RCEP talks trigger imports surge worry among farmers

Kuldip Bhatia 

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Ludhiana, October 24

Outrightly rejecting the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Bharti Kisan Union –Lakhowal (BKU) has made a strong plea to the government not to sign the RCEP in the forthcoming meeting of member nations to be held in the first week of November in Thailand (Bangkok) and also keep agriculture out of the discussion to be held in future with regard to this free trade agreement (FTA).

In a memorandum submitted to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal through the Deputy Commissioner here today, the BKU maintained that the proposed pact would inflict a death blow to the Indian agriculture which was already in doldrums due to diminishing margins of profit.

Talking to media persons after submitting the memorandum, the BKU general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said under the RCEP regime, the duty-free imports of food grain, dairy products, vegetables, fruits, pulses and poultry products from other member nations would flood the Indian markets and as a result, the small and marginal farmers, shopkeepers, traders and manufacturers would be thrown out of business.

He further said once the RCEP was signed, foreign and multinational corporations (MNCs) would assert their intellectual property rights even over seeds and certain varieties of crops which, in due course, could create a situation where the land would be snatched from the farmers and they would be turned into farm workers. 

“Entry of foreign companies and MNCs in the food grain trade in the domestic market will also pose a big threat to the system of procurement by government agencies and the whole concept of minimum support price (MSP), Lakhowal added.

The BKU leader claimed that after deliberating upon the negative effects of RCEP and the FTA, the BKU as well as other farmers’ organisations had unanimously rejected the proposed agreement and have called upon the government to safeguard the interest of the Indian farmers.

Farmers concerned over RCEP terms

• In a memorandum submitted to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal through the Deputy Commissioner here today, the BKU maintained that the proposed pact would inflict a death blow to the Indian agriculture which was already in doldrums due to diminishing margins of profit
• Once the RCEP was signed, foreign and multinational corporations (MNCs) would assert their intellectual property rights even over seeds and certain varieties of crops, which in due course could create a situation wherein land would be snatched from farmers and they would be turned into farm workers, said the BKU general secretary.