New Delhi, July 28 -- India and the UK have agreed to establish a subcommittee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures under their Free Trade Agreement (FTA), aiming to ease regulatory hurdles in the agricultural and food trade.

The subcommittee will work to ensure food safety norms do not become unnecessary barriers to trade, while upholding public health standards based on scientific principles.

The UK, known for its stringent safety norms, often finds Indian agricultural exports falling short of its requirements.

The new SPS framework is expected to help resolve issues like fertilizer and pesticide residue, which have affected exports in the past.

The FTA offers India duty-free access to over 95 per cent of the UK's projected ...