However, considering the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a major achievement, the UK Parliament’s House of Lords Committee on International Agreements has said that benefits for UK goods exporters will take time to materialise.

India and the UK signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in July last year after negotiations that ran from 2022 to 2025.

In its report on the deal, published on Tuesday, the House of Lords Committee on International Agreements said that until recently the prospect of concluding an FTA was considered remote. The negotiations took place in a challenging geopolitical context for trade, including US tariffs under President Trump.

“We conclude that an FTA in this context is as much about providing stability for businesses and a platform for continued strategic cooperation as it is about providing new market access. India is an important partner for the UK in this regard,” he said.

The committee, however, highlighted that the agreement has several shortcomings.

“Firstly, that the benefits for UK exporters of goods will take time to materialise, making the deal a long-term strategic investment for the UK, rather than a quick win,” it said in a statement, adding that instead Indian exporters will have full access to the UK market immediately.

Second, the committee noted that in order to get the deal over the line, several key UK interests were disappointingly excluded from the deal, including legal services and investment protection. It also raised concerns about the risk that non-tariff barriers, particularly Indian quality control orders, could undermine the agreement’s goals.

Lord Goldsmith, chairman of the House of Lords International Agreements Committee, noted that the UK has reached a historic agreement with a key strategic partner at a time of considerable geopolitical turbulence and welcomed its compliance with World Trade Organization rules, in light of current challenges to the rules-based international order.

“However, we must highlight that, in order to achieve the deal, a number of notable UK interests were omitted. For example, legal services were left out of the text entirely, which we consider a missed opportunity,” he said in the statement.

The Government failed to conclude a bilateral investment treaty, he added. “There is considerable scope to further develop the provisions for trade in services and investment facilitation, and the government should continue to engage with India on these issues,” he said, adding that it also remains to be seen how UK products will remain competitive as India opens its market more widely, particularly in the context of its recently signed FTA with the EU.

The report further recommended that the government take a number of measures to support businesses in using the Agreement, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as establish which support services will be increased to be provided through the High Commission in India and its regional offices.

“It should also continue to engage with India to develop the relationship and address barriers to trade,” he said.

The committee called the Agreement to the special attention of the House of Lords, considering that it is politically important and gives rise to questions of public order. The report is expected to be debated in the House of Lords in early March.

The committee was examining the FTA as part of the agreement’s ratification process.