India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the New Zealand Customs Service have agreed to exchange electronic information on the origin of traded goods. Their Memorandum of Cooperation provides a framework for closer customs collaboration.
The arrangement supports the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which took effect on 20th October 2026. It is intended to help the customs administrations put trade-facilitation measures into practice and make bilateral goods trade more predictable.
CBIC Chairman Vivek Chaturvedi and New Zealand Customs Service Comptroller and Chief Executive Christine Stevenson signed the MoC on 19th October 2026.
The agreement allows origin data to reach the partner administration electronically in advance. Both countries expect better information sharing to support efficient and secure cross-border trade, while strengthening the customs cooperation needed to implement their trade arrangements.
Digital origin-data exchange is expected to reduce gaps in information available to customs authorities. The initiative also seeks to improve operational efficiency and give businesses greater certainty, bringing bilateral cooperation closer to evolving international practices in digital trade administration.
For eligible businesses, the arrangement is intended to make it easier to use the tariff preferences negotiated under the free trade agreement. More effective origin-information exchange should help the benefits reach qualifying traders with greater efficiency and predictability.