India gets taste of English apples
INTERNATIONAL trade secretary Liz Truss has praised the export of apples from England to India, a first in 50 years, as a sign of the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (FTP).
Truss took to Twitter over the weekend to point out the export of apples from a farm in south-east England. She was responding to a tweet by junior trade minister Ranil Jayawardena who shared details of his visit to the AC Goatham and Son apple farm in Kent.
“Our apples are now on the way to India for the first time in 50 years thanks to the Enhanced Trade Partnership,” Truss said.
Seen as a precursor to a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the ETP was agreed by prime ministers Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi during their virtual summit in May.
It was followed up by Truss and then commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, formally signing the deal. They set a target to double UK-India bilateral trade by 2030.
“India is an outlet that we’ve looked at for a number of years, but unfortunately we were precluded at the time because of a ban from the 1970s,” AC Goatham and Son co-owner Ross Goatham told the Department of Trade (DIT).
“With the announcements made the other week of the trade deal, we were pretty much straight on the front foot. I think we’ve had about 20 Indian firms contact us recently, asking if they can buy our apples,” he said.
Jayawardena said, “The fact that we have taken back control of our trade policy means real benefits for British farmers, British food growers and for all British industry.
“Another barrier brought down. Our apples can be exported to India for the first time in over 50 years.”
In May, the UK government launched a 14-week consultation to seek views of the public and business before formal negotiations on a UK-India FTA begin later this year.
The UK has said it wants a deal with India that slashes barriers to doing business and trading with the country’s £2 trillion economy and market of 1.4 billion consumers.
This includes removing tariffs of up to 150 per cent on whisky and 125 per cent on British-made cars, among other products.
According to the UK trade department, the aim of an FTA with India is also to make it easier for British services companies to operate in the lucrative Indian market, boosting the UK’s status as an international services hub.
Latest statistics show that trade between the UK and India was around £23 billion in 2019, which both countries want to double under the Roadmap 2030 timeline.