代写assignment范文|对印度农业部门的几点启示

自2007年以来，印度和欧盟一直在谈判一个自由贸易协定（自由贸易协定）-涵盖商品和服务，投资，知识产权和政府采购的贸易-这是充满了问题。到现在为止，已经举行了十轮谈判轮。该协议预计将于2011年年中敲定。
印度-欧盟自由贸易区议程包括对所有可贸易商品包括农产品的大规模关税削减。媒体报道显示，印度已经同意取消所有可贸易商品的百分之90的关税，而正在进行的谈判的目的是进一步消除关税水平。
目前，印度的农产品应用关税水平远高于欧盟的关税水平，因此，大规模的关税削减和由此产生的进口激增的影响将是深远的印度农业。除了大幅降低关税外，，拟议中的协议还规定了其他一些条款，这也对印度农业经济产生不利影响。

Since 2007, India and EU have been negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) - covering trade in goods and services, investments, intellectual property rights and government procurement - that is fraught with problems. Till now, ten negotiating rounds have been held. The agreement is expected to be finalized by mid-2011.

The India-EU FTA agenda includes massive tariff reductions in all tradable goods including agricultural products. The media reports suggest that India has already agreed to eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of all tradable goods and the ongoing negotiations are aimed at eliminating tariff levels even further.

Currently, India's applied tariff levels on agricultural goods are much higher than those of the EU and therefore the implications of massive tariff reductions and the resultant import surge would be far reaching on Indian agriculture. In addition to drastic tariff reduction, there are several other provisions under the proposed agreement which could also adversely impact India's agricultural economy.

The State of India's Agriculture 印度农业状况

Although the share of agriculture in India's GDP is declining over the years (from 30% in the early nineties to 17% in 2008), a large proportion of population is still dependent on this sector for employment and livelihood. The agricultural sector employs nearly 60% of labour force.

Unlike Europe, Indian agriculture is dominated by a large number of small scale holdings. The average farm size in India is just 1.3 hectares, as compared to 67 hectares in the UK and 50 hectares in France. The small farms are essentially subsistence holdings and dependent on rain-fed agriculture. In rural India, women account for more than half of the agricultural workforce. Close to 150 million work as agricultural labourers, many with daily wages below Rs.20 per day.

For the past two decades, Indian agriculture is witnessing a deceleration in growth. One of the most alarming trends is the decline in both public and private investments in agriculture. The agrarian distress is due to several factors including high input costs, lack of cheap credit from institutional sources, dependence on monsoons, lack of infrastructure, volatility in crop prices and low returns. The agrarian distress is further compounded by the lack of non-farm employment opportunities in the rural India. The booming service sector cannot absorb India's surplus labour force. The increasing incidence of farmers' suicides is a symptomatic of a much larger crisis afflicting the agriculture sector.

India's Agricultural Trade 印度农产品贸易
Post-Independence, the thrust of agricultural policy in India was to achieve self-sufficiency and therefore the trade in agricultural goods was rather limited. For several decades, India used specific tariffs and tariff rate quota (TRQ) to protect sensitive agricultural commodities from competitive imports. However, agriculture trade received a major boost in the 1990s with the launch of neoliberal economic reforms and the implementation of Uruguay Round Agreement.

Unlike Brazil and China, India is still a marginal player in world agricultural trade. At present, India accounts for less than 2 per cent of the world trade in agriculture. Agricultural exports comprise 12 percent of India's total exports while the share of agriculture in total imports is 7 percent.

India's agricultural exports consist of three categories: commodities and raw products (low in value but high in volume), semi-raw products (intermediate value and limited volume) and processed products (high value but low in volume). India's agricultural imports mainly consists of intermediate products (accounting for 56% of imports) followed by processed products (31%) and commodities (13%). In recent years, some agricultural exports (e.g., rice and wheat) have witnessed sharp swings depending on the size of the crop and domestic demand.

Since the late-1990s, India's agricultural imports are growing at a much faster rate than exports. Research suggests that post-WTO regime has been more favourable for agricultural imports than exports.

India's agricultural trade with EU is expected to get a tremendous boost with the signing of bilateral trade agreement. The EU is India's largest agricultural export market. Currently, India enjoys a small surplus in its agricultural trade with the EU. India's major agricultural exports to the EU include rice, cashew nuts, coffee, tea and castor oil. Many of these products enter the EU market either duty free (e.g., basmati rice) or with a lower tariff (e.g., 6% for oils). India's major agri-food imports from EU include wheat, Scotch whisky, dried peas, vegetable seeds, wine and olive oil. During 2004-07, wheat was India's top agricultural import from the EU.

The Lure of Affluent Consumer Market 富裕消费市场的诱惑

There are several factors which make India an alluring destination for European agricultural exports and investments. Some of the key pull factors include a large and growing consumer market (India's middle class is already larger than the population of the US), greater expenditures on high-value processed food, more exposure to Western-style cuisine, and growing consumption of imported foods or multinational-branded foods made in India.

