As India and the European Union approach the final stretch of their long-anticipated Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the spotlight is turning to one sector that will truly test the depth of this “strategic partnership” — agriculture. Trade in food and farm products has long served as both a bridge and a barrier between the two regions. Even without a formal deal, India–EU agri-food trade has grown steadily. Our agri-exports (HS Chapters 1–23) to the EU rose from €2.5 billion in 2013 (when FTA talks stalled) to €3.3 billion in 2021 (just before talks resumed), reaching €4.2 billion by 2024. Imports from the EU remain modest but have expanded at 11-12 percent a year. This trajectory highlights complementary strengths of diverse production systems and large consumer bases. The challenge now is to ensure that the FTA becomes not just a deal on market access, but a framework for transformation; one that balances farmer livelihoods, food safety, and sustainability, and deepens cooperation on resilient food chains, investment flows, and innovation linkages.
While the final tariff package remains to be seen, the low-hanging fruit is likely limited: the EU’s applied tariffs on many agricultural products are already modest. Drawing from the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, sensitive agri-products like dairy, milled rice, and sugar are expected to remain largely excluded, capping headline market-access gains. In effect, the depth of the partnership will hinge less on tariff schedules and more on reducing non-tariff frictions, aligning standards, and enabling investment and innovation across agri-food value chains.
Building Resilient Value Chains
The India–EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC), launched in 2023, offers an institutional platform to strengthen agri-food resilience. Its working group on Trade, Investment, and Resilient Value Chains is especially relevant for agriculture, acknowledging vulnerabilities from climate shocks, input disruptions, and geopolitical tensions. Key areas of cooperation include early warning systems and contingency planning to better manage food system risks. TTC also encourages structured dialogue on voluntary food security principles, drawing on global frameworks like the G20 Deccan Principles, and encourages collaboration on infrastructure essential for resilient value chains, such as warehousing, cold chains, and rural logistics. Future engagement may include crop diversification and agroecological planning. India’s G20 initiative MAHARISHI (Millets And Other Ancient Grains International Research Initiative) and the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy offer synergies in promoting climate-resilient, nutrition-sensitive food systems — signalling a shared shift toward designing resilience into agri-food trade.
Sustainability as Shared Agenda: The SFS Chapter
A distinctive aspect of the India–EU negotiations is the inclusion of a standalone chapter on Sustainable Food Systems (SFS)- a first in India’s trade agreements. Unlike earlier pacts with the UK, EFTA, or Australia, where food, health, and environmental issues were embedded within broader chapters, this agreement grants them dedicated institutional visibility. This will open the door to cooperation on challenges such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), animal welfare, food loss reduction, and sustainable production practices — areas that go beyond conventional trade yet are vital to trust in agri-food markets. With an institutional framework in place, India and the EU can collaborate on research, innovation, and technical exchange to deliver food that is not only adequate, affordable, safe, and nutritious, but also produced in ways that minimise environmental harm and maximise social and economic benefits for both partners. For Indian exporters and EU partners alike, this signals a clear shift: sustainability is no longer an external compliance burden but a shared domain of forward-looking cooperation.
Food Safety Dialogues: The FSSAI-EFSA Partnership
Complementing the sustainability and resilience pillars is another institutional mechanism, the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and India’s FSSAI. Signed in 2018, it aims to enhance scientific cooperation and dialogue in risk assessment, data collection, and risk communication. While actual progress has been limited so far, the MoC acknowledges a key principle: trust in agri-trade depends on credible, science-based systems. Given the EU’s more mature food safety infrastructure, greater Indian engagement could enable valuable exchange of methodologies, data systems, and risk-assessment protocols, bridging gaps in public health preparedness and regulatory transparency
S&T Cooperation: Tapping Untapped Potential in Agri-Food Research
India and the EU share a robust landscape for science and technology (S&T) cooperation through bilateral agreements with individual member states, a framework-level India–EU S&T Agreement, and India’s participation in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. However, agriculture and food systems remain underrepresented in the portfolio of joint research. As noted in the recent EU Evaluation of S&T Cooperation with India, priority areas have tended to skew toward health, ICT, energy, and mobility. This is a missed opportunity. With trade ambitions expanding and food system sustainability gaining attention, existing mechanisms such as joint calls, twinning programmes, and mobility schemes can be steered toward climate-resilient farming, agri-tech innovation, and sustainable input systems. Bringing agricultural researchers into the mainstream of India–EU S&T collaboration will not only support regulatory and trade dialogues but also root them in shared innovation agendas.
Closing Thought
The India–EU agri-trade partnership could set a precedent for how two large democracies co-create resilient and sustainable food systems in collaboration rather than competition. But the real test will lie not in how well frameworks are designed, but in how seriously they are followed through.
Institutional mechanisms are only as effective as the resolve and capacity that back them. The EU brings to the table dedicated desks, coordination structures, and long-term programming to activate trade-linked cooperation. India, in contrast, often struggles with limited institutional bandwidth and fragmented follow-up, resulting in well-meaning agreements that remain under-implemented. As India moves towards more sophisticated trade agreements, it must also invest in the institutional capacity to deliver on the priorities it agrees to on paper. Dedicated follow-up mechanisms, greater inter-agency coordination, and clear mandates will be essential, especially in domains like sustainability, food safety, and science-based regulatory convergence.
Ultimately, the success of the India–EU partnership will not be judged by how many tariff lines are liberalised, but by how meaningfully it strengthens food systems — from producers to consumers — through trust, innovation, and shared responsibility.
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