India UAE CEPA Guide for Exporters 2026: Tariff Concessions, Rules of Origin and How to Claim

Verified as on 16 September 2026

Rasp International is India’s leading export compliance consultancy that helps first-time and established exporters manage DGFT regulations, IEC registrations, AD Code compliance, and custom clearances seamlessly.

The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is the live preferential deal for Indian goods going to the United Arab Emirates. It has been in force since 1 May 2022. The UAE conceded duty on 97 percent of tariff lines, covering 99 percent of Indian exports by value. Preference is not automatic. The goods must originate under Chapter 3, a Certificate of Origin must issue on the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) electronic platform and the UAE importer must claim the rate.

The rule that decides everything: If the goods fail origin, skip the Certificate of Origin, break direct transport or mismatch the invoice and Harmonized System (HS) code, UAE customs charges the full Most Favoured Nation (MFN) rate.

Why we are writing this India-UAE CEPA guide in 2026

The old version of this page still opened on April 2026 figures: non-oil trade of USD 65 billion, 240,000 Certificates of Origin and USD 19.87 billion of preferential exports. Those CoO and preferential-value figures match PIB Release ID 2104450 dated 18 February 2025. They are no longer the headline numbers.

PIB Release ID 2290437 dated 28 July 2026 states that 4.45 lakh Certificates of Origin have been issued under India-UAE CEPA since 1 May 2022. The same release puts India’s merchandise exports to the UAE at USD 37,359.11 million in FY 2025-26, across 8,053 tariff lines. The UAE-India CEPA Council Newsletter Issue Two 2026 puts total bilateral trade at USD 101.25 billion in FY 2025-26.

Two DGFT instruments dated 7 April 2026 changed the claim. Notification No. 05/2026-27 requires identical invoice numbers on the Certificate of Origin and the shipping bill. Public Notice No. 01/2026-27 requires authorised agencies to issue CoOs only on the designated electronic platform. PIB Release ID 2307462 dated 7 September 2026 added a CoO Open API on Trade Connect that includes India-UAE CEPA.

Rasp International is an ISO 9001:2015 EXIM practice in Agra, in family trade since 2005. The job here is the claim: HS code, origin worksheet, eCoO and the UAE importer’s declaration.

What is the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is a bilateral trade treaty that cuts or removes customs duty on originating goods moving between India and the United Arab Emirates. It was signed on 18 February 2022 and entered into force on 1 May 2022. PIB describes it as India’s first full free trade agreement in a decade, negotiated in 88 days.

CEPA is not a licence to export. An Importer Exporter Code (IEC) still has to exist on dgft.gov.in before you ship. CEPA is also not a product approval. UAE standards, labelling and the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) import declaration remain separate.

A Certificate of Origin is a trade document that proves the goods meet CEPA origin rules so the UAE importer can claim the preferential rate. Without that proof, the UAE applies the MFN rate. For many industrial lines that rate is the Gulf Cooperation Council common external tariff, often 5 percent. Check the actual HS line on the UAE dashboard. Do not assume 5 percent on food, tobacco or a TRQ leftover.

The legal text sits with the UAE Ministry of Economy CEPA page and the Indian Trade Portal CEPA landing page. Chapter 3 sets origin. Article 3.12 sets direct transport. The Origin Rules, 2022, set verification and the five-year record clock.

What India-UAE CEPA actually does for Indian exporters

India-UAE CEPA gives a UAE importer a legal basis to pay less duty, or zero duty, on originating Indian goods. It does that only for tariff lines in the UAE schedule and only against a valid proof of origin. PIB Release ID 2300733 repeats the architecture: 97 percent of UAE tariff lines, covering 99 percent of Indian exports.

Regional Value Content is a percentage test that measures how much of the Free On Board (FOB) price counts as originating. The usual manufactured-goods floor in Annex 3B is 40 percent, paired with a change in tariff classification. On lines written as “CTSH + VA 40 percent” (Change in Tariff Sub-Heading plus value addition), both legs must pass. Product Specific Rules override the general test. Read the annex for your 8-digit code. Do not borrow a neighbour’s 40 percent.

