- India’s CBIC issued origin rules take effect October twentieth for the India–New Zealand trade agreement.
- Importers need a valid Certificate of Origin or declaration to claim preferential customs treatment.
- Businesses must retain origin records for five years and cooperate with customs verification.
India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) issued Notification No. 82/2026-Customs (N.T.) on October 12, 2026, establishing origin rules for the India–New Zealand free trade agreement. The rules start October 20, 2026.
The agreement enters into force that day. The notification invokes section 5(1) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, and sets conditions for goods to qualify as originating in either country.
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That status underpins a claim for preferential customs treatment. The rules specify how exporters can establish origin and how customs authorities can check it.
The notification names the framework the Customs Tariff (Determination of Origin of Goods under the Free Trade Agreement between India and New Zealand) Rules, 2026. It establishes tests for goods, alongside prescribed forms of proof.
The rules combine national origin tests with product-level requirements
Goods can qualify if they are wholly obtained or produced in India or New Zealand. They can also qualify by meeting the product-specific criteria in Annexure A.
Those criteria use Harmonized System product classifications and set requirements such as regional value content or specified processing. Exporters need to identify the rule for each product rather than assume one test applies across all goods.
The rules also allow bilateral cumulation. Materials that originate in one country may generally be used to make goods in the other while those goods retain originating status.
Minimal handling does not establish origin by itself. Repacking, relabelling, sorting and polishing are among the operations that do not confer originating status when performed on non-originating materials.
Importers need a valid certificate or eligible origin declaration
A preferential-treatment claim must rest on one of two forms of proof: a Certificate of Origin issued by a designated authority, or an origin declaration completed by an eligible party.
Eligible declarants include an Indian status holder or a New Zealand approved exporter. An exporter or producer may also make a declaration in specified circumstances.
The document must be in English, identify the goods as originating and carry a unique certification or identification number. Certificates must contain the information prescribed in Annexure B; declarations must follow Annexure C.
A certificate or declaration generally remains valid for 12 months after it is issued or completed. It can cover one importation containing one or more qualifying goods.
New Zealand’s procedure also allows a document to cover multiple shipments of identical goods during a specified period, provided that period does not exceed 12 months. Importers making a preferential-treatment declaration must hold valid origin proof and provide it to customs if asked.
Customs can check production records and inspect manufacturing sites
Customs authorities in both countries may examine invoices, production-cost data, accounting records and other supporting material to test an origin claim. The prescribed process also allows verification at manufacturing sites.
The rules set separate response periods for two types of inquiry. Requests about whether a certificate is authentic generally require an answer within 30 days.
Inquiries into whether an origin determination is accurate ordinarily must be answered within 60 days. The authorities can agree to extend that period.
Exporters, producers, issuing authorities, authorised exporters, status holders and importers must keep relevant origin records for at least five years. A party that withholds information or fails to cooperate with verification risks losing preferential tariff treatment for the goods.
Exporters should prepare product files before the rules start
Before October 20, Indian exporters should prepare documentation around the specific product and its supply chain. Their checks include:
- Classify each product under the correct HS code and identify its applicable product-specific origin rule.
- Calculate and document the required originating content or processing.
- Obtain a Certificate of Origin or prepare an origin declaration through an eligible route.
- Check that invoices match the origin documents exactly.
- Keep production, sourcing and accounting records for five years.
The agreement is scheduled to give New Zealand duty-free access to 100% of India’s exports from its first day. Covered sectors include textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, engineering goods and processed foods.
