Non-government organisation Forum for Trade Justice on Saturday cautioned that extending concessions to the US in the agriculture and dairy sectors under a trade pact would have long-term disruptive impacts on local farmers.US demands in free trade agreement negotiations will mean that a foreign country forces changes in India’s policies, regulations, and laws, overriding India’s sovereignty, the organisation said in an open letter.The Trump administration has currently slapped a 50% tariff on Indian exports to the US, on both economic and political grounds and has apparently demanded duty-free access to Indian markets in return for a reduction of these illegal tariffs, it said.
“These concessions would have large-scale and long-term disruptive impacts on both Indian farmers and India’s agro-biodiversity,” it added.It also said that in respect of intellectual property (IP), India may be compelled to make changes to its domestic patent laws for facilitating “evergreening” of patents on pharmaceutical products.”This would destroy India’s generic medicine industry, thereby resulting in a sharp increase in the cost of healthcare among the sick and poor,” it said.Forum for Trade Justice is a network of organisations working in the area of global trade, including farmers’ associations, trade unions, traders’ groups, health associations, environmental groups, and activists in various areas.(Edited by : Sheersh Kapoor)
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