India and the UK on Tuesday announced conclusion of negotiations of the free trade agreement (FTA), talks for which was started in January 2022.

“Agri items like dairy products, apples, cheese etc are excluded from any duty concession. It will help India protect its farmers,” the official said.

In all its free trade pacts, India has protected these goods as it involves livelihood issues of small farmers.

India has not given any duty concessions in the dairy sector even to Switzerland and Norway under the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) trade pact, which was signed in March last year.

Britain was looking at some duty concessions on these products, given the huge Indian market.

There is about 30 per cent import duty on milk and milk products in the country. PTI RR TRB