NEWS Bulletin from Indian Society For Sustainable Agriculture And Rural Development ------------ 1. GEAC under pressure to vet GM food imports 2. India, Pak trade secys to meet to firm up trade 3. Government discriminates against millions of rice growers 4. Central govt faces farmers' flak over MSP ------------ GEAC under pressure to vet GM food imports ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online: Thursday , June 26, 2008 at 2306 hrs IST New Delhi, Jun 25 The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) is now under pressure to check illegal imports of GM food. Greenpeace India has revealed that the Dorito's Cool Ranch Corn chips manufactured by Frito Lays Inc for US Pepsico and imported into the country contained GM ingredients. The GEAC in its 86th meeting. on Wednesday, spent considerable time on deliberating on this issue. Greenpeace was specially invited to present its findings and tests it had conducted through an independent laboratory in Germany on imported food picked up randomly from a super market store in Delhi. The analytical report from Eurofins (Gene Scan) submitted by Greenpeace India revealed that the corn chips had the presence of GM ingredients like Roundup Ready Soybean in addition to MaxGard Maize (MON-863) and Roundup Ready (NK-603) Maize. "We noted that the analytical report indicated the limit of detection (LoD) of the method is 0.01%. It does not indicate the percentage of GM content in the sample," said one senior official of the GEAC. The GEAC decided that it would conduct further tests on the imported samples through an independent agency. India has so far approved only GM cotton for commercial cultivation and not any other crops. Hence, commercial presence of any GM food in the country is illegal. Illegal imports of GM food is in violation of the Rules, 1989 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The annual amendments to the Foreign Trade Policy made in April 2006 clearly said that no GM products which are not properly labeled as such should be imported. The Union commerce ministry also issued a notification that violation of provision by importers would attract penal action under Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992. However, the implementation order was withheld on the pretext that appropriate guidelines for implementation need to be approved. The Union ministry of health took the initiative in forming a core group of stakeholders to finalise the guidelines. The core group already submitted its report on mandatory labeling of GM food within a year and the government has not yet taken any decision on the group's recommendations. In the previous year, the GEAC gave its approval to the imports of oils extracted from GM soybeans without any label and restrictions. A new Food Safety and Standards Authority has been set up after the enactment of a new law. But the authority is yet to become functional – till date it has no members, but only a chairman Hence, as of now, it is the responsibility of GEAC and the health ministry under PFA Act to regulate illegal GM food. Greenpeace India in this context has asked for immediate recall of illegal GM food in the market to prevent any health or environmental hazards..... ------------ India, Pak trade secys to meet to firm up trade ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online: Thursday , June 26, 2008 at 1923 hrs IST New Delhi, June 26: India and Pakistan would attempt to increase the basket of commodities for bilateral trade when the commerce secretaries of both sides meet in August 2008.. "We have already liberalized 30% of our tariff line for facilitating imports from India. We have imported items like onions, potatoes, tomato, sugar from India and exported cement to meet the needs of the Indian construction industry," said the visiting commerce secretary of Pakistan, Syed Asif Shah. Over the last few years there has been a healthy growth in bilateral trade between the two countries. In the period 2001-02 to 2006-07 bilateral trade has grown from $ 236 million to $ 1.579 billion and is projected to touch $ 2 billion in 2007-08. "This increase in bilateral is in favour of India. We need to address the para-tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed by India for ensuring a level playing field," said the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission in Pakistan, Salman Faruqui, who is leading business-cum- Shah particularly complained about the tariff and non-tariff barriers relating to textiles in India. According to World Bank informal trade between India and Pakistan is about $ one billion. Both the countries are interested in reducing the informal trade by expanding official trade trough land route. "On our side of the Wagah border we have expanded the infrastructure for parking of over 500 trucks. We hope such infrastructure facility should be developed on the Indian side for reducing traffic congestion at the border," said Shah. The agreement already in place for opening two bank branches by each country needs to be fast tracked, said Faruqui. "Pakistan's United Bank has already applied for opening its branches in India and is awaiting approval. We would be happy to facilitate an Indian bank's application as soon as it is received," he said. Calling for improved trade and investment between the two countries on reciprocal basis, Faruqui said that India and Pakistan should be prepared to meet the food and energy needs of the world to an extent. Pakistan's minister for water resources and power, M Ismail Qureshi said, "About 40% power generation in Pakistan is done by the private sector. We have formulated a policy which says that further expansion of thermal power generation capacity would be done by the private sector alone." He said that Pakistan would invite Indian Companies to set up joint ventures in the power sector and would expect in return similar facility to be extended by India. ... ------------ Government discriminates against millions of rice growers http://www.mynews. Ch. Narendra Publication Date 15/6/2008 11:09:40 AM(IST) Bharatiya Krishik Samaj, Indian farmers'' organisation, alleged that the Union government by delaying the announcement of minimum support prices (MSPs) for Kharif (summer) crops has done great injustice to millions of farmers in the country. Monsoon rains have arrived in time