A Tariff Rate Quota is a volume cap that lets a limited quantity of a product enter at the CEPA rate. Beyond that cap the MFN rate returns. Lok Sabha annex AU3794 records 35 UAE lines (0.46 percent) as TR or TRQ. Gold, selected plastics and copper sit in the operational watch list. If you export those categories, preference can vanish mid-year when the quota is used up.

Direct transport is a routing condition under Article 3.12 that preserves originating status only if the goods move between the Parties, or stay under customs control outside them. Unloading, reloading, storing and labelling required by the importer’s customs are allowed. Entering commerce in a third country is not.

Services sit in the same treaty. The UAE Ministry of Economy page records enhanced market access across 11 sectors and more than 100 sub-sectors. Treat visa terms as the schedule plus current UAE immigration practice.

Pharmaceuticals have a dedicated annex. A Pharmexcil circular dated 4 May 2022 records a 90-day marketing authorisation, without inspection, for Indian products already approved by a listed reference regulator. That is a registration clock. It is not a substitute for a CoO.

Bharat Mart is a planned Indian goods marketplace at Jebel Ali Free Zone. DP World’s page, read in September 2026, says phases from the second half of 2028. It does not replace origin, an eCoO or UAE customs clearance. See the UAE export guide for the wider Dubai lane.

Rasp International handles Certificate of Origin filing and India-UAE CEPA origin checks. Talk to the team for a free assessment. Family trade practice in Agra since 2005.

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What changed on India-UAE CEPA between 2025 and 2026

The treaty text did not restart in 2026. The claim machinery did. Invoice matching, exclusive electronic issue and the Trade Connect Open API are the operational changes an exporter will feel this year. The trade target also moved from the old non-oil USD 100 billion talking point to a USD 200 billion bilateral target for 2032.

Where official India-UAE CEPA numbers still disagree

Three official-looking figures do not line up. State the clash. Do not average them.

First, Certificates of Origin. PIB Release ID 2104450 dated 18 February 2025 said nearly 2,40,000 CoOs had been issued since entry into force, covering USD 19.87 billion of exports. PIB Release ID 2290437 dated 28 July 2026 says 4.45 lakh CoOs have been issued since 1 May 2022. The later figure replaces the older count on this page. The later release does not republish a preferential-value total.

Second, FY 2024-25 bilateral trade. PIB Release ID 2300733 says it crossed USD 100.06 billion. PTI reporting of Minister Piyush Goyal on 1 May 2026 put FY 2024-25 at USD 100.03 billion and FY 2025-26 at USD 101.25 billion. The council newsletter uses USD 101.25 billion for FY 2025-26. This page uses PIB for CoOs and merchandise exports and flags USD 101.25 billion as a council-newsletter total.

Third, Bharat Mart timing. Early news copy spoke of a 2026 opening. DP World’s operator page, read in September 2026, says phases from the second half of 2028. This page follows the operator. Fourth, 40 percent RVC is the common manufactured-goods floor, not every Product Specific Rule. Annex 3B is the authority.

Who qualifies for India-UAE CEPA preference in 2026

An Indian exporter qualifies to apply for a preferential Certificate of Origin under India-UAE CEPA when four things are true at once. The firm holds a valid IEC. The product is an originating good under Chapter 3 and Annex 3B. The UAE tariff line is in the concession schedule, not the exclusion list. The shipment will satisfy Article 3.12 on transport.

Manufacturer exporters are the cleanest case. They hold the bill of materials, factory records and costing. Merchant exporters can still claim if they can prove origin through the producer’s documents. A Registration Cum Membership Certificate (RCMC) from the product Export Promotion Council is the usual path to the authorised CoO agency. Read the RCMC page and the IEC page before you open the CoO form.

Status Holders who are also manufacturers may later self-certify under the Approved Exporter Scheme. Notification No. 05/2026-27 dated 7 April 2026 limits that option to goods manufactured against an Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum, Industrial Licence or Letter of Intent. The same notification says the scheme comes into effect only when India incorporates it into a specific agreement and DGFT notifies it. Until a UAE-CEPA notification exists, file through an authorised agency on Trade Connect.

