New Delhi, March 2 -- Draft provisions under the proposed India-European Union (EU) free trade agreement aim to give greater clarity and certainty to Indian textile exporters on how their products can qualify for preferential tariff benefits, a move that could help the labour-intensive sector improve competitiveness and expand market access in Europe.

Under Chapter 3 in the draft free trade agreement (FTA) text, which deals with the rules of origin, a product will be treated as originating if it is either wholly obtained in a country or meets the product-specific rules laid down in Annex II of the chapter.

Annex II specifies that, for textiles, generally up to 10% of basic textile materials by weight can be non-originating, meaning they...