The Hindu : New Delhi News : “Agriculture should be left out of WTO”

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Friday, Jun 13, 2008
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“Agriculture should be left out of WTO”

Gargi Parsai

High-profile meeting feels negotiations are one-sided

Move to open up Indian markets to cheap imports criticised
No real protection offered to Indian agriculture

NEW DELHI: A high-profile meeting here of representatives of farmers, fisher folk, farm workers, rural women, adivasis and civil society organisations has urged the government to reject the two drafts on Agriculture and Non-Agriculture Market Access that are coming up at the Doha Development Round next month.

The meeting passed a resolution that called for leaving agriculture out of World Trade Organisation negotiations as it was a “one-sided deal [in favour of developed nations] and a futile exercise.”

The day-long meeting, organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development with the United Kingdom Department for International Development and the Ministry of Commerce, unanimously passed a resolution that said both the drafts were “an orchestrated attempt” to open up Indian markets to highly subsidised cheaper imports. Some of the participants said that in the garb of tackling inflation, the government had already done away with import duties on several important farm commodities. “Importing food is importing unemployment that will destroy livelihoods and the country’s food self-sufficiency.”

Expressing concern at the “dilution of the government’s position at the WTO,” the resolution observed that what was being offered by way of Special Products and Special Safeguard Measures was a “smokescreen” and offered no real protection to Indian agriculture, fisheries and forestry. “We do not see any efforts by rich countries to remove their agriculture subsidies that depress global prices and insulate their transnational corporations against market volatility.”

“Given the global food crisis, the extent of agrarian distress in the country, the SP’s and SSM’s are inadequate to protect livelihoods and food security. It is high time the Indian government stands up for its people. Otherwise, the socio-economic and political consequences would be disastrous,” the resolution said.

The meeting had representatives from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, M.P., Gujarat and Maharashtra.

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