However, Antony said the shortcomings in the agreement could be overcome with the government's help.

'You should understand that of the 489 items in the negative list, 303 items are from the agriculture sector. It includes highly sensitive items like pepper, coffee and tea.'

According to the agreement, India will have the right to decide the tariff on the items in the negative list for 10 years.

'By that time, we would be able to overcome all shortcomings with the proposed government help,' said Antony.

Once the agreement is implemented, the present 70 percent import duty on pepper will come down by 2 percent every year.

Likewise, the import duty on tea and coffee, which is now 80 percent, would come down to 45 percent and that on rubber would come down to 50 percent after 10 years.