India cuts import duty on blueberries, turkey in line with agreement with US

According to the notification, the duty changes were made because it was considered necessary in the public interest.

The Central government has removed customs duty on a certain variety of cotton, while levies on some variants of imported blueberries, cranberries and frozen turkeys were reduced, according to a notification from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) on February 20.

CBIC lowered the import duty on certain category of cotton—not carded or combed, with staple length exceeding 32mm to zero from five percent earlier.

The notification on the duty changes will come into effect from February 20. While, frozen turkey and edible offal will attract a customs duty of five percent compared to 30 percent earlier, fresh, dried or frozen cranberries and blueberries will attract a 10 percent customs duty. Though, prepared or preserved cranberries will attract a lower duty of five percent, preserved blueberries will attract 10 percent import duty.

According to the notification, the duty changes were made because it was considered necessary in the public interest.

This move is in line with India's intention to bring down the import duty on some fresh and processed food items as part of a larger dispute settlement between New Delhi and Washington at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Back in September 2023, US (United States) Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced that India and the US agreed to resolve their last outstanding dispute at the WTO regarding certain farm produce. This was after India agreed to reduce tariffs on US products including frozen turkey, frozen duck and blueberries and cranberries in imported in various stages.

This is seen as an important development in US-India bilateral trade partnership, and builds upon the agreement finalised in June during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to America, which resolved six pending WTO disputes.