Discuss India-EU trade deal in parliament: CPI-M

NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday said the government should not proceed further on India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) unless all negotiating drafts were discussed in parliament and with the state governments.

“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government is set to conclude negotiations on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement by October 2010. Despite this having far-reaching consequences, the negotiations are being conducted with extreme secrecy and keeping parliament and the state governments in the dark,” a statement issued by CPI-M politburo said.

“The FTA with EU seeks to lower Indian tariffs to zero or near zero levels for 90 percent of agricultural products, while leaving untouched the huge subsidies EU agriculture enjoys. This will allow EU to dump subsidized European farm products in the Indian market,” it said.

Referring tp intellectual property rights, the statement said that EU was asking for TRIPS (trade related aspects of intellectual property rights) plus provisions and re-writing of Indian patent and copyright laws.

“That the government is even discussing the re-writing of such laws with the EU shows that the scant respect the current UPA government has for parliament,” the statement said.

The FTA also proposes massive cuts in import duties on industrial goods, which will greatly impact India’s manufacturing sector that was facing job losses and shrinking markets, it added.

“The CPI-M demands that the UPA Government should not proceed any further on the India-EU FTA unless all current proposals, negotiating drafts are debated and discussed in parliament and with state governments,” the statement said.