Suman Sahai
The recent Food Security Act passed by the UPA is
indeed a politically opportunistic measure aimed at electoral gains for the
Congress party but there is so much else wrong with the Act apart from the
supposed friction points it offers to the WTO. In my view, these friction
points are misplaced In calculating the Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) in
the Agreement of Agriculture of the WTO, it is producer subsidies that are to
be kept in check so as not to exceed the permitted subsidy levels. We should
point out to the WTO that the subsidies given in the Food security Act are not
producer subsidies but rather consumer subsidies , provided as a welfare
measure to the poor and indigent. This should not be construed as violation
under AMS commitments.
The distinction between producer and consumer
subsidy will have to be intelligently and forcefully argued.
For that the team entrusted to put forth India’s case,
will need to understand the nuances of the WTO and the kinds of relief it
offers to trading partners when things are going radically against their interest. This is not
to say the WTO provisions are benign towards developing countries but to say
that developing countries need to build their skills to extract the maximum
benefit from existing provisions.
One thing is clear though. India cannot
and must not mortgage its future by granting concessions in food imports as a
quid pro quo to getting this faulty law accepted by the WTO, just because it
suits the certain political interests.
Importing food is tantamount to importing
unemployment on the farm and depriving the farmer of the opportunity to produce
what he can. Food imports will mean large scale dumping of agricultural produce
by major agriculture producers who subsidize their produce at high levels. This
will mean Indian markets being flooded with foreign foods, even as our own
farmers are driven off their farms because they cannot compete with the highly
subsidized foods coming from outside.
Having said that, I believe the impending
potential dispute with the WTO should be viewed as a god send to rectify the
really botched up , ham handed Food Security Act that the Congress is going to
town with.
This country needs a legislation to provide food
and nutrition security to its disadavantaged people but this Food Security Act
will not do that.
How about this : India withdraws the Food Security
Act and presents it to Parliament for amendments. If the lilly livered
Opposition can get its courage together , it can happen and the country can get
another shot at getting a legislation that honestly tries to sort out food and
nutrition for the poor.
