Forum seeks special legislature session to adopt resolution to insulate agriculture from FTA

Stating that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by India with the European Union would be against the interest of farmers in Karnataka, The Way Forward – Forum of Public Intellectuals, Cultural Voices, and Civil Society has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to convene a special legislature session to pass a resolution to urge the Centre to keep agriculture and animal husbandry out of the purview of FTA.

Urging the State government to release a ‘White Paper’ on the adverse impact of the FTA on small and marginal farmers, the forum said that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be strengthened to protect farmers from the impact of free trade. While India is negotiating an agreement with the U.S., the forum has opposed it too.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, agriculture economist and member of the Karnataka Planning and Policy Commission T.N. Prakash Kammaradi, said that the FTA is against the spirit of federalism since agriculture is in the State list, and that the Centre has not consulted any State in this regard. He said that there has been no transparency in the matter.

Expressing concern about the arrival of genetically modified foods like maize and soybean in the country, he said that the FTA would create an uneven playing field since American and EU farmers receive subsidies, allowing these products to enter India at prices lower than their production costs.

Identifying specific products from Karnataka that would be affected, the forum said the Karnataka Milk Federation would be severely impacted by cheaper imports of milk powder, cheese, and other dairy products from the EU. Unhindered imports under the proposed FTA would also affect coffee, silk, arecanut, coconut, and spices grown in the State. It warned that if cheaper maize and distilled dried grains with solubles (DDGS), a by-product of ethanol produced in the U.S., are imported, the maize market in Dharwad, Haveri, and other districts would collapse. The easy import of cheaper processed vegetables would similarly hurt vegetable-growing regions such as Kolar and other districts.

The forum feared that the FTA would prevent the export of agri products from India on the pretext of sanitary and phytosanitary norms, bio security rules and pesticide limit besides limiting access to seeds to farmers through IPR measures.