Who is NOT eligible

• Exclusion-list goods. Lok Sabha annex AU3794 puts 187 UAE tariff lines (2.47 percent) outside the concession. Those shipments pay MFN.
• Non-originating goods. If the Product Specific Rule needs a tariff shift and 40 percent RVC and either leg fails, the CoO should not issue.
• Goods that entered the commerce of a third country, even if they started in India. Article 3.12 is the trap.
• Shipments without a valid electronic CoO from a DGFT-authorised agency.
• TRQ leftover quantity once the quota is exhausted. The goods can still enter. They enter at MFN.
• Self-certified origin until DGFT notifies the Approved Exporter Scheme for this agreement.

Edge cases that break an India-UAE CEPA claim

The first edge case is transit. A Nhava Sheva to Jebel Ali direct bill of lading is the simple file. A routing via Colombo, Singapore or Salalah is still possible if the goods remain under customs control, do not enter trade and are only handled to preserve or to transport them. Ask the forwarder for the through bill and, if queried, a non-manipulation certificate. Repacking for a new buyer in the hub is how origin dies.

The second edge case is the Tariff Rate Quota. Gems and jewellery, selected plastics and copper are the categories the old operational page already flagged. If you export a TRQ-sensitive line, confirm remaining quota before you price a CEPA rate into the contract. DGFT consultants who track quota circulars are useful here. Guessing is not.

The third edge case is imported inputs. A garment with Chinese fabric or a machine with a high-value imported core can fail RVC even when the last process is in India. Bilateral cumulation helps: originating UAE materials used in India count as originating. Minimal operations (simple packing, labelling, dilution) never confer origin on their own.

The fourth edge case is the invoice string after 7 April 2026. Notification No. 05/2026-27 exists so DGFT can match CoO to shipping bill automatically. INV-104, INV104 and Inv-104 are three different strings. So are a proforma number on the CoO and a commercial number on the shipping bill. That mismatch is now a system fail, not a polite query.

How the India-UAE CEPA claim process runs stage by stage

The India-UAE CEPA claim in 2026 runs in three stages. Prove origin before you cut the shipping bill. File the preferential Certificate of Origin on the DGFT electronic platform with a matched invoice number. Have the UAE importer declare preference against that eCoO.

Stage 1. Before the shipping bill

Start with the 8-digit HS code on the Indian shipping bill. Check the same description on the UAE Ministry of Economy CEPA dashboard and Indian Trade Portal. Confirm the line is TEI, TEP, TRQ or excluded.

Build the bill of materials. Run RVC on the Product Specific Rule method, usually FOB minus non-originating materials, over FOB. Keep a Chartered Accountant cost certificate on file. Direct India-UAE routing is clean. Transit is conditional. The goods must not be sold or relabelled in a third country.

Stage 2. File the preferential Certificate of Origin

Public Notice No. 01/2026-27 dated 7 April 2026 says authorised agencies accept applications and issue CoOs only via https://www.trade.gov.in or another platform DGFT designates. Register the IEC, authorised signatories and a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) that matches the user name.

Select India-UAE CEPA. Pick the authorised agency from Appendices 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E. Your RCMC council is the default. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Export Inspection Agency (EIA), Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), Council for Leather Exports (CLE), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the commodity boards are the usual names.

Upload the commercial invoice, packing list, shipping bill (or the draft if the portal allows a pre-shipment file), bill of materials, cost certificate and origin declaration. Pay the agency fee shown on the portal. There is no single national CoO fee published as a PIB figure. Not verified as on 16 September 2026.

Put the identical invoice number on the CoO and the shipping bill. Notification No. 05/2026-27 makes that a utilisation rule. The agency reviews, may query the bill of materials, then digitally signs the certificate with a QR code. Apply before the goods leave. A retrospective CoO is possible in principle and painful in practice at UAE customs.

Stage 3. The UAE importer claims the CEPA rate

The Indian exporter does not collect the duty cut in a DGFT wallet. The UAE importer claims it on the import declaration. The importer presents the electronic CoO to the UAE Federal Tax Authority and to local customs (Dubai or Abu Dhabi systems). Preferential duty applies if origin, transport and the certificate all stand.

Share the CoO number, the QR file and the matched invoice with the importer before the container arrives. A CoO that sits in an Indian email folder while Dubai files MFN is a wasted certificate.

