Suggestions mooted for items in negative list for Indo-EU FTA
Economic Times, India
Suggestions mooted for items in negative list for Indo-EU FTA
27 November 2007
KOCHI: About 40 varieties of fish, cashew kernels and salted and roasted cashew are among the products which should be included in the negative list of items for India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a meeting of stakeholders here has suggested.
The suggestions came up at a meeting organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Ministry of Commerce to elicit the views of the stakeholders for preparing the negative list of items for Indo-EU Trade Agreement.
Kerala Matsya Thozhilali Iykya Vedi President, Charles George wanted all 40 fish items to be included in the ’Most sensitive list’ as the sector was experiencing ’untold sufferings’ and deprivation, consequent to fish import from Thailand based on FTA.
"The present move will further aggravate the situation," he said.
In India, about 85 lakh people are engaged in fishing as their sole means of livelihood. The catch from the sea was meagre and the operational costs are higher and most of them operate in traditional crafts.
The Association of Planters of Kerala said the Plantation sector, comprising tea, coffee and rubber are highly labour intensive. There are 10 lakh workers in Kerala alone in the sector. Under the SAARC agreement, when tea was allowed to be imported from Sri Lanka, India was badly hit. Though now it has been stopped, there should not be a repeat of the earlier agreement, the session was told.
The association did not want the plantation products in the negative list.
