US for scrapping agri subsidies

The US today said it was in favour of eliminating all trade distorting agricultural subsidies. However, it expressed disagreement with the Indian stand of protecting almost the entire agricultural market.

In an exclusive interview with the Business Standard, visiting US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the balance in Indo-US agricultural trade was currently in favour of India and the US would want to sell more agricultural goods, including wheat, pulses and dairy products, to this country.

In response to a question, Johanns said the US was not the world's largest subsidiser.

"That distinction goes to the European Union, which is by far the largest subsidiser. Its agricultural subsidies are two-and-a-half to three times those of the US", he said, adding that even Japan was a very big subsidiser of agricultural products.

He, however, asserted that US President George Bush was in favour of eliminating trade distorting subsidies.

Studies had shown that, more than subsidies, opening up of markets would be of real benefit to everybody, including the developing countries, he said.

Talking about India's position on import tariffs on agricultural goods, he said the country wanted to protect 20 tariff lines in agriculture, which would mean shutting down about 95 to 98 per cent of the entire market in the agriculture sector.

"This was a collective decision taken by developing countries, including India and China, in the last round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks at Doha. If 95 to 98 per cent of the market was protected, it would be way beyond the goals of the Doha development agenda which aimed at boosting trade," he said.

The US agriculture secretary brushed aside criticism of the recently launched Indo-US knowledge initiative (IKI) on agriculture, and described it as the continuation of the long relationship between the two nations.

"The Indian people and US experts have worked together in the past at the time of the green revolution," he said.

On funding of the IKI, he said resources amounting to about $24 million had already been arranged and would be utilised over three years. A lot more resources would be added to the kitty in the future.

Several aspects of this initiative, such as training of personnel, continuous interaction between experts and sharing of expertise in areas like food safety would be taken up. The objective was to maintain a bilateral relationship based on mutual benefits.

When asked whether this initiative involved India conceding ground in agriculture to secure gains in Indo-US nuclear deal, he remarked, "I don't agree with this. I do not see it that way at all."

Regarding the allegation made by some Indian ginger groups that the IKI would lead to one-sided flow of the Indian plant germplasm to the US that had the technology to exploit it, Johanns said this issue was not raised in any of the discussions that the teams of the two nations had. He also ruled out an arrangement for germplasm sharing.