India stands its ground on dairy, agri products

NEW DELHI: India has managed to protect its ground on dairy and farm products by retaining protection on the import of corn and soyabean, both genetically modified (GM) crops in the US, but agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on a wide range of American food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs) and red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soyabean oil, and wine and spirits.India has also agreed to address long-standing non-tariff barriers to the trade in US food and agricultural products. Though "non-tariff' barriers are not explained in the India-US joint statement, it primarily indicates India's resistance to import of GM crops such as soyabean and maize (American corn), and dairy products which are produced from cows that are fed tissues, internal organs, blood meal and other animal-based formulation."No GM items will be imported to India. No relief or concession has been given on dairy, maize, soya meal, sugar, millets, and citrus fruits," commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said. The statement, released on Saturday, also mentioned "additional products" in the context of reducing or eliminating tariffs on US farm produce. The mention of "additional products", however, also remains unexplained, giving both the countries to negotiate it further beyond the scope of the interim deal.

Under this head, India can always negotiate more access to the US market for the country's high-performing exports like shrimps, fish, spices, rice, tea, coffee and rubber.Among the list of items, which India will import, tree nuts - American almonds, pistachios and walnuts - and fresh fruits, mainly apple, will not impact the interest of Indian farmers as these crops have limited acreage in the country, and the production in any case is not keeping pace with growing demand.

Besides, they come with safety valves such as import quotas and minimum import price. Further, there is a distinction made between unshelled - where cuts will be sharper given the possibility of "value addition" in India - and shelled - where the cuts will be lower.

"We import apples and the agreed quota is lower than what we import from the US," Goyal said, adding import duty of 20% and minimum import price of Rs 80 a kg, will ensure a landed price of around Rs 100 a kilo against Rs 75 at present. As far as Indian export is concerned, many farm produce would face zero reciprocal tariffs, with additional duties removed. These include spices, tea, coffee, coconut and coconut oil and cashew. "No tariff concessions have been granted for agricultural products from US farmers entering India," he said.