India should review FTAs to boost farm exports: CACP chief

NEW DELHI: India should review Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that it has entered into with ASEAN, Japan and Korea to boost farm exports, according to a discussion paper co-authored by CACP chief Ashok Gulati.

The paper, authored by three-members, also recommended the government to formulate "more stable" trade policy because the long term trends suggest that Indian agriculture is globally competitive and this potential can be tapped better so as to benefit the farming community.

"It is a pity that in the recent FTA type arrangements that India has entered into with the ASEAN, Japan and Korea, no effort has been made to stimulate agricultural trade flows," said the paper.

Stressing that there is a scope to increase farm trade with East and South East Asian countries, the paper suggested the government to review the substantial exclusion of farm products from FTAs signed particularly with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and Korea.

It is necessary to reach fresh agreements with these countries to reduce and even remove the impediments in the two way trade, it said.

The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) is a statutory body under the Agriculture Ministry which advises the government on price policy for major farm items.

Gulati said in the discussion paper: "One feature of all these agreements (FTAs) is that there are substantial exclusions of agriculture products from tariff liberalisation. India has excluded almost all the principal agricultural commodities that feature in international trade."

There are minor differences in the agreements in respect of the excluded products. In the agreement with the ASEAN countries some weak efforts have been made to stimulate trade in a few products such as palm oil, pepper and tea, he said.

Asia remains India's major trading partner. In terms of agri-trade, Asia and Africa have increased their share while there has been a decline in shares of America and Europe.

Agri-exports by India during the 2011-12 fiscal were more than USD 37 billion, as against an import of agri-commodities worth around USD 17 billion, it added.