Leveraging the India–UAE CEPA for trade, tariffs and market access.
For UAE companies, the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA, in force 1 May 2022) changes the commercial calculus of doing business with India — lowering tariffs on goods, opening services and investment chapters, and in several cases easing professional mobility. Capturing the benefit, however, depends on meeting the rules of origin, the services commitments and the investment conditions, each of which is a legal exercise, not an automatic entitlement.
AMLEGALS advises UAE businesses on using the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA, in force 1 May 2022) in practice — qualifying goods under the rules of origin, structuring services and investment to fall within the liberalised commitments, and aligning the trade-agreement position with FEMA, customs and tax. We connect the treaty benefit to the on-the-ground entry structure so the advantage is actually realised.
Determining tariff treatment and qualifying goods under the rules of origin of the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA, in force 1 May 2022).
Mapping the services and investment commitments and structuring to fall within the liberalised chapters.
Aligning the UAE company’s India entry vehicle with the trade-agreement benefits and FEMA.
Managing customs classification, valuation and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 position.
Advising on the mobility and visa commitments available under the agreement for UAE personnel.
Advising on the agreement’s dispute-settlement and safeguard mechanisms where relevant.
It reduces or eliminates tariffs on qualifying goods, opens committed services and investment sectors, and can ease professional mobility between the countries. The benefits are conditional — goods must meet the rules of origin and services and investment must fall within the committed sectors — so realising them requires legal structuring.
Goods must satisfy the origin criteria in the agreement — typically a change in tariff classification or a regional-value-content threshold — and be supported by the prescribed origin documentation. AMLEGALS advises on qualification and the certification process so preferential tariffs are not denied at the border.
Trade and investment agreements can provide investment protections and, in some cases, commitments, but inbound investment still runs through FEMA and the consolidated FDI policy. AMLEGALS aligns the agreement’s investment chapter with the FEMA entry structure so both are satisfied.
Some agreements include commitments on the movement of professionals and intra-corporate transferees. Where the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA, in force 1 May 2022) applies, AMLEGALS advises on the mobility route available and how it interacts with India’s visa framework.
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