The lapse penalty

The penalty for a failed India-UAE CEPA claim is the MFN duty, plus delay, plus the cost of reconstructing origin in a verification. UAE customs can ask Indian authorities to verify a certificate. Keep supporting documents for not less than five years from the date of issue under the Origin Rules, 2022. Invoice mismatches after 7 April 2026 and paper CoOs issued outside trade.gov.in fail before a human reads the file.

The fast track

The fast track in 2026 is a clean template. Repeat exporters should lock an origin worksheet per SKU, a CA cost certificate that matches the current bill of materials and a Trade Connect user whose DSC already works.

PIB Release ID 2307462 dated 7 September 2026 opened an Open API on Trade Connect so an exporter’s own Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can request a token, file the CoO and verify the certificate. India-UAE CEPA is on that covered-agreement list. Integration is optional. It does not relax origin.

Six India-UAE CEPA sector uses and one cautionary tale

India-UAE CEPA was written to tilt toward labour-intensive Indian lines. The six uses below are the lanes where a correct CoO still changes the landed price in 2026. They are not a promise that every HS code in the chapter is zero. Check the dashboard.

Gems and jewellery. Chapter 71 is a CEPA winner and a TRQ and origin minefield. Cut diamonds and gold jewellery often have Product Specific Rules that are not the generic 40 percent. Price the concession only after Annex 3B and any quota circular are read.

Textiles and apparel. Most cotton, silk, wool and man-made apparel lines went to zero on day one or on a short phase-out. Imported fabric that keeps the same 6-digit sub-heading can fail CTSH. Cumulation with originating UAE fabric is allowed. A label sew-on is not processing.

Leather goods and footwear. Finished leather products were in the early elimination set. Keep tannery and last-process records. A merchant exporter who only invoices a job-worker needs the job-worker’s origin file.

Engineering goods. Components and processed metal sit in the 80.3 percent day-one bucket more often than people expect. A high-value imported core can drag Indian RVC under 40 percent of FOB. Re-source the core or drop CEPA from the quote.

Pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Duty concession and the 90-day marketing-authorisation annex are different tools. Use both. The CoO still has to match the registered product. The Pharmexcil circular of 4 May 2022 is the sector note.

Processed food, spices, rice, tea and coffee. Wholly obtained is the clean test for crops grown in India. Blends and imported packing can pull a processed line onto a Product Specific Rule. APEDA or the relevant commodity board is the usual issuing agency.

Illustrative cautionary tale. This is an anonymous composite, labelled illustrative, not a named client file. An engineering MSME quoted a Dubai buyer a CEPA zero-duty price, shipped via a third-country hub and had the cargo relabelled for a second Gulf buyer. Dubai Customs treated the goods as having entered commerce in the transit country. Preference was denied. The buyer paid MFN and deducted the duty from the Indian invoice.

Seven-step India-UAE CEPA method

Rasp International runs India-UAE CEPA files in seven steps that match the operational sequence exporters already used, updated for the April 2026 invoice-match rule and Trade Connect. The steps below are the claim. They are not a substitute for Annex 3B.

1. Verify HS classification and the UAE concession. Lock the 8-digit code. Read the UAE schedule for TEI, TEP, TRQ or exclusion. Do not quote zero duty from a 2022 brochure.
2. Confirm origin. Wholly obtained, or the Product Specific Rule. Run RVC on the current bill of materials. Keep the CA cost certificate aligned to that bill of materials. If the line needs CTSH plus 40 percent, both must pass.
3. Register on the DGFT electronic platform. Use trade.gov.in with IEC-linked DSC. Public Notice No. 01/2026-27 is why a manual agency stamp is no longer a plan.
4. Select the authorised issuing agency. Choose the Appendix agency that matches the product. The RCMC council is the default. A textiles CoO through a metal council is how queries start.
5. File the CoO application online. Upload invoice, packing list, shipping bill, bill of materials, cost certificate and origin declaration. Copy the invoice number character for character onto the CoO and the shipping bill. Pay the portal fee. Wait for the digital signature and QR file.
6. Use the CoO at UAE clearance. Send the electronic certificate to the importer before arrival. The importer claims on the FTA and local-customs declaration. No CoO, no CEPA rate.
7. Retain the file for five years. The Origin Rules, 2022, require supporting documents for not less than five years from the date of issue. Keep the bill of materials, supplier invoices, production records and the matched CoO-invoice-shipping-bill set. If Trade Connect help text is stricter, follow the stricter clock.

