Signing FTAs is only half the task; utilisation is the real test. Examine the role of customs digitalisation, such as electronic origin data exchange, in improving FTA utilisation in India.

India issues about 7 lakh Certificates of Origin (CoO) every year across its 15 FTAs/PTAs [1]. However, a tariff preference is worth something only when traders actually claim it. Customs digitalisation targets the costs that stop them from claiming it. One example is the CBIC–New Zealand Customs MoC on Electronic Origin Data Exchange (19 October 2026) [2]. It is necessary for better utilisation, but it is not enough on its own.

Why utilisation lags

• Fixed compliance costs: a firm pays to learn the rules and prove origin whatever the size of its shipment. These costs are most likely to exceed the duty saved on small shipments [3].
• Certification method matters: proving origin cost about 6.8% of goods' value under the Pan-European system and about 1.9% under NAFTA [4].
• Paper processes: exporters made three visits to an agency for each certificate, and the data was spread across many agencies [1].

How digitalisation helps

• Advance data, certainty: origin data is shared electronically before the goods arrive. This means faster clearance and fewer disputes, so preferences "reach eligible businesses… with greater certainty" [2].
• Checks authenticity: the exporting customs sends CoO data as soon as the certificate is issued, so forged certificates show up [5]. This puts into practice the WTO TFA duty to confirm that certificates are genuine [6].
• Makes self-certification workable: the India–NZ FTA lets registered exporters declare origin themselves [7]. Data from customs to customs gives the importing side a way to trust that claim.
• A model that can be reused: the system has moved from the India–Korea EODES (CEPA) to New Zealand [5][2]. It is linked to DGFT's e-CoO platform [1] and to Bill of Entry origin fields under CAROTAR 2020 [8].

Limits

• Authenticity is not the same as honesty: a genuine certificate can still make a false claim. Stopping trade deflection still depends on CAROTAR due diligence by importers and on verification by Customs [8].
• The exporter's burden remains: MSMEs still have to keep records showing their inputs meet the origin rules. The fixed costs remain [3].
• No published utilisation data: without these figures, nobody can tell whether the reform has worked.

Customs digitalisation cuts the time and uncertainty of claiming preferences. Rules-of-origin enforcement and support for firms must handle the rest. Next steps: make electronic origin data exchange the standard in every FTA, publish utilisation rates for each agreement, and simplify origin guidance for MSMEs. Together these can turn India's new FTAs into real gains in exports, in line with the WTO TFA's aim of trade that is simple, transparent and predictable.