Thank-you India – Honey Tariffs to World’s Most Populous Nation Soon Slashed

In a world first, New Zealand’s mānuka honey entering India will soon see significant tariff reductions under a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two nations. While potential for the mānuka honey industry abounds, some are warning that, this time, honey sellers should take the clean slate, “work together” and not “stuff it up”.

With a population nearing 1.5billion and a developing economy, trade minister Todd McClay says the deal “unleashes huge potential for our world class exporters”. However, India is one of the world’s largest producers in honey, believed to be in the top five of all nations. Therefore mānuka honey, with its high price point and additional antimicrobial properties effectively placing it in a different market to India’s domestic production, will become the first honey the world over to be included in a FTA with the subcontinental Asian nation.

New Zealand has become the first country to gain preferential honey trade with India under a FTA, with mānuka honey tariffs set to drop from 66% or 16.5% over a five year period.

Once the deal is ratified, which is expected to be in the first half of 2026, the current tariff rate of 66% will be reduced by 10% each year for the next five years on honey valued USD30/kg or greater. From 2030 a final tariff rate of 16.5% will remain. In addition to that top-end honey, a quota of 200 tonnes of honey valued between USD20 and USD30/kg will be provided entry on the new rates.

To date India has been but an afterthought for the New Zealand honey industry. In the year to June 2025, mānuka honey exports to India were valued at just NZD260,000 as only 11.5 tonnes made the journey.

“Clearly it has been an opportunity for years, as it has been for other primary product producers in New Zealand, but it has not been conducive to going in there because of those tariffs,” Apiculture New Zealand (ApiNZ) chief executive Karin Kos says.

“It is not an easy country to crack by any stretch of the imagination. It has taken a lot of visits to get this deal, but it is a really good start and I expect our sector will make the most of it.”

NZ-only

Among those from the honey industry consulted during the negotiating phase were ApiNZ board member and The Mānuka Collective chief executive Sean Goodwin, UMF Honey Association chief executive Tony Wright, industry consultant Ian Fletcher and members of The Mānuka Charitable Trust’s governance.

Goodwin says the USD30 value roughly equates to UMF10+ honey, and he expects the 200 tonne USD20-30 quota to fit bulk mānuka exports as a food ingredient.

“It is a great agreement, being that New Zealand is the first country to achieve preferential access for honey to India in any FTA,” Goodwin says.

“There was talk during the negotiations of an over-all quota and the risk was that quota would be all taken up with low grade honey, which would be of little value. So, I think this represents a great opportunity.”

Wright sees it that way too. He expects their members to start building markets into India soon, and believes the wording of the FTA will help protect against competing Australian honey. 

“I think where it has landed is positive for the industry. It gets better over time, so it gives clarity. You can start a marketing programme and know it is only going to get better,” the UMF Honey Association chief executive says.

“The wording in there is quite clear about it only applying to mānuka honey certified by the Ministry for Primary Industries. So, that means we have a trade agreement saying the honey needs to be certified to the regulatory definition to get tariff treatment. It means the Australians can’t get a look in. They have already completed their FTA with India, so it means we have preferential access for the genuine article to that market.”

Potential Protections

However, there is always the risk of Australia renegotiating terms says Kristen Kohere-Soutar, chair of The Mānuka Charitable Trust's operating arm Te Pitau, who are seeking to protect the term ‘manuka honey’ in key markets. Therefore, while a geographic indicator (GI) – such as which Scotch whisky and Champagne wine, among others, trade under in many markets around the globe – has not been included in the FTA for any New Zealand products, there is hope it could be pursued for mānuka.

A review of GIs between the two nations will take place within six months of the agreement coming into effect.

“The Indians are very partial to the GI system, so when our people spoke regarding the geographic indicators there was a meeting of minds and understanding of the appropriate legal protection systems that should be used,” Kohere-Soutar says of the Trust’s role in negotiations.

“That hasn’t transpired in the FTA terms, but it was central to them coming back and putting mānuka honey on the table to discuss terms.

“We should also be looking to build a geographic indicator for India, because India will accept it from a unified place.”

The Potential

“I firmly believe India will be a top five honey market for New Zealand within five years. Although, it will take some time for this agreement to come in,” says Goodwin, who travelled to India twice last year including on a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade envoy.

Not only is India home to the world’s largest population of any country, their ancient and traditional ‘ayurvedic’ holistic health practices place honey in high regard.

“Ayurvedic health principals are very similar to rongoā or traditional Māori healing,” Goodwin says.

“They will put a drop of honey in a child’s eye if they have an eye-infection. They understand honey, and have used it for many centuries.”

