WTO's HK round finds no support for Indian farmers, says BKS
28 Dec '05
2 min read
Expressing unhappiness over the outcome at the recent Hong Kong round of WTO, Bhartiya Kisan Union said the agreement did not serve the interests of Indian farmers as it centred on export susbsidy and completely ignored the issue of domestic farm subsidies.
"The outcome of the recent WTO round in Hong Kong only talks about export subsidy and not of domestic agricultural subsidy," BKU President Mahendra Singh Tekait told.
He said nothing has been done to protect the interests of the millions of small and marginal farmers of the developing countries, including India.
He included agriculture should be kept out of the purview of WTO.
Terming the agreement over phasing out of export subsidy by the rich nations by 2013 as a mere eyewash, he said: "The export subsidy forms only a small portion of total subidies extended to farm sector by the developed nations".
In reality, he said export subsidies do not exceed three per cent of the total support that these countires provide to their agriculture sector.
He said subsidies to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore per day by developed economies depresses global prices resulting the farmers in developing nations to suffer and in extreme cases even commit suicide as reported in India in recent past.
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