and the farmers have begun sowing operations. "Government' s apathy towards farmers is clear from the fact the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) which met on June 12 recommended only as small increase in the MSPs for paddy. It hiked the MSP for common variety paddy to Rs 850 a quintal and that of Grade A paddy to Rs 880 a quintal, which is much lower than that recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The CACP had recommended a MSP of Rs 1000 a quintal for common variety paddy and Rs 1050 a quintal for grade A variety paddy with a view to bridge the gap between the MSPs of two principal cereals – wheat and paddy. The MSP for wheat was fixed at Rs 1000 a quintal for the last winter season. BKS president Dr Krishan Bir Chaudhary said that this was a grave injustice to millions of rice growers across the country. He said that there was no need to announce ad hoc MSPs for paddy (which are low) and refer the recommendations of the CACP to the prime minister's economic advisory council, The government has set a bad precedent by announcing paddy MSPs lower than the recommendations of the CACP. The BKS holds the Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, in particular responsible for the situation. He has taken the pretex of the current price inflationary trend in the country to justify the delay in announcing MSPs for several Kharif crops. The inflationary trend in the economy as measured by point-to-point movement in the wholesale price index has peaked to a 7-year high at 8.75% by the end of the previous month Dr Chaudary said that the finance minister should know that the farmers with their sweat and toil had produced ample food in the past seasons and as a result the country could achieve a record foodgrains production of 227.3 million tonne in 2007-08. There is ample food stock in the country and the government's own storages are overflowing with grains. Recently the government made a record purchase of 22 million wheat from farmers in this marketing season alone.. The government should, therefore, crackdown on hoarders, speculators and market manipulators with a view to control price inflation instead of doing such grave injustice to farmers. He warned that if the government does not take stringent measures against hoarders, speculators and market manipulators, the price inflation would peak to more than 10% very soon. Dr Chaudhary demanded : "the government should immediately announce the MSPs recommended by the CACP with an additional bonus price for each crop, taking into consideration the recent hike in diesel price which has increased the cost of cultivation. Some states have sought a hike in paddy MSP to Rs 1,300 a quintal. Paddy cultivation entails higher costs due transplantation. " Dr Chaudhary said that some farmers in the Punjab's cotton belt have already switched over to paddy due to the bad experience of mealy bug on Bt cotton in the previous year and with the hope of getting better returns this year He also criticized the government for imposing ban on exports of some varieties of non-basmati rice which are consumed by the higher sections of the society and not by the poor. He said that non-basmati rice like Pusa 1121, Sarbati, Sona masuri, IR 36, IR 64, PR 113, PR 114, PR 106, Pusa 44, BPT 5204, Jaya, Saryupavan 52, MPU 1001, MPU 1010 and MPU 7029 are not consumed by the poor or distributed under the public distribution system (PDS) and hence there is no valid reason to ban exports of these non-basmati rice. The farmers are unable to get proper price realization due to the export ban. ------------ Central govt faces farmers' flak over MSP ASHOK B SHARMA Posted online: Monday , June 16, 2008 at 2033 hrs IST New Delhi, Jun 15 The government's decision to withhold announcing of minimum support prices (MSPs) for summer crops and effecting a smaller hike in paddy MSP has invited severe criticisms from farmers. They alleged that it would be difficult to get remunerative returns for their produces, as the cost of cultivation has shot by due to the recent hike in diesel price. The farmers are also joined by exporters who say that continuation of the ban on non-basmati rice exports would deny the growers from getting a better price. The government has hiked the MSP for common variety paddy to Rs 850 a quintal and that of Grade A paddy to Rs 880 a quintal, which is much lower than that recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The CACP had recommended a MSP of Rs 1,000 a quintal for common variety paddy and Rs 1,050 a quintal for grade A variety paddy, with a view to bridge the gap between the MSPs of two principal cereals - wheat and paddy. The MSP for wheat was fixed at Rs 1,000 a quintal for the last winter season. The government is under the apprehension that announcement of MSPs of summer crops at present may fuel the price inflationary trend in the Economy, which has peaked to a 7-year high at 8.75% by the end of the previous month. The Union finance minister, P Chidambaram has, however, assured that the paddy MSPs announced by the government was on ad hoc basis and the MSPs of all summer crops would be announced after the prime minister's economic council reviewed the CACP recommendations. The president of Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, Krishan Bir Chaudhary said, "The government should have the MSPs recommended by the CACP with an additional bonus price for each crop, taking into consideration the recent hike in diesel price which has increased the cost of cultivation. Some states have sought a hike in paddy MSP to Rs 1,300 a quintal. Paddy cultivation entails higher costs due to transplantation. The government should contain the price inflationary trend by cracking down on speculators and market manipulators instead of harassing farmer." He said that farmers in the Punjab's cotton belt have already switched over to paddy due to the bad experience of mealy bug on Bt cotton in the previous year. The All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA) has written to the government to vacate the ban on exports of some varieties of non-basmati rice which are consumed by the higher sections of the society and not by the poor. AIREA has said that the farmers would get a better price if the export ban is lifted.... ------------ |
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