He believes mānuka honey’s value may also be increased in India due to the country’s antimicrobial resistance problem following years of antibiotic overuse.

“The idea of using a product in honey that they know and then a particular honey like mānuka that can help antibiotics be more efficacious when they need them, they want that sort of thing.”

For many years mānuka honey has benefitted from the ‘daigou’ trade of Chinese nationals sourcing product overseas and returning with it to their homeland. India may offer a similar benefit Goodwin believes.

“The economy in India is exploding. Highly mobile, young and forecast to be the globe’s third largest consumer market in a couple of years’ time. Their diaspora is spread internationally. Big populations in the US, UK, Middle East, so if we think about marketing to India as a population this is huge, not just to the country of India itself,” Goodwin says.

There are significant challenges in the Indian market too though, and so one of New Zealand’s largest honey exporters, Egmont Honey chief executive James Annabell, expects growth in the market to be a slow-burn, but still with great potential.

“It piques my interest and India is a market we have watched with interest, but haven’t taken a leap because of tariffs and it can be a complicated channel to market, with multiple layers wanting to take their cut,” Annabell says.

“The tariff is still quite high right now and with the lumpy path to market we have to question how much volume we will do there in the really near future.”

The Risks

There are of course two sides to any trade agreement and, while New Zealand’s strict border wall against honey imports will not be at all weakened for India’s sake, they will receive across the board tariff-free access to New Zealand. On top of that, increased access to New Zealand will be provided to Indian tertiary students and temporary workers.

Perhaps of most concern for New Zealand’s honey industry is the inclusion of ‘apiculture and honey’ in the ‘economic cooperation and technical assistance’ section of the agreement. With world-leading honey production practices, and home to the world’s most valuable honey in mānuka, there are plenty of valuable trade secrets within the New Zealand honey industry.

“Seeing what New Zealand has been able to do with mānuka honey and getting a premium globally is of interest to them, but we need to make sure we protect our intellectual property and our rights as manufactures and beekeepers in New Zealand,” Goodwin says.

“I think there is more to be gained though. India is a technologically savvy and science-based country and so if we can be flexible and collaborate around solving productivity or bee health type issues then this could be a great partnership.”

Capitalising on a Clean Slate

The mānuka honey industry was built, in large part, off the back of exports to the now second most populous country in the world, China, and Wright believes India offers similar potential and an “opportunity to develop a market from almost nothing”.

“We have the opportunity to build at the sort of pace and scale that we saw in China. It is actually bigger than China and is in a similar position to which China was 15 to 20 years ago. Why couldn’t it be just as big?” he says.

When pushed to answer that question himself, the UMF Honey Association chief executive stressed what would be required to realise the vision.

“We need to try very hard to get some unified messages from the start that talk about ‘mānuka honey from New Zealand’ and try not to confuse the consumer with multiple rating systems, confusing stories, or climbing over the top of one another to put your brand before the major brand which we are trying to sell – New Zealand mānuka honey.”

Wright says they will be seeking to assist members in this coordinated approach, but it is ultimately up to the brand owners as to their marketing strategy and use of the UMF brand.

“We can help, but at the end of the day, members run their own businesses and we have to respect that, but we would definitely like to see a more coordinated approach to market development in a situation like this where we have the opportunity to set the story, get the narrative right and make the consumer proposition clear and consistent. There are lots of good reasons to try and do it right from the start.”

Kohere-Soutar is staunch in her support for a more unified approach in India than other markets, including China, where she says too much of the profit has gone offshore. If the India market is approached in the right way, profits should stretch as far as beekeepers and landowners, she says.

“If we resort to type and go into this market in the same way, based on history, all we will be doing is leaving value on an Indian balance sheet and not our own. That is the big question for the larger exporters and some of our brands who are treating mānuka honey as a volume play and not a value play,” The Te Pitau chair says.

“So, we might have a short feed at the trough for the couple of companies that have the balance sheet to get out there and get sales going, but if we are not joined up with supply, with half the hives we used to have, how are we going to supply that?” Kohere-Soutar says.

“This requires us all to come together, work together.”

Done right, the potential is there though and Goodwin says The Mānuka Collective will put their money where their mouth is and look to build a good thing in India, starting in 2026, with an eye to much lower tariffs in future years.

“I do believe it is going to be a very good market and we have to have the kind of vision which others had years ago for China, because it helps to diversify and slowly build back the kind of size of an industry we want,” Goodwin says, adding “we don’t want another gold rush, but we want a return which is market led, not production driven and I think India has a huge role to play in it.”