In line with India’s commitments under the India–EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), particularly with Norway, the Central Government has notified amendments to the customs duty structure on specified goods.
The changes have been notified vide CBIC’s Notification No. 52/2025–Customs dated 30th December, 2025, issued under sub-section (1) of Section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962, amending Notification No. 42/2025–Customs dated 30th September, 2025.
Key Features of the Notification
- The notification substitutes the existing tariff table in the earlier customs notification with a revised table of Basic Customs Duty (BCD) rates.
- The amendments are aimed at implementing India’s tariff concessions under the India–EFTA framework, with specific relevance to trade with Norway, an important EFTA partner.
- The revised tariff schedule covers a wide range of goods, including:
- Live animals and animal products
- Fish and marine products
- Agricultural produce, fruits, vegetables and cereals
- Oilseeds, edible oils, seeds, plants and related items
- For several tariff lines, customs duties have been reduced or aligned to concessional or nil rates, facilitating preferential access for imports originating from EFTA countries, including Norway.
- Additional Duty of Customs (AIDC) and Health Cess remain nil, unless specifically provided otherwise in the notification.
Objective and Impact
The notification is expected to:
- Strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation between India and Norway under the EFTA framework,
- Provide greater certainty and transparency to importers, exporters and trade stakeholders,
- Support domestic industry through calibrated and phased tariff liberalisation, and
- Improve availability of high-quality inputs and products in the Indian market.
The notification has been published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) and comes into force from the date of its publication.
Detailed tariff-wise changes are available in the official notification.
The Notification can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CBIC-India-EFTA-Norway-No.-52-2025-Customs.pdf
