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As India gets ready to host the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting among ASEAN members, a group of farmers, trade unions, intellectuals and non-governmental organisations have gathered here to oppose the talks.
They alleged that the provisions of the free trade agreements could severely hurt the Indian economy and could impact the incomes of farmers, the dairy industry, agri-based industries and some other sectors.
The meeting here on Wednesday was intended to educate stakeholders and discuss the likely adverse impacts of the RCEP on the Indian economy and on livelihoods.
The crucial round of the RCEP is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad in July, with representatives from 16 ASEAN members and representatives from the countries that were associated with it forming into working groups to deliberate on various aspects of the partnership.
Talking on the RCEP negotiations, Afsar Jafri of the Focus on the Global South, alleged that there was no transparency in the deliberations. “There is no process of ratification by Parliament. The States are not being taken into confidence though agriculture is a State subject in India,” he said.
The RCEP is one of the three largest ‘mega regional’ FTAs (free trade agreements) being negotiated in the world. Apart from India, the RCEP includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, along with the 10 ASEAN countries.
Shalini Bhutani, a Delhi-based researcher on FTAs, said the RCEP was more demanding than the WTO (World Trade Organisation). “The WTO offers some flexibility, but the RCEP offers none,” she said.
The RCEP requires countries to reduce make import duties to zero as soon as the agreement comes into force.
Representatives from AITUC, IFTU, Telangana Rythu Joint Action Committee, Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Telangana Raithanga Samiti, National Alliance of Dalit Organisations and Doctors Without Borders attended the meeting to discuss the RCEP fallout.
“The next meeting of the committee will happen on June 19 to chalk out the specific actions planned to protest the RCEP negotiations,” Kiran Kumar Vissa of Rythu Swarajya Vedika, said.
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