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Curbs on farm imports promised: Antony

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 24. The Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, has promised to effect appropriate amendments to the free trade agreements with SAARC nations to protect the interests of the farming community in the country, the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, said here today.

Chairing a meeting of the Plantation Labour Standing Committee meeting, the Chief Minister said the Union Minister's promise came in response to the concern expressed by the State regarding unbridled import of sub-standard goods from countries such as Sri Lanka and Vietnam, he said.

Mr. Antony said Kerala would stand to benefit if the Centre decided to review the terms of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) trade agreements. He also informed the meeting that the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, had informed the State that the Centre had decided to liberalise import of rubber only because of the sharp increase in rubber prices in the domestic market. The Minister had assur ed the State that the measures would be reviewed if there was a fall in rubber prices, he said.

Appeal

He appealed to the managements and trade unions to work together to improve the conditions in the plantation sector. When a meeting of the Plantation Labour Committee was convened three years ago, the sector was beset by price slump and labour problems. The situation had improved substantially. The price of rubber had risen from Rs. 22 a kg to Rs. 50 and that of tea from Rs. 32 a kg to Rs. 48-50, he pointed out.

The Agriculture Minister, K. R. Gouri, the Power Minister, Kadavoor Sivadasan, the Labour Minister, Babu Divakaran, the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, the Food Minister, G. Karthikeyan, senior officials, representatives of trade unions, MPs, MLAs and plantation owners attended the meeting.

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