Green diktats
THE international market for agricultural products has been severely constrained so far by the high tariff walls set up by the major developed markets. The problem has been further com- pounded by massive export subsidies granted to farm production and farm products export, particularly by the United States and the European Union, leading to severe trade distortions. Estimates are that the arm support on subsidies in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries alone stood at a staggering us $350 billion in 1992.
The successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations in December 1993 was, therefore, claimed as a major breakthrough by countries like India, since 2 major areas of export interest to developing countries, viz. textiles and agriculture, were addressed to.
It had been the negotiating objective of the developing countries to obtain improved market access in the developed world. These objectives were perceived to have been realised, even in a seemingly intractable sector like agriculture, when the developed countries agreed to scale down the trade distorting support measures for farmers by 20 per cent, and cut down the value of direct export subsidies by 36 per cent over a 6-year period. The popular perception was that India now stood at the threshold of a boom period in agricultural exports.
However, the initial euphoria created by the anticipated gains seems to be dissipating just:s rapidly, with developed nations creating fresh barriers, which basically reflect their growing environmental concerns.
Green hurdles The seeds for such barriers exist in the Agreement on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary measures (sps); which is part of the comprehensive agreement on agriculture. The sps agreement addresses the wide variety of measures which governments in the developed world use to ensure that human and animal food is bereft of contaminants, toxins, disease causing organisms, additives, and are informed With measures to protect human health from pests and diseases carried by plants and animals.
The sps agreement also encourages developing countries to use international standards, guidelines and recommendations - where they exist - but does not require such countries to change the level of protection which they have determined to be appropriate, if this is not provided for by international standards.
The array of new barriers which India is encountering, -whether it relates to high pesticide residues on white sesame seeds, DDT residues in tea and coffee, or toxic elements in milk samples, is only a reaffirmation of the fact that health and safety standards will be dominant considerations in determining the future of Indian agro-based exports. The West is dearly unwilling to make any concessions in its health standards.
Biswajit Dhar, fellow at the Research and Information System for Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries (Ris), has conducted a study on the prospects of market access for the developing countries in the new global trade order. He argues that such barriers can only mount because, apart from the environmental angle, Western farm lobbies are extremely powerful, and form articulate pressure groups in countries like Germany and France. The congumer segment is equally vocal. Consumer action groups in Germany and other European associations are increasingly insisting that the products they consusne do not precipitate health crises, nor damage the environment. Not just foodquff and detergents, but clothing wares"!,and leather goods from developing countries will come under increasing scrutiny.
It is obvious that India's strategy should be to press for a reasonable time-frame for adjusting to the new environ- mental concerns. The staff of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority observe that the threat of growing barriers to agricultural exports is very tangible. Mangoes, one of our identified thrust items, is facing the problem of fruit flies in the United States and Japan. And sps standards are looming large over India's ambitious plans to augment cut-flower exports.
The Japanese embassy in India has counselled its personnel to avoid consuming local milk. Many other Western embassies are said to be worried on the same count. Much, therefore, remains to be done at the domestic level itself. However, as some recent studies show, there is enough scope fof improvement as well.
Clearly, there are no soft options for India in the agroproducts exports sector. The need of the hour is for the Government of India, and other concerned interests, to mount pressure in various international fora, and to secure a reasonable time-frame for adjusting to the new regulations, and simultaneously improve upon farm practices, and intensify environmental education.