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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
RSS farm body takes credit as NITI Aayog withdraws paper urging tariff cuts for U.S. GM crop imports
The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh — a farmers' body affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — welcomed the NITI Aayog's recent decision to withdraw a working paper suggesting that India should lower import tariffs on agricultural produce from the U.S., including on genetically modified soy and corn crops. BKS general secretary Mohini Mohan Mishra termed the paper as anti-farmer and anti-consumer. 'This paper was widely criticised by various farmers' organisations, including the BKS. After our strong reaction, the paper was removed from the Niti Aayog website,' Mr. Mishra said. NITI Aayog is the Union government's think-tank, offering suggestions on various policy issues. The paper, titled, 'Promoting India-U.S. Agricultural Trade in the New American Trade System', was about the proposed Indo-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA). It was published last month, but was recently removed from the institution's website. 'We are not guinea pigs' 'NITI Aayog's paper suggested the import of GM soybean oil, GM soybean seeds, and GM maize along with other dairy products from America. The paper also suggested the lowering of tariffs on the import of these products from the U.S. All this was recommended even when research results on the side effects and benefits of GM crops is yet to come,' Mr. Mishra explained. Slamming the think tank's recommendation, Mr Mishra said that the NITI Aayog should first test these crops on themselves for a long time and check the results. 'NITI Aayog should not consider farmers and consumers as guinea pigs or rats. Earlier also, in the name of the Green Revolution, chemicals were served to farmers for chemical farming in the drive for higher production, and now, farmers are being blamed for the cancer caused by these chemicals. This will not be tolerated at all,' he added. Livelihoods at risk The BKS leader pointed out that allowing GM products into India's farm sector under American pressure could put the livelihood of about 70 crore Indians in danger. In countries like America, farmers are given huge subsidies and the production cost is low, he said. 'In such a situation, the farmers of India cannot compete with them. With the withdrawal of the working paper of Niti Aayog, this danger has been averted from the farmers for now. We welcome this decision of Niti Aayog,' Mr. Mishra said.
The Print
4 days ago
- Business
- The Print
India-US trade talks in final stages, withdrawn NITI Aayog paper shifts focus to GM soybean, corn
Several additional recommendations were made in the working paper, including lowering duties on non-sensitive US imports like almonds and apples that do not threaten domestic farmers. Medium- and long-term reforms were also encouraged, specifically improving logistics, post-harvest infrastructure, warehousing and cold chains. Published in May, the working paper titled 'Promoting India-US Agricultural Trade under the new US Trade Regime' invited backlash from several farmers' groups including the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), particularly over the suggestion of importing genetically modified (GM) soybean and corn for oil extraction. New Delhi: Less than a month after its publication, a working paper on India-US trade by government think tank NITI Aayog batting for agricultural concessions to America has been quietly withdrawn. 'Our main contention is the importing of GM food,' BKS general secretary Mohini Mohan Mishra told ThePrint Wednesday, emphasising that India prohibits the import of genetically modified food without specific approvals. 'In August 2020, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a notification stating that all imported food should have a non-GM sourced certificate. So, the paper's suggestion is essentially illegal,' he added. The working paper provided an assessment of India's agricultural trade relationship with the US amid President Donald Trump's announcement of reciprocal tariffs. Historically, India has maintained a trade surplus in agriculture with the US, but the importance of it in bilateral trade is reducing. India and the US are trying to hammer out a trade agreement before 9 July, which is the deadline for country-specific reciprocal tariffs. Currently, an Indian delegation is in Washington for negotiations. On Tuesday, Trump without going into the specifics said the US and India will soon finalise a trade deal with 'much lower tariffs'. Authored by economists Ramesh Chand and Raka Saxena, the NITI Aayog working paper suggested both concessions on the import of soybean oil from the US and the import of soybean seed— a GM crop—for extracting oil for domestic consumption. The residue from this extraction would be exported overseas where this is a demand, while also avoiding the infiltration of genetically modified food in the domestic market. 'The second point is that if the government's direction is to be self-sufficient in edible oil, then how can you import it,' Mishra said, adding that the government needs to fix procurement or give incentives to farmers to achieve this self-sufficiency. 'Its possible, you just need a policy in place to achieve this.' Mishra went on to recall that the government had earlier reduced the import duty on palm oil. The influx of imported palm oil resulted in a domestic price reduction, further discouraging farmers from producing more oil, he said. 'These policies are contradictory in nature, to the government's own vision of self-sufficiency.' A NITI Aayog official told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that 'due to some limitations observed in the analysis, the paper was withdrawn by the authors a couple of days back and the same is mentioned in the NITI portal where this paper was loaded'. The working paper also analyzed trade trends, key export and import commodities (shrimp, rice, honey, and nuts), competitiveness metrics, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and the structural shifts in agri-trade patterns. On Monday, Congress media in charge Jairam Ramesh flagged that NITI Aayog had withdrawn 'this innocuous looking paper' on India US agri trade. Mishra took the opportunity to further question the government, stating that the goal is to create a 'level-playing field' in the international market, but the reality of farmers in India and the US were vastly different. 'In the US, if the minimum landholding of farmers is 1,000 hectares, here 80-90 percent of farmers have less than 1 hectare of land,' he said, clarifying that the Rs 6,000 import subsidy under the Narendra Modi government was helpful, but it should be doubled. 'If the government's aim is self-sufficiency, why is NITI Aayog contradicting this?' (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Families inherit old paper shares and get caught in red tape nightmare. Consultants step in
The Hindu
14-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
RSS's farmers body criticises NITI Aayog for its suggestion of lowering tariffs on agriculture imports
New Delhi The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on Saturday (June 14, 2025)condemned the NITI Aayog's recommendation under the proposed Indo-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in which the think tank has suggested that India should lower tariffs on the import of agricultural produce such as genetically modified crops (soybean and corn) from the U.S. In a recent paper, NITI Aayog had also suggested negating tariffs on the poultry and dairy sectors. Currently, GM food crops are under judicial scrutiny in India and, hence, banned at present. Terming the recommendations as a risky step for 70 crore Indians dependent on agriculture, the All India General Secretary of BKS, Mohini Mohan Mishra, asked why NITI Aayog was trying to get involved in the tariff battle with America at a time when the Union government is looking at self-reliance in the production of oilseeds. '.... reducing the import duty of edible oil is a contradictory decision in itself,' said Mr. Mishra. He added that the NITI Aayog should reconsider their recommendations and prepare to move forward on the basis of the self-reliance policy of the government. Questioning the report's suggestions in favour of import of GM soy and maize, Mr. Mishra said that it is well-known that in America the crops are used as fodder for livestock. 'If the government's policy supports us in pulses and oilseeds, then the farmers of the country are ready to make India self-reliant. In such a situation, it is not good for India if the think tank bows down to someone's pressure. If the NITI Aayog does not trust the capability of the country, then the government must seriously reflect on the working of the organisation,' added the BKS general secretary.