In particular, middle- and upper-class consumers residing in metropolitan cities (Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and New Delhi) are the key potential customers for European agricultural exporters and investors. Given the saturated European and North American agricultural and food markets, India's affluent urban population is a potentially huge market for EU exports and investments. The urban India is witnessing a boom in demand for dairy products (such as processed milk, cheese, butter and yogurt) due to changing food preferences.

The Tariff Tangle 关税纠纷
The European exporters view India's relatively higher applied tariff rates as a major impediment to EU agricultural exports because higher rates raise the price of imported European products.

In the past, India had imposed higher tariffs and other restrictions to protect its agricultural sector.

However, the average applied tariff rates on agricultural products declined considerably from 113 percent in 1991 to 34 percent in 2007. The current applied tariff rates vary substantially (0 to 150 percent) by products. At the end of the Uruguay Round, India had bound its tariffs on most agricultural products. India's average bound tariff (maximum applicable rates) for agriculture products is 114 percent. But there are significant differences between bound and applied tariffs (see Table 1).

The EU exporters have raised concerns over the large difference between higher bound tariff rates and lower applied tariff rates for many agricultural products which enables India to alter its applied tariffs without violating the WTO commitments. They consider tariff-rate variability as a major obstacle in European agricultural exports to India. However, from an Indian perspective, the flexibility to adjust tariff rates is very important to balance the interests of farmers and consumers of agricultural products in response to changing market conditions. Between 2005 and 209, India has made frequent changes in applied tariff rates for many agricultural products including wheat, rice and pulses. For instance, the tariff rate on wheat was lowered from 50 percent to 0 percent in 2006 in response to poor harvests. The tariff rate was returned to 50 percent in 2009 when domestic production increased and prices stabilized. Similarly, the tariff rate on rice was lowered from 70 percent to zero in 2008 in reaction to rising rice price. The tariff rate was returned to 70 percent in 2009 when prices stabilized. In addition, India has imposed export restrictions in the form of export bans and taxes to tame food price inflation.

Since FTAs formally "locks in" tariff rates, India should retain all options to alter tariff rates in response to changing market scenario. The weak safeguard mechanisms under the bilateral trade agreement cannot protect against a sudden surge in agricultural imports from Europe.

Moreover, one cannot ignore the fact that a decline in the applied tariff rates would also reduce customs revenue. Despite a decline in the average applied tariff rates since 1990s, customs duties remain one of the most important sourcesof revenue to the central government.

Investments in Food Sector 食品部门投资

Since EU and India are also negotiating investment liberalization provisions under the proposed trade agreement, these provisions would enable European agribusiness firms to expand their presence in India's food and agriculture sector. European firms can directly access Indian consumers by undertaking direct investments and thereby overcoming tariffs and non-trade barriers (NTBs) that may restrict EU exports. The direct investments in the Indian markets would also enable European firms to take advantage of local commodity products and cheap labour.

Even though foreign firms are not allowed to own agricultural land under Indian regulations, yet they have found lucrative opportunities to invest in the broader food sector.Since 2005, a significant amount of foreign direct investment from Europe has entered into India in food processing, alcoholic beverages, and restaurants. Apart from lucrative opportunities, E uropean firms face no regulatory obstacles to invest in these parts of India's food sector. On the other hand, contract farming provides an opportunity to overcome regulatory obstacles to FDI in agriculture sector.

In 2008, alcoholic beverages account for almost half of the agriculture-related FDI in India. Beer consumption in India is growing at a much faster pace than the rest of the world. Major international players have ventured into the Indian markets. Several big European breweries such as Carlsberg (Denmark), Heineken (Netherlands), SAB Miller (United Kingdom) and InBev (Belgium) have invested millions of dollars in setting up of breweries in India. SAB Miller is the second largest player in the Indian beer market with an estimated share of 30 percent.

India's urban food market (estimated at $70 billion) is an important attraction for European retailers. The urban food demand is driven by higher disposable income, nuclear families, changing tastes and increase in processed food consumption especially by young professionals.

The Indian government has been gradually opening up retail business for FDI. Although foreign investment is still prohibited in multi-brand retail business,100 percent FDI is permitted in the wholesale cash-and-carry segment. Germany's biggest retailer, Metro AG, is already operating six wholesale stores in India. Metro plans to open as many as 50 wholesale stores by the year 2015. "Our target of 50 stores by 2015 won't be the end, we definitely see a potential of three-digit number for our stores here. I think the market potential for cash-and-carry business in India is huge," [1] said Eckhard Cordes, CEO of Metro during a recent visit to India.

The organized urban food market will witness a quantum leap once the government opens up multi-brand retail business for foreign direct investment. Multi-brand European retail giants such as Carrefour and Tesco have already shown interest to invest in this segment in India. However, a free rein to European retailer may adversely affect the small and unorganized retailers which currently make up 99 percent of India's agricultural and food retail sector.

The emerging organized food market in urban India is facilitating the mushrooming of food processing sector which is currently growing at double-digit rates. The potential for food processing in India is tremendous considering only 2 percent of total vegetable production is processed, as compared to 65 percent in the US. Despite a liberal policy regime regarding FDI in food processing, 75 percent of output is generated by small producers in the unorganized sector.

