from tariff reductions will amount to up to 4 billion euros annually. Among the sectors expected to benefit significantly is the agri-food sector, as high value-added products such as olive oil and wine gain access to a market where the middle class is steadily growing.
Currently, Indian tariffs on agri-food products from the European Union average 36%, while in certain categories they reach up to 150%. In 2024, EU agri-food exports to India were 1.3 billion euros, representing approximately 0.6% of the Union’s total agri-food trade, largely attributed to high tariffs.
EU-India trade agreement: The benefits
With the new agreement, wine exports, currently burdened with 150% tariffs, are expected to see tariffs reduced dramatically to the 20%-30% range. Spirits, with tariffs also reaching up to 150%, are projected to benefit from a reduction to a fixed level of 40%, while beer tariffs are expected to drop from 110% to 50%.
Particularly significant is the change concerning olive oil. From the current 45% tariffs, the agreement’s implementation is expected to eliminate them entirely, a development that opens the way for strengthening European exports.
“With this agreement, European wines, spirits, beer, olive oil, confectionery and other products will enjoy preferential access to the rapidly developing Indian market,” stated EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen. As he added, sensitive agricultural sectors such as beef, chicken, rice and sugar are excluded from liberalization, ensuring protection for European farmers. “The EU’s high food safety standards are fully maintained and are not subject to negotiation,” he emphasized.
On the Greek front, the president of the Interprofessional Olive Oil Organization, Manolis Giannoulis, speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency stressed that “any reduction in tariffs or costs works positively for European and consequently Greek olive oil, facilitating consumer access in third country markets.”
As he noted, despite the fact that India does not have a developed olive oil consumption culture, the agreement may attract a new, limited audience with price as the main criterion, pointing out that Greek olive oil exports amount to approximately 45,000 tons worldwide.
The prospects opened by the agreement for the wine sector were also mentioned by the president of the Greek Wine Association, Stelios Boutaris.
As he told ANA-MPA, until now sales of Greek wine in India are essentially non-existent, however the agreement and the rise of the middle income class in the country change the data. He also attributes a significant role in these developments to the agreement for direct flights, estimating that in the coming years a stable and positive Greece-India relationship will be formed, as visitors from the Asian country will come into contact with our country’s quality agri-food products.
He estimated that the reduction of tariffs on wine from 150% to 75%, with prospects for further de-escalation to as low as 20% over time.
Finally, in the context of market exploration, Mr. Boutaris mentioned that participation of the company “Kir-Yianni” in the ProWine India exhibition is being considered, which is expected to take place in Mumbai. As he finally noted “until recently there was no substantial interest in the Indian market due to high tariffs, however now the data has changed”.
