Ministers differ on India-Asean FTA
Economic Times, India
Ministers differ on India-Asean FTA
PTI
4 May 2007
NEW DELHI: Rekindling differences with his senior colleague Kamal Nath, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has written to the Prime Minister seeking review of the proposed reduction in customs duty on farm products under the Free Trade Agreement with Asean.
In his April six letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ramesh said the proposed reduction in duty on five agricultural products - tea, coffee, crude and refined edible oil and pepper - under the FTA with Asean would hurt the domestic growers and has sought Singh’s intervention to "reconsider" the move.
"Ramesh, who is in-charge of the plantation sector, has opposed in his letter to the Prime Minister, big cuts in import tariffs India has agreed to take on items like palm oil, tea and coffee in the proposed FTA with Asean," a source said.
Ramesh, who had last year too opposed the tariff cuts under the FTA with Asean, pointed out that competition from cheaper imports would hurt the sensitive agri sectors, which were already struggling due to neglect in the past.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi too had written to the Prime Minister last year expressing her concerns over the adverse impact the FTA with Asean could have on farmers.
India has decided to be more ambitious in its offer to cut tariffs to complete the FTA with Asean, which has missed many deadlines due to differences over India’s negative list. As negotiations are being led at the highest levels in the Commerce Ministry, Ramesh’s letter strikes a discordant note.
As the FTA talks were stuck over India’s insistence to include palm oil in the list of items on which it would not cut duties, New Delhi decided to make a concession.