The Indian authorities have envisaged an investment of $22 billion by domestic and foreign investors in the food processing industry by 2015. To stimulate food processing, the government has proposed the establishment of 60 agricultural export zones and 53 mega-food parks in the country. In addition, duty-free import of capital goods and raw materials, tax holidays and other concessions have been announced to encourage investments in food processing. Several European firms (e.g., Nestle, Unilever, Perfetti Van Melle) are already active in the food processing businesses.

Government Procurement 政府采购
Every year, the Indian government procures food grains and other farm products directly from farmers. This procurement policy has twin objectives of ensuring minimum support price to the farmers and maintaining stockpiles of food to feed the poor through the public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes.

The media reports suggest that the Indian government has showed its willingness to open up government procurement to European companies under the proposed agreement. Although the exact details of opening up government procurement are not in public domain, such a move could constrain government's ability to deliver on food grain procurement and distribution system. Besides, it could undermine the ongoing efforts to decentralize the procurement and distribution system for improved food security and price stability. There are apprehensions that such provisions could compromise the government's ability to fulfil the right to food obligations. Currently, a National Food Security Act is under consideration.

The opening up of food procurement and distribution system raises a range of questions about adequate nutrition, cultural appropriateness, rural livelihoods, consumer costs and above all about food sovereignty.

Through the BTIA's intellectual property (IPR) provisions the power and control of agribusiness TNCs over seeds and biological resources is advanced far beyond WTO standards. IPR further the privatisation of seeds and intensify monopolies over seed, pesticides, fertilisers and animal vaccines. European majors like the German Bayer CropScience are already notorious in India for the seeds and agrichemicals they sell. An industry-conducive IPR environment encourages proprietary agriculture technologies - such as genetically modified (GM) crops and fish. This has serious implications, socially, ecologically and for human and animal health. The application of 'modern biotechnology' in agriculture both in the absence of independent assessment of the technology and a biosafety regime in place in India is already a controversial issue. The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2010 is pending in Parliament to regularise the use of GM in agriculture.

FTAs like this one that demand corporate breeder rights re-orient agricultural research and inhibit grassrootÂinnovation. This in turn undermines farmers freedoms, endangers biodiversity and thereby severely impacts the climate resilience of small farm agriculture. After WTO, many countries in the South were arm-twisted to provide for IPR on crop varieties through plant variety protection (PVP) laws that impose restrictions on farmers activities like limited seed-saving, resowing with limits, exchanging amongst themselves only for self use, etc. Currently India has a mild version of a PVP law - the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001. It attempts to reconcile farmers' freedoms over planting material and commercial interests of plant breeders seeking to market "new" crop varieties. EU had earlier insisted that like its trading partners India too have a UPOV 1991 compliant PVP law. UPOV Treaty and its 1991 version further curtail the natural rights of farmers and make them subject to the economic rights of corporate breeders. It brings in two big restrictions. One, that farmers can not save seeds other than for their own use, nor can researchers use the planting material freely. This strikes at the very root of both on-farm research and public science. Though it is believed that the current BTIA text does not make express mention of UPOV 1991 (as an earlier one did), but EU does insist on IPR on plant varieties.

In 2007, Claras ApS - a Danish company - filed patent applications at the European Patent Office for slimming agents supposedly 'invented' from ginger, turmeric, cumin and onion. This is despite the fact that uses of these spices and vegetables are well known in Ayurveda. The protection of traditional knowledge has long been a contentious issue between India and other bio-rich countries at the receiving end of 'bio piracy' from technology-rich Western countries. In the proposed articles on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge,EU is hesitant to concede to India's demand that mandatory disclosure of the origin and source of the genetic resources and traditional knowledge by the inventor/patent applicant be part of national patent regimes.

EU is aggressively pushing for the inclusion of geographical indications in its bilateral agreements.The proposed FTA with India also contains a very detailed section on geographical indications.A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess certain qualities and characteristics related to that origin. Some of the well-known GIs includeBasmati rice, Darjeeling Tea, Scotch whisky and Champagne wine. The EU has already identified over 700 GIs from Europe for food and agricultural products. For EU, GIs are a means to secure market control over agricultural products especially in competition with big trading partners.
 
EU is keen to include provisions on sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) under the proposed FTA. These provisions limit the power of local communities and national governments to set their own standards in relation to biosafety, food safety and other health concerns. From available 'leaked' texts it is known that EU has asked for detailed provisions on SPS. [2] EU-prescribed SPS standards would disallow Indian food products on the European market due to India's supposedly insufficient food producer traceability and market surveillance systems.

Since agriculture is a highly sensitive sector, the Indian government should carry out a fresh assessment of the benefits and costs of India-EU FTA. The purported gains in services sector should not be at the cost of the agricultural sector. It is astonishing that New Delhi is negotiating FTA with EU (and other trading partners) without any prior consultations with the state governments. The draft texts of the India-EU FTA and the substance of the negotiations have not been shared with the state governments. As per Indian constitution, agriculture falls under the jurisdiction of states and therefore it is imperative to involve state governments in all trade negotiations and build consensus, particularly on matters related agriculture and farm sector.