<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in government strategies, partnerships, and supply chain diversification. India wants to be an integral part of global supply chains and the country has fast-tracked the process of negotiating trade agreements with strategic trading partners like Australia, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Greater market access for alcoholic beverages is a key component of these trade negotiations. The Indian market for alcoholic beverages is growing and Indian consumers are willing to experiment with a diverse range of products, including different varieties of wines. Until recently, India had kept alcoholic beverages in its negative list for tariff reduction under its trade agreements, primarily to protect its domestic industry. The country had imposed a tariff plus cess of 150 percent on alcoholic beverages, which is one of the highest in the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In April 2022, India and Australia signed an Interim Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement, and India for the first-time liberalised wines under this agreement. This report studied the scope for liberalisation of tariffs in wines and the scope for removal of non-tariff barriers under the India-Australia trade agreement. It not only investigated different aspects of trade, like tariffs, standards and other non-tariff measures, trade facilitation and logistics in the context of a trade agreement, it also examined how a sector can be liberalised under a trade agreement so that both sides benefit from it. Besides, it sets a framework for tariff liberalisation under different scenarios. The objective of this report is to enhance knowledge about trade agreements and how they can be negotiated to facilitate business-to-business collaboration, especially among small and medium enterprises.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>This report will help policymakers negotiate trade agreements, sector experts to provide inputs into trade negotiations and scholars to understand the nuances and complexities of negotiating a trade agreement.</p>

<p><strong>Arpita Mukherjee</strong> is a Professor at ICRIER. She has over 25 years of experience in policy-oriented research, working closely with the government in India and policymakers in the European Commission and its member states, United States (US), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and in East Asian countries. She has conducted studies for international organizations, Indian industry associations, non-government organisations and companies.&nbsp;<br /> Her areas of expertise include trade and investment; trade agreements; services; special economic zones; economic corridors; retail and food supply chain; start-ups, entrepreneurs; e-commerce and cross-border labour mobility.&nbsp; She specialises in sector and product-specific market trends, go-to market strategy, and government policies.<br /> Dr Mukherjee has a PhD in Economics from the University of Portsmouth, UK, and prior to joining ICRIER she worked with the UK-based think tank - Policy Studies Institute and taught at the University of Portsmouth. She has over 80 publications including national and international referred journals, books and book chapters and government reports. Dr. Mukherjee is a member of various government committees and policy panels and is in the editorial board of 10 journals. She has presented her work in various conferences and seminar and is in the advisory board of industry associations and non-government organisations. She is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Drishti Vishwanath</strong> is a Research Associate at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). She has over 2 years of experience in policy-oriented research, and has worked on multiple research projects related to agri-trade and agri-value chains, trade and investment opportunities between India and China, sustainable business practices and child labour in global supply chains, digital financial inclusion in G20 countries, implementation of direct benefit transfers in centrally sponsored schemes, conducted for the Indian government, international organizations, industry associations and companies. Prior to IIMA, she was working at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, where she was a key researcher on G20 issues under the joint capacity programme titled UK-India Economic Policy and Prosperity Partnership (EPPP) for the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India.&nbsp;<br /> Drishti has a Master’s in Public Policy and Governance, with a specialisation in Regulation and Institutional Reform from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and has a B.A (Hons) degree from Ambedkar University, Delhi. Her research interests include trade and development economics.&nbsp;</p>