Call for people’s alliance to defeat FTA agenda
The Hindu | 20 Jan 2011
Call for people’s alliance to defeat FTA agenda
Special Correspondent
Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram
– Focus on reviving domestic economy, say experts
– Sharp fluctuation in tropical commodity prices forecast
– Plea to stop free trade in agriculture
Thiruvanathapuram: “India’s enthusiasm for Free Trade Agreements, in the context of the current global crisis when countries are eschewing trade liberalisation and concentrating on reviving domestic economies and creating jobs, defies economic logic,” said K.N. Harilal of the Centre for Development Studies and member of the Kerala State Planning Board.
Addressing a seminar on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) held here on Monday, Mr. Harilal said: “With the abrogation of the right to raise tariffs and the right to intervene in the market on crucial issues such as finance, agriculture and fisheries, the Union government is fundamentally undermining the Indian Constitution.”
Mr. Harilal said primary tropical commodity prices were prone to sharp price fluctuations and tended to decline in the long term. “Those who believe that the current steep rise in rubber prices in Kerala is because of the ASEAN-India FTA and will continue to rise, do not understand the basics of commodity trade,” he said.
Economist and Author Kavaljit Singh from the Delhi-based Public Interest Research Centre said: “In a country with 500 million citizens who do not have a bank account, de-regulating banking rules to facilitate the entry of more European banks would undermine the public banking sector and financial inclusion. Under the EU-India FTA, the crisis ridden European banking industry is demanding that India open up to products such as derivatives that ironically led to the Euro zone crisis”.
Nandini from the Karnataka Rajya Ryota Sangha (KRRS) said farmers from Karnataka had joined hands with farmers and fish workers from Kerala in blockading the Mangalore port in November 2009 against the ASEAN-India FTA. “We will have to resort to such direct actions if the government does not heed our demands to stop free trade in agriculture,” she said.
Usha Jayakumar from Thanal said the possibility of value addition for agriculture products was negated through the ASEAN-India FTA. “If one examines the tariff schedule of the agreement, while some primary commodities such as coconut are on the sensitive list, semi and processed forms of the same product are not.”
Lawyer Kajal Bhardwaj from New Delhi said European pharmaceutical companies were lobbying for patent rights on life-saving drugs through the EU-India FTA.
