India allows duty-free import of goods from Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: India has extended duty-free market access to Afghanistan as part of its economic package for least developed countries ( LDCs).

Under the scheme, the import of most products from the neighbouring country will be allowed at zero duty.

The Finance Ministry has issued a notification in this regard.

India's Duty-Free Tariff Preference ( DFTP) scheme, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, provides preferential duty access on products comprising 92.5 per cent of global LDC exports.

The DFTP scheme grants duty-free access on 85 per cent of India's total tariff lines. The scheme is to be implemented over a period of five years through five equal tariff reductions of 20 per cent each on the current applied rates to bring down the duty rate to zero.

Some of the products of interest for LDCs which are covered include cotton, cocoa, aluminium ore, copper ore, cashewnut, cane sugar, readymade garments, fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds.

The countries which have been notified under the DFTP scheme include Cambodia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Madagascar.