A shop copy of the same workflow, without a price on this page, sits at the Certificate of Origin product page.

Rasp International handles India-UAE CEPA origin worksheets and eCoO filing on Trade Connect. Talk to the team for a free assessment. Family trade practice in Agra since 2005.

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Three things India-UAE CEPA will not do

India-UAE CEPA will not waive UAE product standards, Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) or Emirates Conformity Assessment Scheme (ECAS) markings, bilingual labels or UAE value-added tax. Zero customs duty is not zero compliance. A toy, a food lot or a medical device still faces the regulator that owns that product.

India-UAE CEPA will not turn third-country goods into Indian originating goods. A Dubai re-export of Chinese cargo with an Indian invoice is the fact pattern origin rules exist to stop. Light processing listed as a minimal operation does not confer origin. Transshipment that enters commerce in a third country kills the rate even when the factory is in India.

India-UAE CEPA will not apply because the contract says “CEPA price”. The UAE importer needs a valid electronic Certificate of Origin issued by a DGFT-authorised agency on the designated platform, with an invoice number that matches the shipping bill, for goods that meet Annex 3B and Article 3.12. Missing any one of those, the duty is MFN.

Questions exporters actually ask

This week: four actions on India-UAE CEPA

Do these four things on the next UAE order. They take a working afternoon. They prevent an MFN surprise.

1. Check the HS line on the UAE Ministry of Economy CEPA dashboard and Indian Trade Portal. Write down TEI, TEP, TRQ or excluded. If the line is excluded, stop quoting a CEPA price.
2. Run RVC on the current bill of materials. Use the Product Specific Rule for that HS code, not a generic 40 percent memory. If you fail, change inputs or drop the preference from the offer.
3. Confirm Trade Connect access. Log into trade.gov.in with the IEC-linked DSC. If the login fails on Wednesday, it will fail on the sailing cut-off too.
4. Align the invoice number you will put on the commercial invoice, the CoO application and the shipping bill. Same characters. Same hyphens. Same prefix. Notification No. 05/2026-27 is already in force.

Who reviewed this guide

Rasp International is an ISO 9001:2015 EXIM and DGFT advisory firm in Agra. The family practice has worked in international trade since 2005 and has served 500 plus exporters. This page was reviewed by Pratham Agarwal, Founder and Principal EXIM Consultant.

If the next shipment is the first India-UAE CEPA file, bring the HS code, the bill of materials and the draft invoice. The assessment is the origin test and the Trade Connect path, not a slogan about Gulf access.

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Sources

Tier 1

• UAE Ministry of Economy, UAE-India CEPA page
• Indian Trade Portal, India-UAE CEPA landing page
• PIB Release ID 2290437, 28 July 2026 (4.45 lakh CoOs, USD 37,359.11 million exports)
• PIB Release ID 2300733 (97 percent coverage, USD 200 billion target)
• PIB Release ID 2104450, 18 February 2025 (older CoO headlines)
• PIB Release ID 2307462, 7 September 2026 (CoO Open API)
• DGFT Notification No. 05/2026-27 dated 7 April 2026
• DGFT Public Notice No. 01/2026-27 dated 7 April 2026
• Lok Sabha annex AU3794, CEPA tariff modality
• Trade Connect ePlatform, trade.gov.in
• DGFT Certificate of Origin portal, coo.dgft.gov.in
• UAE Federal Tax Authority
• Origin Rules, 2022, five-year document retention

Tier 2

• Pharmexcil circular, 4 May 2022, pharma annex: 90-day marketing authorisation
• Trade Connect Certificate of Origin technical page

Tier 3

• UAE-India CEPA Council Newsletter Issue Two 2026: USD 101.25 billion in FY 2025-26. Council newsletter, not DGFT.

This is general guidance. Rules change. Verify against the current notification on the DGFT or CBIC portal before you act.

Need a working checklist for the first shipment? Use the free 23-step export checklist.

Related reading

• Export guide for the UAE
• EU-India FTA: what exporters should know
• India-UK CETA Certificate of Origin on eCoO