EU-INDIA FTA: Police detain public interest groups during protests

[Guest guest]

EU-INDIA FTA PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS DETAINED DURING PROTEST

New Delhi: As the 6th round of negotiations related to the EU-India Free Trade

Agreement (FTA) got underway here today, the police detained several

representatives of public interest groups during a peaceful protest in front of

the office of the European Commission (EC). Trade bureaucrats from the EC and

Indian Commerce Ministry will deliberate on issues ranging from services,

manufacturing, trade facilitation and government procurement till 19 March.

 

Public interest groups were demonstrating against the secretive nature of

negotiations on the FTA, which includes contentious issues such as agriculture,

investment, fisheries, intellectual property and government procurement. Since

the trade talks between the European Union and India were launched in Brussels

in 2007, there has been no access to negotiating texts.

 

Pradip Dutta of the Delhi Network of Positive People asserted, ‘ This FTA has

provisions that will undermine access to treatment, not just in India but across

the developing world’. Dutta’s concerns are not unfounded. India is well

recognised as the leading supplier of generic medicines across the developing

world.

Recent seizures at EU ports of such generic drug consignments are ample evidence

of the adverse impacts of stringent provisions on intellectual property rights

that are also likely to feature in the EU-India FTA. Several other colleagues

living with HIV joined Dutta at the protest.

 

In response to the protest, the EU Ambassador e Smadja met with three

representatives from the Forum on FTAs, a platform of people’s organisations

that organized the protest.

Dharmendra Kumar of India FDI Watch who met with the Ambassador said, ‘We were

disappointed but not surprised by the Ambassadors statement that all negotiating

texts are secret and will not be made available even to EU Parliamentarians.

 

With a minimum of 90% tariff coverage, there will be little leeway for the

Government of India to protect Indian agriculture.

Speaking to the press, Yudhvir Singh from the Bharatiya Kisan Union stated ‘It

is shocking that EU subsidies are kept out of the negotiations and this will

allow agribusiness in EU to dump subsidized products such as dairy into the

country

 

The Forum has submitted a memorandum to Minister Kamal Nath calling for a halt

to the talks and has asked for a meeting with the Indian delegation.

As the FTA negotiations gather speed, concern is spreading across the country.

The Forum on FTAs has written to political parties across the spectrum to

address this issue in their manifestos. This demand has been met positively

showing growing skepticism with the FTA agenda.

 

People who were part of the protest include representatives from hawkers

associations, networks of positive people and health, agriculture and labour

groups.

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For more information contact Benny Kuruvilla (Focus on the Global South):

bennyk@... and G Manicandan (Center for Education and Communication):

manicandan@.... Tel: 9868319261

Kajal Bhardwaj

e-mail: <k0b0@...>