[India] Asbestos, endosulfan escape blacklist
India blocked export restrictions on them at Rotterdam Convention.
India yet again played spoilsport by preventing chrysotile asbestos and endosulfan from being included in Annex III of UN’s Rotterdam Convention that brands them hazardous. Had the two been included in Annex III, it would have made mandatory for countries to take a Prior Informed Consent, or PIC, before exporting them to other countries.
Of the three substances listed for PIC at the fourth meeting of the Conference of Parties (cop-4) to the Rotterdam Convention, only tributyltin was listed at the meeting held from October 27 to 31 in Rome. While seven countries opposed asbestos from being blacklisted, in case of endosulfan only India was responsible for its exclusion.
“India was put in a spot when country after country joined in accusing it for its entrenched position of not allowing the listing of endosulfan, a highly toxic pesticide,”
said Madhumita Dutta of Chennai-based advocacy group The Other Media. Continue reading »
Filed under Environment, India, Pollution | Tags: Asbestos, Endosulfan, Exports, Hazardous Products, Health Effects, India, Pesticides And Toxins, Trade | Comment (0)Pyrrhic Victory
The US steals Kamal Nath’s party in Geneva
The trade talks at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva collapsed in the last week of July. The Union minister for Commerce, Kamal Nath, said India would not accede to the demands of developed countries at the cost of Indian farmers. Nath seems to have become a hero in many quarters in the country and in other developing countries—and a villain amongst developed countries for allegedly scuttling free trade negotiations. But in reality, he has virtually complied with all conditions of the wto agriculture text, including almost zero farm subsidy reduction by developed countries. And the talks actually collapsed because the us did not want to make any commitment to cut massive subsidies to cotton growers. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Cotton, Developing Countries, Farmers, India, Subsidies, Switzerland, Trade, United States Of America (US), WTO | Comment (0)On Tenterhooks in Geneva – Developing countries push for markets at WTO Mini-Ministerial
Developing countries push for markets at WTO mini-ministerial
Farmers’ associations all over India were holding protests demanding exclusion of agriculture as an agenda in the World Trade Organization (wto) talks, even as the organization’s mini-ministerial debated ways to secure “meaningful market access in agriculture, manufacturing and services”. At the time this magazine went to press, farmers’ groups were apprehensive that the Union minister for commerce might sign a deal at this meet in Geneva allowing the entry of cheap agricultural products from the developed world. “That would be the last nail in the coffin of small farming in India,” said Sheelu Francis of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, an organization representing over a lakh agriculture workers in the state.
The draft for negotiations for the Geneva ministerial—the third draft on the matter—did not accede to most demands of developing countries, the principal one being substantial cuts in subsidies offered to farmers in the us and European Union. These subsidies end up lowering prices of agricultural products in the developed countries below the production cost of farmers in developing countries, giving the former unfair market advantage. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Environment, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Developing Countries, European Union (EU), Farmers, Food Security, India, Subsidies, Trade, WTO | Comment (0)EU Bans Indian Guar Gum
The guar gum trade in India has suffered a setback after the European Union (EU) banned import of non-certified guar gum from India. The move came after dioxins and pentachlorophenols were found in a consignment delivered by India Glycol, a Delhi-based exporter.
India is the leading exporter of guar gum, constituting about 80 per cent of the global production. It is being exported to other countries since 1956. Guar gum is derived from guar seeds (cluster beans), a legume crop that grows in semi-arid regions of the subcontinent. It is used as a thickening agent and as an additive in food products. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: * Dioxin, * Food Additives, * Food Standards, * Imports, * Legumes, * Rajasthan, * Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand), European Union (EU), Food Contamination, India, Trade | Comment (1)