For example, while Indian agriculture is frequently asserted to have suffered in the wake of the ASEAN agreement, a quick glance at the tariff schedules for India under the deal shows clearly that most key items, including apples, were placed on the exclusion list (EL).  This means that the ASEAN-India (AIFTA) agreement made no changes to existing tariffs. The 50% tariff on apples into India from 9 ASEAN member states still exists—even after full implementation of AIFTA.  Philippines has a separate tariff schedule with India in AIFTA and apples are also on the EL.  Apple exports from ASEAN to India may have grown in the wake of AIFTA, but it was not as a direct result of any changes to tariff levels in the agreement.  Hence AIFTA cannot be blamed as a cause of competitiveness problems in India’s apple orchards.