PM for TRQ protection to plantation growers from India-ASEAN FTA

New Delhi, Apr 7 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to jointly work out measures to protect the growers of pepper, rubber, palm oil, coffee and tea from the impact of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.

The Prime Minister has asked the two Ministers to work out the effective Tariff Rate Quota for these sensitive products so that there is no dumping from countries like Vietnam.

Vietnam, a member of the ASEAN, has emerged as a major competitor to India in the plantation crops creating havoc for the local producers not only in the global market but also in the domestic market.

TRQ is a specific quota offered for exports at a fixed duty, which has to be lower than the normal duty in the importing country.

The Prime Minister's intervention at a meeting with the Commerce and Agricultural Ministers comes weeks before the crucial trade negotiations on the FTA which begin on April 24, official sources told UNI.

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