NEW DELHI: A report titled `Trade Liberalisation in Agriculture: Lessons from the first Ten years of the World Trade Organisation (WTO),' released here on Tuesday, says that since only 20 per cent of the United States' subsidies goes to small farmers, the remaining 80 per cent should be scrapped before negotiations on agriculture proceed further. The report by Devender Sharma from the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security has recommended the classification of agricultural subsidies into those which benefit small farmers and those which go to agri-business companies and big farmers and landowners.

The report says every country should have the right to take measures to protect its food security and the livelihood security of its farming community. Since agricultural subsidies, including income subsidies being given under the green box, are not being phased out, developing countries need an immediate protection from the flood of cheap imports. Stressing that the removal of subsidies should be linked to the removal of quantitative restrictions, the reports says that developing countries should be allowed to restore quantitative restrictions and tariffs.

Pointing out that the July 2004 Framework signed in Geneva, instead of reducing agricultural subsidies, has provided legal approval for increasing subsidies while seeking more market access for developing countries, the report says developed countries have been allowed to shift a large chunk of their subsidies under the `Green Box' and the `Amber Box' to the `Blue Box.' It says the first instalment of cuts under the July framework is not based on the present levels of subsidies but on a much higher level that has now been authorised. The July framework provides increased protection for developed countries as they enjoy special safeguard measures and can designate key products as `sensitive products' to protect their domestic markets.

The report examines the impact of the WTO on agriculture in countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. It says that in India imports of agricultural commodities have increased by 270 per cent in terms of volume and 300 per cent in terms of value between 1996-97 and 2003-04. The report says that cheap food imports have depressed prices of domestic products, and the focus on export-oriented cash crop agriculture has led to concentration of land and resources in the hands of big farmers.

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