Revisit free trade pact mechanism, Acharia tells PM
The Hindu, India
Revisit free trade pact mechanism, Acharia tells PM
Our Bureau
9 May 2013
New Delhi. Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Basudeb Acharia has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to revisit the “entire mechanism” of free trade agreements.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Acharia said FTAs had not served the interests of the country.
He urged the Prime Minister to ensure that the interests of small farmers, agriculture labourers and the dairy industry should not be compromised in the FTA talks with the European Union representatives.
The CPI(M) leader said that the European Union was trying to wriggle out a pro-EU dairy sector agreement with India by pushing a favourable duty structure and concessions for diary products from EU.
“You will kindly appreciate that any such move would be hugely detrimental to the domestic dairying sector which has been contributing significantly to the country’s economy,” Acharia said in the letter.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties had maintained that they will oppose the FTA with EU in and outside Parliament.
The Commerce Standing Committee, headed by V. Shantaram, had also written to the Prime Minister demanding that the Indo-EU FTA dialogues should be stopped until the panel concludes its discussions on the impact of FTAs in India.
