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Farmers protest ‘peace clause’ on food subsidy
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Even as commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma sought to push an interim solution or a "peace clause" that will prevent WTO members from seeking penalties from countries such as India for breach of subsidy cap, the Opposition parties and farmer groups have asked the government to reject the solution, arguing that it is not in the country's interests.

At next week's Bali ministerial meeting, WTO members are looking to let developing countries provide food subsidy by procuring grains at the minimum support price and selling it at subsidized rates through the public distribution system. Under the Agreement on Agriculture, such support cannot exceed 10% of the value of goods, while India is close to hitting the ceiling. The peace clause is an interim solution that will allow countries to go past the limit, without fearing any penalties, for four years.

In his letter to political leaders, Sharma sought to take credit for the interim solution and said that he had made it clear to the US and European Union that a package on food security is "a non-negotiable for India". "I have underscored the need of arriving at an interim understanding which can be termed as "peace clause" since a final agreement on agriculture is difficult given the short window of time," he said.

But political parties and NGOs are not satisfied. "It is apprehended that the peace clause, which is contained in the negotiating text would disturb our procurement system thereby adversely affecting small and marginal farmers through minimum support price. I think the conditions imposed by the WTO are not in the interest of our farmers," BJP's Shanta Kumar, who is also the chairman of the Parliamentary standing committee on commerce, said in a letter to PM Manmohan Singh.

"The conditions sought to be imposed, for invocation of the peace clause provision, are severe and would make it virtually impossible for any developing country to use it," CPM Ploit Bureau said in a statement.

In a joint representation to the PM, farmer groups warned that there was no assurance to find a final solution in four years. "The current peace clause proposal puts stringent conditions such as "these programmes should not distort trade", which is broad, subject to interpretation and will expose India to further disputes," 10 union representatives said in the joint letter, while pointing to the possibility of being drawn in for violating WTO's agreement on subsidies.