Level-playing field: Putting agro-products on India trade list opposed

Standing committee says India’s subsidised agri products can hurt Pakistan market.

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research on Thursday recommended that the government exclude agriculture products from the list of items included for trade with India under the Non-Discriminatory Market Access on Reciprocal Basis (NDMARB).

The term NDMARB was coined after the term ‘Most-Favoured Nation’ became controversial. The new term will grant India the same benefits as envisaged under MFN.

During the meeting, the committee noted that the agriculture sector in India is heavily subsidised and could damage the interest of the Pakistani farmer community if it is included on the list of permissible imports.

Presided over by Senator Muzzafar Hussain Shah, the committee recommended that the government immediately exclude the agriculture sector from the ambit of the NDMARB list and a separate arrangement be made especially for the agriculture sector.



Secretary of Food and Agriculture Seerat Asghar told the committee that if agriculture products are allowed for import to Pakistan under the agreement, it would damage the interest of Pakistani farmers.

The secretary said that India gives a $90 million annual subsidy to its farmers to promote the sector and that Pakistani farmers cannot compete with them if their products are allowed on the list.

“Our point of view is that it should be renegotiated with reference to agriculture to protect our interest,” he maintained. The secretary suggested that keeping in view the massive Indian subsidy to its agriculture, counter-tariff barriers should be imposed on Indian agriculture products.

He said that the price per 50kg bag of urea is Rs450 in India, but is available in Pakistan at Rs1,500.

Senator Sughra Imam of PPP said that there should be special arrangements for the trade of agriculture products with India before the enforcement of the NDMARB status.

“Once it is formally enforced and implemented, then you will have difficulties in revising it,” said the senator.



She said that there is no level playing field available for the Pakistani farmer to compete with India in the open market due to the heavy subsidy from across the border.

Earlier, the ministry told the committee that because of the recent rain in the country, there is 50 per cent less sowing of cotton this year than the previous year.

So far, only 10 per cent of the total sowing has been done and the remaining will be continued till June 15.

The total target this year is 15.1 million tonnes, but it is unlikely that it will be achieved due to heavy rains, the committee was told.

The committee asked the ministry to prepare a comprehensive insurance policy for the farmers as well as a special policy for facilitating farmers for storage of their products to save them from damage.

The management of the State Bank told the committee that Rs255 billion has been disbursed by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and other commercial banks for the agriculture sector against the target of Rs380 billion credit and the target will be achieved by the end of the current fiscal year.

Minister for National Food Security and Agriculture Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan said that lack of gas to the fertiliser sector is the main reason for the shortage of fertiliser in the country. He said that special arrangements are made to make gas available for the agriculture sector to provide cheap fertiliser.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2014.